Missouri Tigers’ defense answers call with game on the line, holding off Vanderbilt
Appropriately, Missouri’s 17-14 victory over Vanderbilt was decided by the Tigers’ defense.
The Mizzou defenders had played admirably throughout the day, keeping Vanderbilt out of the end zone for more than 3 1/2 quarters.
But one lapse — an 80-yard lightning strike of a touchdown — shaved the Missouri margin to a field goal, and when Vandy got the ball back at midfield with three minutes remaining, that queasy feeling Mizzou fans know so well this season started to bubble.
There was the gift-wrapped victory MU handed to Auburn and heart-breakers against Georgia and Florida. Surely, Missouri, a two-touchdown favorite, would put this one away after taking a 17-0 lead.
But it took a fourth-down stop from Missouri 43 with 1 minute, 23 seconds remaining to clinch the Tigers’ first SEC victory and end a five-game losing streak against Power Five opponents. Mizzou, which improved to 1-3 in league play, 3-4 overall, plays at South Carolina next weekend.
An officials’ review gave Missouri the opportunity to make the play. On the previous snap, Vandy had completed a pass and the ball was spotted for a first down. But replay showed the Commodores had come up a half-yard short.
On fourth down, the power-running call went to running back Ray Davis, and he ran into a wall of Tigers.
“We stood him up and made a play,” said Missouri linebacker Chad Bailey, who ganged up on the tackle with Darius Robinson and George Realus Jr.
That Vanderbilt was in position to win the game or tie it with a wind-at-his-back field goal appeared improbable at halftime. Missouri led 17-0 and seemed on its way to a victory that would require no nail-biting.
Then the mistakes started piling up. A Vandy fake punt went for a first down. Missouri didn’t field a kickoff held up by the wind and the Commodores recovered.
Vanderbilt scored its first touchdown on a strip-sack and scoop on a ridiculous play by safety C.J. Taylor, who hurdled running back Cody Schrader, who was in a perfect position to pick up the blitz.
“I told him after the game he’s going to put us on ESPN,” Schrader said. “It was just a great play. You can’t stop that. Hats off to him.”
More second-half mistakes: Nathaniel Peat fumbled in the red zone. Kicker Harrison Mevis’s 36-yard field goal got pushed left.
“That’s really bad stuff, but it’s easier to fix after a win” Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz said. “A team like us, who had lost the last three in a very difficult fashion, to get put in that situation again and figure out a way to win is an important step of growth for us.”
Missouri jumped to the early lead by getting freshman wide receiver Luther Burden involved. He took a sideline pass, got strong blocks by Barrett Banister and Mekhi Miller and turned it into a 35-yard touchdown. It marked the first time this season the Tigers scored on their first possession.
In the second quarter, Burden scored on a 10-yard end-around, bulling through tackles at the goal line.
“Every time I get the ball, all I think about is end zone,” Burden said.
That would be the last time Mizzou found the end zone. Quarterback Brady Cook completed a couple of deep balls, but the Tigers’ offensive-line play often made things difficult. Cook didn’t have enough time to react to the strip sack, and Vanderbilt was credited with 11 tackles for loss.
One play for which Cook should shoulder the blame: the wrong decision on a short pass that became an interception along the sideline.
But throughout the day, Missouri’s defense came up with the key stop or big play. The biggest was Jaylon Carlies’ end zone interception with 72 seconds remaining in the first half. The Tigers then zipped into field-goal range, where Mevis booted a 38-yarder with 1 tick remaining.
Vandy’s first nine possessions produced six punts, two missed field goals and the interception. The power of Missouri’s defense allowed the Tigers to overcome a 4-1 deficit in turnover margin.
“That’s awful,” Drinkwitz said. “You don’t win those days. But our defense is playing at a really high level.”