2024-09-22 13:20:03
(This story was updated to add new information.)
(This story was updated to add photos.)
And, breathe.
No. 7-ranked Missouri football was inefficient, prone to some familiar mistakes and all-around uninspiring for much of its SEC-opening game Saturday against Vanderbilt.
But Missouri football got the job done in spite of that, defeating Vanderbilt 30-27 in double-overtime on Faurot Field in a major let-off for Eli Drinkwitz’s team.
In the first period of overtime, Diego Pavia found Gabe Fisher for a touchdown in the first period of overtime. Brady Cook responded with a first-play touchdown to Luther Burden III. The Tigers’ offense stalled in double-overtime, and Blake Craig had to make a 38-yarder.
That was all MU needed. Vanderbilt kicker Brock Taylor missed a 31-yarder on the other side, and Missouri survived.
The Tigers’ offense, before that, was inefficient. Mizzou made two second-quarter, red-zone trips and ended up trotting out Blake Craig both times. He missed one and made one 23-yarder as MU got just 3 points from those trips.
Craig missed a 40- and 47-yard field goal attempt to potential give MU the lead in the fourth quarter. Vanderbilt missed a 50-yarder for the lead with 3 minutes remaining.
From 20 yards, Cook found Burden for a first-quarter score in response to blown coverage that let Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia find Joseph McVay for a 65-yard score.
Cook was 23-of-37 for 226 yards and couldn’t get much going in the run game as the blocking ahead of him often faltered. Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia was 11-of-19 for 157 yards.
While the offense didn’t have much to cheer, Noel kept pummeling the ground. His 64-yard breakaway run in the third-quarter set up Marcus Carroll for a five-yard touchdown. Noel finished the day with 199 yards.
The Tigers decided to run a play on fourth-and-3 as time ticked away in the second half. Brady Cook took a sack, and there was plenty of time remaining for Vanderbilt to advance a few yards post-turnover on downs and kick a 57-yard field goal. MU could have let time expire, and also had timeouts to burn. That gave up 3 points.
But, for all the errors, Missouri made it through.
This section will be updated when the game begins.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | F | |
| Vanderbilt | 7 | 6 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 27 |
| Missouri | 7 | 3 | 10 | 0 | 10 | 30 |
7:03 p.m.: Brock Taylor misses from 31 yards for Vandy. Game over. Mizzou wins.
6:51 p.m.: Blake Craig makes a 38-yarder. Touchdown wins it for Vanderbilt.
6:48 p.m.: Touchdown Missouri, and on the first play. What a play from Brady Cook to Luther Burden on the first play. Blake Craig makes the PAT.
6:47 p.m.: Touchdown Vanderbilt. The Dores will kick a PAT and make it. Mizzou must score to keep the game alive.
6:41 p.m.: Mizzou wins the toss and will play defense first.
6:38 p.m.: This game is headed to overtime. Nobody scored in the fourth quarter.
6:37 p.m.: Mizzou punted on fourth-and-very short. Vanderbilt currently looks content to take this one to OT, with 42 seconds left in the game and the ball inside its own 10.
6:24 p.m.: Nobody want to win this one? Vanderbilt misses a 50-yard FG attempt with 3:11 on the clock. The game is tied a 20. Up comes the Mizzou offense.
6:20 p.m.: Long, winding run from Diego Pavia on third down gets the chains moving and Vandy into Mizzou territory. A complete pass gets the Commodores into field goal range. Less than five minutes left on the clock.
6:15 p.m.: Blake Craig misses for a third time today. 47 yards, no good, game tied at 20 with 7:06 to go. Missouri cannot stop shooting itself in the foot.
6:08 p.m.: Daylan Carnell with a big-time PBU there to force a three-and-out. The Missouri offense has to capitalize now if it’s going to happen.
6:03 p.m.: Another missed field goal for Mizzou. Blake Craig pushes a 40-yarder wide right, and it stays tied at 20 in Columbia. I think the kicker believed he had that one, but the officials say ‘no good.’
5:50 p.m.: Missouri is inside Vanderbilt’s half facing second-and-4 when the game returns. It’s a close one with 15 minutes to go in CoMo.
5:47 p.m.: Ruling confirmed. Commodores tie the game up after the converted PAT. That’s the first blink from the Missouri defense in quite some time.
5:45 p.m.: Touchdown Vanderbilt. Pavia pitches right to AJ Newberry, who runs it over the right pylon. It will be reviewed.
5:32 p.m.: Sidney Williams Sr. comes very close to picking Pavia off, but it’s a second straight three-and-out forced by the Missouri defense to start the second half.
5:24 p.m.: Touchdown Missouri. That’s quite a 1-2 punch Missouri has at tailback. Marcus Carroll punches it in from five yards after the Nate Noel breakaway, 64-yard run.
5:23 p.m.: Nate Noel came very close to scoring after breaking through the Vandy defense, just didn’t quite have the speed. 64 yards will do, though. First-and-goal coming up for Mizzou.
5:13 p.m.: Blake Craig ties the game back up with a 55-yard kick that crept over the crossbar into a headwind. The offense is going to need to wake up soon for Missouri, but that was clutch from the kicker — especially after missing a chip shot earlier.
5:12 p.m.: Cam’Ron Johnson got lifted up by the Vandy edge rusher, and pushed into Brady Cook for a sack.
5:07 p.m.: Missouri’s offense gets a helping hand as it receives the ball to start the second half. Face mask violation on Vandy, and MU starts at the 42.
4:50 p.m.: More bad than good from Missouri, so far. Busted coverage gave up a touchdown. Red-zone wastefulness from the offense. Some really, really poor play on special teams. And whatever that fourth-down play was.
4:47 p.m.: Missouri decides to run a play on fourth-and-3 at midfield, and it’s going to cost the Tigers three points. Brady Cook got blown up in the backfield for a sack for a turnover on downs. Vandy advanced the ball enough with 8 seconds on the clock to get into field goal range. The Commodores kicked a 57-yarder, and Missouri will trail heading into the half.
4:38 p.m.: Quick three-and-out for the Missouri defense, capped by a tipped ball. Mizzou getting the ball back with about one minute left in the half. Burden takes a fair catch at the 25.
4:34 p.m.: Blake Craig makes a 23-yarder — the same distance he missed earlier — to tie the game up at 10 with 1:17 left in the half. Another missed opportunity for the MU offense inside the 10-yard line, though. Three points from their last two red-zone trips is unideal. I have questions about Cook’s throw on third down and goal to go … Mekhi Miller, his intended target, did not look particularly open.
4:27 p.m.: A well-designed wheel route to Marcus Carroll gets MU inside the 10. That was a nice play. The tailback was wide open. The two-minute warning came shortly after, and Missouri has second-and-goal from the 5-yard line coming up.
4:19 p.m.: Missouri needed its defense to step up. It did. Eddie Kelly forced Diego Pavia into a scramble on third down; Chuck Hicks finished the job, crashing into the QB to force the three-and-out.
A nice return from Luther Burden III is going to suffer from a block in the back call. Mizzou will take over at midfield.
4:15 p.m.: Oh, boy. Blake Craig crashes the post on a 23-yard field goal attempt. Tigers opted against a fourth-and-2 after Brady Cook got hit in the backfield on third down. A holding call on Cam’Ron Johnson backed the Tigers up before that in the red zone, but Nate Noel seemed to have got MU back in range with a breakaway off-tackle run left. Mizzou remains down 10-7. Six minutes, 48 seconds left in the half.
4:10 p.m.: Missouri offense has jolted awake twice on third down on this drive, which started inside its own 2-yard line. Passes to Theo Wease Jr. and Mookie Cooper have kept the drive alive. Nate Noel burst free for a 32-yard gain. Now, personal foul on Vandy’s Prince Kollie for shoving Mekhi Miller after the play puts MU in the red zone.
3:58 p.m: Well, there’s a Zion Young-sized answer. Third-down sack from the Missouri defensive end, and that could be an important hold for the Missouri defense. Commodores make a 27-yard field goal to retake the lead, but the Tigers held them at the goal line, which could be important by day’s end.
3:55 p.m.: Vanderbilt has taken the ball down the 4-yard line, helped greatly by a 36-yard run from Diego Pavia. The Tigers’ defense has not had a single answer to the Vandy offense this drive. The Wing-T look is giving MU all sorts of headaches. Mizzou hasn’t won a single battle up front. Tackling has been suspect, at best.
Commodores have second-and-2 when the game returns, 4 yards from goal to retake the lead.
3:44 p.m.: Missouri replies to the Vanderbilt touchdown with one of its own. Luther Burden III takes a 20-yard catch to the right pylon, and the Tigers have tied the game.
That was an excellent drive from the Missouri offense. After a dropped pass by Marcus Carroll, Brady Cook found Marquis Johnson on third-and-medium to keep it going. Carroll had a tough couple runs to move the chains. Cook pulled one down, got some meaty blocks ahead of him and got MU to the red zone. Then, Burden does what Burden usually does.
3:34 p.m.: Touchdown Vanderbilt. Just brutal coverage from the Missouri secondary, and Diego Pavia finds Joseph McVay for a 65-yard score. Looked like MU corner Toriano Pride who lost his man, and the Commodores waltz to an early lead.
3:26 p.m.: Missouri goes three-and-out in response. A penalty flag was thrown on third down against the Tigers for an illegal formation, but that was declined as Brady Cook’s pass went incomplete.
3:24 p.m.: Good first series for the Missouri defense, which forces Pavia and Vanderbilt off the field in three plays. Aided greatly by some unforced errors — namely a false start and a fumbled pitch backward. Burden takes the punt back to near the 50.
3:18 p.m.: Missouri wins the coin toss and defers to the second half. Blake Craig will kick to Vanderbilt to begin this game.
Soon-to-be Missouri athletics hall of famer Martin Rucker was on Big Mo’ duties.
3:12 p.m.: The pregame festivities are almost wrapped, the Memorial Stadium crowd is slowly filling up (although a fair chunk of people are waiting until the last gasp to avoid the rain), and Hell’s Bells is about to play as the Tigers walk out of the south end zone tunnel. The next updates you’ll find here will be live from the game. Welcome to the SEC schedule. First up: Missouri vs. Vanderbilt.
2:54 p.m.: A couple updates after a quick trip down to a wet Faurot Field: starting safety Joseph Charleston is with the team, but his left hand is pretty heavily taped up. Tre’Vez Johnson, the next man up on the depth chart and an oft-used rotational safety, was repping with the first-team as the Tigers ran a couple red-zone plays.
Second: Missouri basketball great and first-round 2023 NBA Draft pick Kobe Brown is in attendance at today’s game. He’s here with former hoops walk-on and team captain Ben Sternberg.
2:32 p.m.: Mizzou players are coming out of the south end zone in full uniform. Getting close to kickoff time in Columbia. For those into this sort of thing, the Tigers’ helmets have gold face masks today. I’m sure some will have an opinion about that.
2:01 p.m.: The final SEC availability report for Missouri and Vanderbilt is published. Starting Mizzou safety Joseph Charleston is available to play for Missouri, and there are no reported question marks for Missouri — other than Darris Smith and Sam Horn, who were ruled out for the season before it began.
Relevant news for Missouri’s opponent: Vanderbilt starting tight end Eli Stowers also is available. He’s quarterback Diego Pavia’s most frequent target, so look for the ‘Dores to look to him plenty now that he’s officially playing.
1:49 p.m.: Before heading back to the locker room for the final time before full team warmups, Brady Cook hit backup quarterback Drew Pyne on a 20+-yard fade to the left corner of the end zone. I’m not expecting to see that one show up in-game today, for what it’s worth.
1:44 p.m.: The gates are open at Memorial Stadium, and the first fans are making their way in. A reminder: Missouri has announced another sellout today, which would mark a ninth straight capacity crowd, dating back to last season.
1:24 p.m.: Brady Cook has made his way onto a rain-dampened Faurot Field for some pre-game warmups, along with the rest of Mizzou’s quarterback room. One of the more intriguing stories of the day will be the offensive game-plan. Could this be the day Kirby Moore lets the the deep ball loose? If you missed it, here is our story on the Tigers’ passing game from earlier in the week.
1:05 p.m.: New this week, Missouri has been providing nightly availability reports since Wednesday, per SEC regulations. There will be final one for the week 90 minutes before kickoff here, so, approximately 1:45 p.m. Right now, there aren’t any expected absentees for the Tigers. Starting safety Joseph Charleston was listed as ‘questionable’ earlier in the week but was upgraded to ‘probably’ Friday night.
12:55 p.m.: Missouri’s players have gone through ‘Tiger Walk’ and are in the building. We’re now a little less than 2 hours, 30 minutes from kickoff in Columbia.
12:36 p.m.: Good afternoon from Memorial Stadium. The Tribune is on site for Missouri football vs. Vanderbilt for the Tigers’ opening SEC game of the 2024 season. At least pregame, all eyes are on the overcast skies, with the potential for thunder and lightning looming around kickoff time. We’ll provide updates if they need to be made.
You can get up to speed on all of our Mizzou coverage previewing this week’s game at the following links:
More:Does Missouri football have a deep ball problem? A look inside the numbers
More:These 3 positions could make sure Missouri football puts Vanderbilt game to bed quickly
More:Missouri football vs. Vanderbilt: Scouting report, score prediction
More:Here’s what Vanderbilt’s coach, quarterback said ahead of Missouri football matchup
More:‘Put your big boy pants on’: How Missouri football is facing its penalty problems
More:Missouri football was error-prone, careless in win. Here’s why the response matters more
More:3 problems Missouri football needs to fix before SEC play begins
More:Former AD Desireé Reed-Francois, Missouri settle for $2 million as buyout is lowered
TV Channel: SEC Network
Stream: FUBO
Date: Saturday, Sept. 21
Time: 3:15 p.m. CDT
Missouri’s game against Vanderbilt will kick off at 3:15 p.m. Saturday and will air on SEC Network. The game is available to stream on FUBO, which offers a free trial.
Taylor Zarzour will be the play-by-play announcer for the game, and Matt Stinchcomb will be the on-air analyst on the SECN broadcast. Alyssa Lang will be the sideline reporter for the game.
Watch Missouri vs. Vanderbilt with FUBO
| Date (Time) | Opponent | Location |
| Aug. 29 | Missouri 51, Murray State 0 (1-0) | Columbia, Mo. |
| Sept. 7 | Missouri 38, Buffalo 0 (2-0) | Columbia, Mo. |
| Sept. 14 | Missouri 27, Boston College 21 (3-0) | Columbia, Mo. |
| Sept. 21 (3:15 p.m.) | Vanderbilt | Columbia, Mo. |
| IDLE | IDLE | IDLE |
| Oct. 5 (11 a.m.) | Texas A&M | College Station, Texas |
| Oct. 12 (TBA) | UMass | Amherst, Mass. |
| Oct. 19 (11 a.m.-noon) | Auburn | Columbia, Mo. |
| Oct. 26 (3:30-7 p.m.) | Alabama | Tuscaloosa, Ala. |
| IDLE | IDLE | IDLE |
| Nov. 9 (3:30-7 p.m.) | Oklahoma | Columbia, Mo. |
| Nov. 16 (2:30-3:30 p.m.) | South Carolina | Columbia, S.C. |
| Nov. 23 (2:30-3:30 p.m.) | Mississippi State | Starkville, Miss. |
| Nov. 30 (2:30-3:30 p.m.) | Arkansas | Columbia, Mo. |
| Dec. 7 | SEC Championship | Atlanta, Ga. |
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