Despite Vanderbilt Loss, No. 15 Mizzou Emerges as a Team of ‘Fighters’

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Football is a game of inches.

For the No. 15 Missouri Tigers, it was a matter of inches that determined their second loss of the season to the No. 10 Vanderbilt Commodores.

“You got a bunch of fighters in that room,” head coach Eli Drinkwitz said following the loss. “Those guys are fighting their butt off and played really hard. I mean, they got a fumble on the one-inch line. [It] got overturned, but they're doing everything they can to give us a chance, and then the ball gets thrown to the one-inch line. So we're giving ourselves opportunities.”

At the same time, the entire outlook of Missouri’s entire season changed in the third quarter of its matchup against Vanderbilt when starting quarterback Beau Pribula exited the game on a medical cart.

READ: Mizzou QB Beau Pribula to Miss Remainder of Regular Season, Per Report

The Tigers did find themselves in a one-score situation, an area they’re usually comfortable with. This time, it didn’t go their way.

With all of that being said, this was a true showing of resiliency and toughness, despite another loss to their record.

“I thought our guys really rallied,” Drinkwitz said. ”I think the morale and energy got kind of taken from us, the gut punch on the missed field goal because we had the ball down there twice and came away with zero points. But they fought back and gave us a chance in the fourth.”

Oct 25, 2025; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Vanderbilt Commodores quarterback Diego Pavia (2) dives over Missouri Tigers defenders for a one-yard touchdown during the fourth quarter at FirstBank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-Imagn Images | Steve Roberts-Imagn Images

Missouri’s second loss of the season truly put things into picture, especially for Drinkwitz. That being said, the season isn’t done for Missouri.

“There's still a lot of football left, a lot of opportunities left,” Drinkwitz said. The reality of it is, like I told them in there, we're probably not playing for the conference championship now with two losses, but we're darn sure playing for the playoffs.”

A Diego Pavia touchdown for the Commodores with 1:52 to play in the fourth quarter was, at the time, the final straw for the Tigers. In the time between that and Pribula going down, all the Tigers did was scratch, claw and fight to stay within striking distance on both sides of the ball.

“You see a team that fought, especially when the starting quarterback went down, throughout the whole game, and that's something you love to see from both sides of the ball,” linebacker Josiah Trotter said.

Even before Pribula went down, the Tigers didn’t have much going on offense, mainly in part to the opposing defense. Pribula did manage to string together some big throws and running back Ahmad Hardy broke off some big runs, but none of those plays turned into touchdowns.

Freshman quarterback Matt Zollers was the next man up at the quarterback spot and he nearly delivered an instant-classic performance. For his first meaningful snaps, he did his job well, including a 6-yard touchdown on a pitch-and-catch to tight end Jude James.

READ: Mizzou Has Confidence in Matt Zollers to Fill In After 'Fearless' Debut

Oct 25, 2025; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Missouri Tigers quarterback Beau Pribula (9) passes during the third quarter against the Vanderbilt Commodores at FirstBank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-Imagn Images | Steve Roberts-Imagn Images

He nearly brought the Tigers to the promise land on their final play, but like the Vanderbilt offensive series just minutes before, it came up a few inches short.

There were a few momentum-turning plays that kept Missouri around, especially on defense. A tip-drill interception from Damon Wilson II placed the Tigers 20 yards from the end zone, but it didn’t turn into any points, with Pribula failing to reach the end zone on a fourth-and-2 from the 2-yard line, the same play he was injured.

Another near-turning point came right before Pavia scored on the 1-yard line. Vanderbilt running back Sedrick Alexander lost the ball on the goal line, a ball that was recovered by defensive tackle Sterling Webb. The officials declared that Alexander was down before he lost the ball, but that put on full display that the Tigers were doing everything in their power to come on the right side of the scoreboard.

Penalties killed both teams all night long, but ended up affecting Missouri the most. For a team that typically doesn’t commit them, acting out three in the final drive, which needed to be the game-tying one, was a game-changer.

Both Missouri and Vanderbilt committed eight penalties apiece, reverting multiple scoring chances for both squads. Missouri’s total penalty yards ended at 88.

“I think coming into the game, we were the least penalized team in the SEC and tonight we both had eight,” Drinkwitz said. “So we got to do a better job of not creating penalties, which create negatives.”

The Tigers avoided getting down early in the game, stopping Vanderbilt on its first three drives. Fortunately for the home team, they did the same.

Both defenses were so good that it took 24:49 for either team to score. That was a duty left to freshman kicker Robert Meyer, who drilled a field goal from 39 yards. All Vanderbilt could do in the first half was match that, with Brock Taylor drilling a kick from one yard shorter.

The next points didn’t come until the 3:51 marker in the third quarter, the series directly after Pribula went down and was carted off. A stunned Missouri defense allowed an 80-yard score from Commodore running back Makihlyn Young, which was an uncharacteristically bad mistake from the Tiger defense.

“That play is really disappointing, because I thought we'd pretty much held them in check the entire game,” Drinkwitz said. I mean, they had no green room, we just put them in a bad spot on that last fumble.”

The last Missouri points came on that Zollers touchdown. He made multiple good throws between that point, including a fourth-down strike to Kevin Coleman Jr. and one to Coleman shortly after for 36 to extend that final drive, but it simply was not enough.

Finding momentum in this game was a challenge. The Missouri offense was on the field for 36:12 compared to Vanderbilt’s 23:48, yet they were not able to take advantage of that time. It put the Tiger defense in an odd situation, where finding some flow and rhythm in a choppy game became challenging.

“We always say, bring your own juice,” Missouri safety Daylan Carnell said. “You can't rely on the crowd, can't rely on momentum. You got to bring it. You got to bring it yourself.”

Drinkwitz and the Tigers will now go back to the drawing board, though their season is nowhere near its completion.

There’s still a long season ahead for Missouri. Now with two losses, each game on its schedule will be considered a must-win for its playoff implications.

“We'll figure it out, starting as soon as I get on the plane,” Drinkwtiz said. “We'll come up with a plan. We'll attack it, and Mizzou will be proud.”

Next up for Missouri is a bye week. They'll face No. 3 Texas A&M the week after on Nov. 8.

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