Storylines to Watch When No. 15 Mizzou Takes On No. 10 Vanderbilt

Things to keep an eye on as the Tigers make their second straight road trip of the season.

Oct 11, 2025; Columbia, MO, USA; The Missouri Tigers celebrate a touchdown in the third quarter against the Alabama Crimson Tide at Faurot Field at Memorial Stadium. | Matt Guzman/MissouriOnSI

The No. 15 Missouri Tigers are nearly ready for their second big road test of the season, a game that likely wasn't highlighted on many people's schedules at the beginning of the season.

All of a sudden, the matchup has become a nationally important one. Given what the Tigers did on the road in Week 8 against Auburn, a game that resulted in an ugly Missouri win, the Tigers have a lot to improve on in order to walk out of Nashville, Tennessee, with a victory.

Just ask head coach Eli Drinkwitz about it.

“What a gutsy win. Incredibly proud of the staff and players for them to just keep fighting, Drinkwitz said following the win. "I mean, it was really, really ugly, but we just kept fighting."

Missouri now has a chance to show that it's improved in some of those very blatantly clear areas it struggled in during the Week 8 win. From the pad level of the offensive line, to not turning the ball over and not allowing explosive plays on defense, there certainly was plenty to improve on.

Those very weaknesses are going to be what make or break Missouri's chances of winning against Vanderbilt on Saturday. The Commodores are in the middle of a historic season and have all the skill and talent neccesarry to exploit the Tigers' weaknesses.

Here are three storylines to keep an eye on as the Tigers hit the road for a top 15 matchup against Vanderbilt.

Can Mizzou's ground game light a spark?

Oct 11, 2025; Columbia, MO; USA; Missouri Tigers running back Ahmad Hardy celebrates a rush against the Alabama Crimson Tide. | Amber Winkler/MissouriOnSI

There was a clear effort to establish the running game at a higher frequency in Missouri's win over Auburn, specifically in comparison to how the Tigers did so against Alabama the week prior. Technically, running back Ahmad Hardy did carry the ball 12 more times (for 24 total carries) than he did against Alabama.

That doesn't mean he was efficient.

With a striking 2.4 yard-per-carry average, Hardy struggled to generate any sort of chunk running play. That absolutely will need to change if the Tigers want a chance to win against Vanderbilt, a team that has a notoriously stout defensive line.

“If you're going to win on the road, you’re going to need to be able to run football," Drinkwitz said Tuesday.

The Commodores have the No. 16 best rushing defense in the country, allowing only 99.5 rushing yards per game. They prevented Caden Durham of LSU from having a big game in Week 8, while also keeping him out of the red zone. He only rushed for 59 yards on seven carries.

Auburn is also a team known for defending the run, so it does make sense that Hardy was ultimately shut down. Missouri absolutely could've done more to get him the ball more open in space, especially stemming from the offensive line, but Auburn had mostly all of the rushing attack on lock.

The Tigers have to find a way to get Hardy going on Saturday. They're going two weeks in a row now without him making any true explosive plays, which is a factor of the offense that's been severely lacking since Week 5 of the season.

How does the offensive line hold up?

Sep 6, 2025; Columbia, Missouri, USA; Missouri Tigers team Beau Pribula waits for a signal in the renewed Border Showdown between the Tigers and Kansas Jayhawks at Faurot Field at Memorial Stadium. | Amber Winkler/MissouriOnSI

One of the root issues of the lack of explosive plays so far stems from the offensive line. Quarterback Beau Pribula has been pressured so frequently that he has no choice but to try and make something happen on his feet, which hasn't always turned out well. They also haven't helped Hardy by creating holes, or getting any real push off the line in general.

This has to change as soon as possible if Missouri wants any hope of winning some of these big games, including this one at Vanderbilt. The Commodores have a dynamic pass-rushing group that features defensive end Miles Capers and defensive tackle Zaylin Wood, along with a deep group of players that help to defend the run.

The fundamentals of Missouri's offensive line will have to be on point at each position in order to find some offensive success in Week 9.

"I think it's a combination of making sure that we come back to plays that work, and it's a combination of making sure that our offensive line and tight ends are playing aggressive and they aren't overthinking it, playing with better fundamentals," Drinkwitz told the media.

According to Drinkwitz, the offensive line isn't playing as aggressively as it typically does. Why that's the case isn't exactly clear, but it is something that appears to be an emphasis in the build-up to Missouri's matchup with the Commodores.

"When you watch, there's some timidness, like we're not firing off the ball confident in this is our target, this is our landmark, we're resetting the line of scrimmage," Drinkwitz said. "We're timid on what they were going to do."

Vanderbilt's defensive front, whether it's in the running game or the pass game, is not going to be timid. Simply put, that has to change quickly on Missouri's end. If it doesn't, things could spiral in Nashville quickly.

Can Zion Young and company wreak havoc once again?

Sept 20, 2025; Columbia, Missouri, USA; Missouri Tigers defensive end Zion Young celebrates a sack of South Carolina quarterback LaNorris Sellers in the third quarter at Faurot Field. | Amber Winkler/MissouriOnSI

On a more positive note, the Missouri pass rush as a whole was arguably the best area of the team against Auburn. Not only did the group record five sacks, but they did it at timely moments in the game. Zion Young delivered a big one on Jackson Arnold in the first overtime period, while Damon Wilson II delivered the final blow in the second overtime period.

The Tigers are going to need a lot more where that came from to take down the Commodores. Stopping the elusive and powerful Diego Pavia at the quarterback spot might not be the easiest thing to do, but the Missouri defensive line has shown its ability to shut down big, mobile quarterbacks.

Young, Wilson and the rest of the defensive front will need some of that same magic against Vanderbilt. They've been great all season long and haven't slowed down, but Vanderbilt's offensive line and the uniqueness of Pavia at the quarterback position present some interesting challenges for the group.

Pavia can break tackles very easily, but is also very smart about where he goes and how he does it. It's very easy to miss Pavia once a player has beaten an offensive lineman, which will make wrapping up and being ready for his movement extremely important.

"We got to be really disciplined in how we tackle," Drinkwitz said. "Got to be disciplined in our angles, and it'll be a real challenge."