Inside the Final Play of No. 10 Vanderbilt’s Win Over No. 15 Missouri

Vanderbilt survived a last second scare from Missouri. Here is an inside look into the play.

Oct 25, 2025; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Missouri Tigers wide receiver Joshua Manning (0) is tackled by Vanderbilt Commodores safety Marlen Sewell (7) during the third quarter at FirstBank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-Imagn Images | Steve Roberts-Imagn Images

NASHVILLE – It was the game that held the epitome of going down to the wire. To be more specific, it was the game that came down to quite possibly a blade of grass. And it worked in the favor of Vanderbilt.

Six seconds left, Vanderbilt head coach Clark Lea called his defense back over to the sidelines one final time for a timeout. It was third down and 17 yards to go for the Missouri offense. But in reality, it was really the final play of the game. It might as well have been 4th and 37.

Then, Vanderbilt’s defense returned onto the field for the final time of the night. With a similar defensive look, the Commodores were itching for a victory. With only three defenders rushing at Missouri quarterback Matt Zollers, it gave the Tigers time and space to throw down the field with eight Vanderbilt defenders down the field.

Zollers stepped back to the 45-yard yard line, took a step forward and launched the ball in the air towards the Vanderbilt goal line. As the ball landed in the hands of Missouri wide receiver Kevin Coleman Jr., there was a brief pause in the crowd. The original call? An incomplete pass that was immediately followed by a roar from the Vanderbilt crowd. But then the play went to review.

Turns out, the ball was caught. But it was not enough. Coleman Jr. caught the ball from Zollers, but it did not matter. Coleman Jr.’s knee landed less than a yard short of the goal line. After a nearly three-minute review that felt like ages for Vanderbilt fans, the game was over and was won by the Commodores. A day that started out with the eyes of the nation being featured on ESPN’s “College Gameday” ends in a dramatic fashion that even scriptwriters could not think of.

Vanderbilt safety CJ Heard was lined up on the opposite end of the goal line of where Coleman Jr. caught the pass. But despite not being in the pile going up for the ball, he had a perfect view of the play. He knew it was short. In fact, Heard went up to the ref to make sure he knew he was seeing the play correctly.

“After he caught it, I went up to the ref. I was like ‘okay if you rule that a catch, is he in for a touchdown?’ And he was like ‘no, he’s down at the one.’ So I was happy. I knew it was not a touchdown,” Heard said with a smile on his face as he recounted the play.

As Heard pedaled back toward the end zone, his job was to get back and help with the double team on Missouri wide receiver Donovan Olugbode. Not only did he do his job, but his teammates did theirs and helped seal the victory.

Meanwhile on the sidelines, Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia watched the final play and waited for the long-awaited review announcement. There was not any panic nor was there even any worry in his mind. For Pavia, it was all about faith in his teammates of getting the job done on a play where he needed them most.

“I got a lot of faith in our defense, I’ll tell you that,” Pavia said. “It’s just how you prevail. You go through these hard times and then we play real complimentary football. The defense lifted up the offense and the offense lifted up the defense at times. That’s a credit to everyone really being bonded together.”

At the end of the day, the moment of exhale from the call on the replay was palpable. The brief nervousness from the crowd quickly turned into jubilation as Vanderbilt's terrific start to the 2025 season continued. Sure, there are things that need to be cleaned up. But when the Vanderbilt offense needed its teammates on the opposite side of the ball to put together one last crucial stop, they did.

In college football, fans, viewers and coaches learn a lot about teams when adversity strikes or how a team responds when a team just is not having a day it is used to having. For Vanderbilt, that was exactly the case. Seemingly every major statistical category went against the Commodores Saturday night, but the final play defined everything. Football is a game of inches. Vanderbilt and its defense found a way to put itself on the right side of it against Missouri.

“We made the play at the end to separate, but we’re not getting to where we want if we don’t find ways to win games like this tonight,” Lea said.