Takeaways From Vanderbilt's 17-10 Win Over Missouri

NASHVILLE—Missouri third-string quarterback Matt Zollers chucked it up and gave Missouri a chance and completed a pass 36-yard pass to Kevin Coleman Jr. that could've changed things and sent this to overtime. Coleman was short, though.

As a result, the magic continued for this Vanderbilt team as it took down the Tigers 17-10. Here's a few takeaways from that performance.

It wasn’t pretty, but Vanderbilt found a way to win ugly

That wasn't what College Gameday envisioned when it decided to come to West End. It wasn’t what Vanderbilt envisioned as it envisioned celebrating a Saturday-night win. Yet, it was a win that says something about this Vanderbilt team.

It was a grinder rather than a shootout. It was ugly. It was mistake-filled. Yet, Vanderbilt was just good enough to win without a perfect showing.

This team is alive. That’s what matters coming out of Saturday.

Vanderbilt is still alive and well in the College Football Playoff race

Vanderbilt is now 7-1 and will be included in the AP Top 10 on Sunday afternoon, that could be just a blip on the radar by the time this is over.

College Gameday’s Rece Davis said Friday that this Vanderbilt team reminded him of the Indiana team that found its way into the Playoff last season. It appears as if that feeling has continued after Saturday’s win over Missouri.

Vanderbilt needs to go 3-1 in its final four games for a Playoff berth. That’s well within reach for this team.

MK Young’s 80 yarder changed the game

It was dull and dreary as it could get. Then MK Young happened.

Vanderbilt pulled its right guard and tackle, sent Eli Stowers and Junior Sherrill to throw important blocks on the perimeter and handed it to Young. Young returned the favor to Vanderbilt offensive coordinator by turning the corner down the visiting sideline and taking it 80 yards to the end zone.

It was the moment of Young’s short Vanderbilt career to this point, he brought some life to this game and this Vanderbilt team.

So did CJ Heard’s excellent play in the backfield

When it appeared as if Missouri was going to walk down the field and grind the clock out until this one was over, CJ Heard happened.

Heard ripped a handoff out of the hands of Jamal Roberts’ hands as if he was a gladiator looking to make a living in a savage way. Heard was brought to Vanderbilt to come down and make plays like he did on Saturday.

The one he made allowed Vanderbilt to find a way to score and propelled it to a Saturday win.

Vanderbilt had severe penalty issues that it has to fix

If Vanderbilt is going to win according to its blueprint, it has to quit shooting itself in the foot like it did on Saturday. Vanderbilt had a chance to win despite the penalties, but left a significant amount of points on the board because of a number of plays that were out of character for it.

Vanderbilt had eight penalties that cost it 83 yards on the day. One cost Vanderbilt 15 yards on a punt that was fair caught. One took it out of field goal range. One pulled a touchdown off the board.

This program that has dedicated itself to winning in the margins has to be disappointed in the way it did itself in at times on Saturday.

How about a few timely stops from Vanderbilt’s defense?

Say what you will about the time of possession differential and Vanderbilt’s defense’s role in that, but it played its butt off when it mattered most.

Missouri had a chance to take the drivers’ seat on a short field, but Miles Capers stuffed Beau Pribula on fourth down to hold the Tigers’ scoreless. Another drive that looked to be an inevitable scoring drive ended in a field goal long enough for Tigers’ kicker Robert Meyer to doink it off the upright. Most importantly, when Vanderbilt needed one stop to put this thing away on the final drive, it came through.

That’s what should be remembered about this defense on this day.

A 0-0 first quarter wasn’t on the bingo card

Vanderbilt and Missouri are both high-powered enough to really take hold of a game offensively. Not at the beginning of Saturday afternoon’s contest, though.

Beck’s offense punted on each of its drives, was consistently behind the sticks and didn’t move the ball all that much throughout the first 15 minutes. Luckily for it, its defense was constantly in the backfield, had nice gap integrity and shut down the Missouri offense in the same timespan.

Vanderbilt–which hadn’t been shut out in a first quarter prior to Saturday’s game–and Missouri didn’t appear to be shut out able teams, but there they were knotted at 0-0 after a quarter.

Steve Gregory was pretty aggressive and Vanderbilt got some natural pressure, too

Vanderbilt’s offense struggled, but its defense attacked Missouri from the beginning of the game on and made things difficult on quarterback Beau Pribula. It felt as if Vanderbilt never let the Penn State transfer get completely comfortable.

The Commodore defense picked up only one sack, but seven quarterback hurries and allowed just 10 points. It often sent STAR Randon Fontenette as well as Nick Rinaldi to get pressure and benefitted from it.

A better–albeit not perfect–crowd

A week after LSU fans all but took over FirstBank Stadium, it appeared as if Vanderbilt was able to defend its bleachers a bit as Missouri came to town. Perhaps Missouri’s fanbase isn’t quite as large as LSU’s, but Vanderbilt is among the shortest drives in the SEC from its campus.

The press box consensus indicated that Vanderbilt owned around 60% of the crowd share on Saturday and didn’t give up much ground outside of the sections on the visiting sideline that have been taken over by opposing defenses for most of the time this place has been in operation.

Saturday was a tough ticket around Nashville and it appears as if Vanderbilt fans are answering the call more than they have in previous games.