No. 15 Mizzou football on the hunt for first Top-10 road win since 2013

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The resurgence of No. 10 Vanderbilt football is a storyline that has swept the college football world in 2025, as the Commodores are off to their best seven-game start since the 1950s. In fact, it's such a big story that the traveling pregame show, 'College GameDay,' is bringing its party to the Music City for Saturday's matchup against No. 15 Mizzou.

The show's first time visiting Vandy since 2008 will not only thrust head coach Clark Lea and his team into the national spotlight, but head coach Eli Drinkwitz and his unit, as well.

However, if you ask Coach Drink...this weekend's festivities aren't about the No. 15 Tigers.

"Is it in FirstBank Stadium? Doesn't affect anything for us. We're the road team, so we'll show up, go to the visitors locker room, we'll walk out onto the field and play the game," he said. "Whatever else they got for their fans there is up to them, but it doesn't affect us. I don't think they even want to talk to us."

You can watch the full press conference with Coach Drinkwitz in the video player below.

The Tigers have appeared in a College GameDay matchup a total of seven times and ride a two-game winning streak in those games into this matchup against Vanderbilt. Coach Eli and his team will also look for the program's first Top-10 road win since MU beat then-No. 7 Georgia in 2013.

Mizzou will roll into Nashville to face a team that's fresh off of toppling then-No. 10 LSU over the weekend. Although Vanderbilt has been a team that's floated around the bottom of the conference for years, Drinkwitz said that they haven't been an easy out in the entire time he's coached in Columbia.

"In 2021, it was a one-possession game. In 2022, it was a one possession game, we needed a fourth-and-one stop by [Darius Robinson] to seal the game. In 2023, it was a 10-point game and they cut it to one-possession in the fourth quarter. Last year was the double-overtime game," Drinkwitz said. "It's always been a competitive, one-score game."

Drinkwitz said that one of the Commodore's biggest improvements has come at quarterback, as Diego Pavia has taken the college football world by storm in 2025.

His run game has become infamous to opposing defenses, but Pavia has also improved his passing game quite a bit from just one season ago. He ranks seventh in the conference, just behind Mizzou quarterback Beau Pribula, in yards thrown in 2025 with 1,569.

"I think he's just improved his accuracy," Drinkwitz said. "He's another year into the system and with the cohesion of that group. You know, he's a very headsy runner. He knows how to attack angles, he knows how to utilize pump fakes, he knows how to eliminate angles, which is really just savviness. He can get skinny and he can lower his shoulder, I mean, he's got all the traits you want in a really tough, physical runner."

The Tigers have faced a few mobile quarterbacks in 2025 and, overall, found success against each one. the MU defense limited South Carolina quarterback LaNorris Sellers to just -28 yards on the ground and Kansas quarterback Jalon Daniels to 25.

However, of all the mobile guys that Mizzou has seen this season, Drinkwitz said that none do the improvisation piece better than Pavia.

Linebacker Josiah Trotter said when it comes down to facing those kinds of guys, it's all about execution.

"[Diego's] a great QB. He's up for the Heisman," Trotter said. "Doing our job, that's really the biggest thing and just rally to the football. You know, it's hard to make a lot of guys miss when everybody's running to the football, so we just got to make sure we execute our job, run to the football and just do what we do."

You can watch the full press conference with Trotter in the video player below.

Lea's team also utilizes a pair of tight ends quite a bit in their offense.

Veteran Eli Stowers leads Vanderbilt in receiving in his graduate season, with 355 yards through seven games. He's also added on two touchdowns on an average of 12.7 yards per catch. Meanwhile, his counterpart Cole Spence is also in the top five of receiving yards for the Commodores this season, with 127 on the year.

"They have two great tight ends," safety Marvin Burks Jr. said. "I feel like that's a little bit of why they go to their tight ends a lot in their offense, but I haven't really seen a lot of teams use their tight ends that much."

You can watch the full press conference with Burks Jr. in the video player below.

In order to find success in Nashville, Coach Drink and his team will need to bring intensity, composure and elite execution to FirstBank Stadium.

One position group that will need tighten up a bit will be the offense line, after an up-and-down outing in the double-overtime win over Auburn, on Saturday. The Tigers only rushed for 91 yards in that one, which is the first time that the team has been held under 100 yards rushing in 2025.

Additionally, the offensive line allowed three sacks on Pribula, some in crucial situations.

"I would say we just have to be better," offensive lineman Keagan Trost said. "We need to play more physical and make sure we're all on the same page and just play better."

You can watch the full press conference with Trost, as well as wide receiver Joshua Manning in the video players below.

At the end of the day, though, Drinkwitz said those changes come down to coaches and not just players.

"It's not fair, I think, as coaches to get up here and illustrate or push all the blame to the players. Like, at the end of the day, it's my job and my coaches' job. We get paid a hell of a lot of money to put these guys in the right positions and we got to do it," he said.

Up next - No. 15 Mizzou and No. 10 Vanderbilt will face off in the Music City on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. on ESPN.