Mizzou falls short at Vanderbilt; Pribula exits with injury
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (KMIZ)
No. 15 Mizzou (6-2) suffered more than just a loss at FirstBank Stadium.
Quarterback Beau Pribula was forced to leave Saturday's 17-10 defeat at No. 10 Vanderbilt (7-1) with an ankle injury. The Penn State transfer was taken to the locker room in a wheelchair with an air cast on his leg.
"Beau has no broken bones, but he did have an ankle injury that had to be pop back in, so I don't have a timetable for his return, but it could be a while," head coach Eli Drinkwitz said. "It's an ankle dislocation...We think we'll MRI tomorrow and see what what the results are."
You can watch the full postgame press conference with Coach Eli in the video player below.
After both teams punted on each of their first three possessions, MU broke the scoreless tie with its second-longest drive of the afternoon. The Tigers manufactured a 13-play, 69-yard drive to set the table for a successful 39-yard field goal from Robert Meyer in the last six minutes of the second quarter.
However, Vanderbilt answered the three-point deficit with a field goal on the following drive. Diego Pavia started moving the chains on the first play of the possession, connecting with Tre Richardson for a 37-yard catch to set up an eventual 38-yard kick from Brock Taylor.
"I feel like we defended [Diego Pavia] really well. You know, we had a great game plan and we executed. At the end of the day, you know, if we don't let up any points...then we win the football game, but so we just got to go back to the drawing board, execute this bye week and just get ready for Texas A&M," linebacker Josiah Trotter said.
You can watch the full postgame interview with Trotter in the video player below.
The score remained a three-point tie until the final minutes of the third quarter. Vanderbilt visited the end zone for the first time with an 80-yard rushing touchdown from Makhilyn Young to put the Commodores ahead 10-3. Then, both teams traded touchdowns in the final 15 minutes.
True freshman quarterback Matt Zollers came into the ball game and remained calm under pressure.
In the fourth quarter, he led the Tigers into the end zone for the first time in this Top-15 showdown. A 12-play, 75-yard drive ended with a six-yard touchdown pass from Zollers to tight end Jude James to tie the game up at 10 points apiece.
However, the Commodores wouldn't let the Tigers have the last laugh. Pavia and company ran down the clock with a more than five-minute touchdown drive in the fourth quarter to go back on top by seven points.
Despite all the adversity MU faced, it still had a chance to tie it with less than a minute left in the game. In fact, Zollers lifted up a 36-yard Hail Mary, which was caught by wide receiver Kevin Coleman Jr., but his knee came down just six inches short of a game-tying touchdown.
"Matt's, you know, fearlessness, courage, like he's going to lay his life out for the team, just like Beau did," center Connor Tollison said. "I mean, he's kind of bright future. I could've told you that. Like he's been great at practice and his times now and we'll see what he can do."
You can watch the full postgame interview with Tollison in the video player below.
Zollers finished the game 14-for-23 with a game-best 138 passing yards and a touchdown.
Coleman Jr. and Ahmad Hardy were Mizzou's top two playmakers. The team's leading receiver registered seven catches for a game-high 109 yards and the SEC's leading rusher turned 20 carries into 97 yards on the ground.
Up next - Mizzou will have its second bye week before hosting Texas A&M to kick off its final two-game homestand of the 2025 season. The Tigers and Aggies will meet on Saturday, Nov. 8 at Faurot Field.
