The Missouri Tigers were able to overcome a fumble, two missed extra points and two missed field goals to defeat Vanderbilt 26-17 on Saturday afternoon at Faurot Field to give Barry Odom his first head coaching win at Mizzou. The defense forced two turnovers and sacked Vandy quarterback Kyle Shurmur six times.
Drew Lock completed 22 of 37 passes for 294 yards and two touchdowns, Damarea Crockett had 20 carries for 154 yards and a touchdown and J’Mon Moore hauled in eight passes for 138 yards and two touchdowns, including an 82-yard score with 9:50 remaining in the second quarter.
Mizzou gained 481 yards for their highest total in SEC play in two years.
The key stat in the game was third down conversions. The Missouri defense was able to stop drives from Vanderbilt and the Tigers were able to extend. Vandy was held to just 3 of 14 attempts on third down and missed a fourth down conversion deep in Tiger territory in the second quarter. Missouri converted 10 of 19 third down attempts, including 7 of 11 in the second half.
In addition to the six sacks, the Tigers had nine tackles for loss, really taking advantage of getting Vandy into must pass situations. Charles Harris had eight tackles -three of them for losses, 2.5 sacks and a forced fumble. Marcell Frazier had two sacks.
Aarion Penton had a pick six from 19 yards out to give Mizzou an early 13-0 advantage.
Missouri had their share of mistakes. Freshman Tucker McCann missed two extra points as well as a 21-yd field goal attempt. He also missed on a 55 yarder at the end of the first half. Barry Odom said the kicking competition will be open this week.
The Tigers (3-7, 1-5 SEC) visit Tennessee (7-3, 3-3 SEC) next Saturday.
