Tyler Badie piled up 294 total yards and scored two touchdowns as the Missouri Tigers outlasted the Vanderbilt Commodores 37-28 in Nashville, Tenn., Saturday.
The Tigers (4-4 overall, 1-3 in the Southeastern Conference) snapped their five-game conference losing streak. The Commodores (2-7, 0-5) lost their 18th straight SEC game.
Badie rushed 31 times for 254 yards and caught eight passes for 40 yards. Harrison Mevis kicked field goals of 46, 32 and 52 yards for Missouri to run his streak to 19 consecutive made field goals.
Tigers quarterback Connor Bazelak completed 22 of 28 passes for 218 yards and a touchdown before suffering an injury with 6:47 left to play.
After rushing for just 9 yards last week against Mississippi State, Vanderbilt gained 258 yards on the ground.
Vanderbilt quarterback Mike Wright rushed for 152 yards and completed 14-of-28 passes for 122 yards and three touchdowns. Patrick Smith rushed for 95 yards and a touchdown
Missouri broke out to a 10-0 first-quarter lead, scoring with Mevis’ 46-yard field goal and Badie’s 13-yard touchdown run.
The Tigers had a chance to expand that lead after blocking a Commodores punt and recovering it at the Vanderbilt 15-yard line.
But the momentum shifted when Max Worship intercepted Bazelak’s pass at the 2-yard line with 4:40 left in the first quarter. Two plays later Wright ran 69 yards up the right sideline to set up his 7-yard touchdown pass to Cam Johnson.
Vanderbilt moved ahead 14-10 with a 13-play, 84-yard touchdown drive capped by Smith’s 10-yard scoring run.
After the Commodores failed to convert a fake field goal attempt with 15 seconds left in the first half, the Tigers took a 17-14 lead with Bazelak’s 45-yard “Hail Mary” touchdown pass to Keke Chism as time expired.
Missouri expanded its lead to 24-14 in the third period with a seven-play, 59-yard touchdown drive capped by Badie’s 15-yard run.
The Commodores quickly cut the lead to 24-21. Wright’s 70-yard run set up his 4-yard touchdown shovel pass to Gavin Schoenwald.
Mevis’ 32-yard field goal to open the fourth quarter pushed Missouri’s lead to 27-21, then his 52-yarder made it 30-21.
The Commodores cut the lead to 30-28 with Wright’s 6-yard touchdown pass to Johnson. But Badie responded with a 73-yard run to set up the game-clinching 2-yard touchdown run by backup quarterback Tyler Macon.
–Field Level Media
