COLUMBIA, Mo. – A 25-yard touchdown pass from Brady Cook to Luther Burden III and a 37-yard field by Blake Craig allowed the No. 7 Missouri Tigers (4-0, 1-0) to prevail in double overtime, 30-27, against the Vanderbilt Commodores (2-2, 0-1) in the Southeastern Conference opener for both teams.
The victory was not secured until Vanderbilt’s Brock Taylor missed a 31-yard field goal that he hooked left from the right hash mark on the Commodores’ second OT possession.
With the win, Mizzou extended its winning streak to eight games, the nation’s longest, and the longest for the Tigers since a 13-game streak spanned the 1960 and 1961 seasons.
Vanderbilt got the ball first in overtime and scored on a two-yard pass from Diego Pavia to Gabe Fisher. But Missouri answered on its first extra time play with Cook hitting Burden III in the back left corner of the end zone.
Craig then kicked his overtime field goal to begin the second frame, handing the home side a 30-27 edge. Vanderbilt got the ball at the 25 and advanced to the Mizzou 13-yard line before Kristian Williams batted away a third-down pass and Taylor missed the tying field goal attempt.
The Tigers trailed 13-10 at halftime but tied the score on a 54-yard field goal by Craig on Mizzou’s first second-half possession. Later in the third quarter, the Tigers earned their first lead, 20-13, on a three-yard touchdown run by Marcus Carroll. The touchdown was set up by a 64-yard run by Nate Noel, who finished the contest with 24 carries for a career-high 199 yards.
The Commodores knotted the score with an 80-yard drive capped by a four-yard scoring run on an option pitch to AJ Newberry. Neither team was able to break the deadlock in the fourth quarter forcing the extra periods.
Both teams had scoring passes in the first quarter – a 65-yarder from Pavia to Joseph McVay to open the scoring – and a 20-yard pass from Cook to Burden, who has now scored six touchdowns in three career games against Vanderbilt. He finished the contest with six receptions for 76 yards and recorded his fifth-straight game with a touchdown. Cook completed 23-of-37 passes for 226 yards with two scores.
In the second quarter, Taylor kicked a 27-yard field goal to give Vanderbilt a 10-7 lead. Craig then connected on a 23-yarder to tie the game at 10-10. On the last play of the half, Taylor booted one from 57 yards to give the ‘Dores the halftime lead.
Vanderbilt gained 166 of its 324 total yards in the first quarter, before Mizzou’s defense held them to minus-two yards in the second frame. The Tigers finished with 442 total yards – 216 rushing and 226 passing.
Safety Marvin Burks Jr. led the Missouri defense with a career-high 12 tackles. Defensive tackle Chris McClellan and defensive end Zion Young each added seven apiece.
UP NEXT
The Tigers head into an open date, before playing their first road game of the season at Texas A&M on Saturday, Oct. 5. Game time at Kyle Field in College Station, Texas, will be 11 a.m. with the game being televised by either ABC or ESPN.
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