Nov. 18, 2017
By Zac Ellis
VUCommodores.com
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Vanderbilt wasn’t able to secure a victory on Senior Night.
Visiting Missouri built a double-digit lead before halftime and the Commodores were unable to rally in a 45-17 loss on Saturday.
Here’s how it went down:
WHAT HAPPENED: Vanderbilt trailed Missouri 7-0 after the first quarter in what amounted to a defensive showing early on. But the Tigers found their groove in the second quarter, building a double-digit lead before the half. The Commodores found life after the break by scoring a pair of touchdowns to cut Missouri’s lead to 35-14. Still, the visiting squad squashed Vanderbilt’s rally to hold on for a win.
TURNING POINT: The second quarter. That’s when Missouri poured on 28 straight points to take a 35-0 lead into half. During that stretch, the Tigers scored in all three phases, tacking on an interception return for a score from Brandon Lee as well as a 74-yard punt return for a touchdown from Richaud Floyd.
HELMET STICKERS
WR Richaud Floyd (Missouri)
The wide receiver Floyd impacted the game in more ways than one. He caught a 30-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter that gave Missouri a 28-0 lead. Following Vanderbilt’s ensuing possession, Floyd hauled in a Dores punt and returned it 74 yards for another touchdown.
TE Jared Pinkney (Vanderbilt)
Pinkney put up a career day against Missouri. The stocky tight end set a new career-high with 119 receiving yards on six catches.
LB Cale Garrett (Missouri)
Garrett led the Tigers in virtually every defensive statistical category on Saturday. He paced Missouri with 12 total tackles, eight individual tackles, one sack and two tackles for loss.
GIVE ME THE NUMBERS
6.7
Yards per play averaged by Missouri’s offense against Vanderbilt. Quarterback Drew Lock and the Tigers came in averaging better than 50 points during their four-game winning streak, and they looked the part of a well-oiled machine. That number jumped to 9.7 per play during Mizzou’s game-changing second quarter.
3
Interceptions thrown by Vanderbilt quarterback Kyle Shurmur. One week after tossing a career-high four picks vs. Kentucky, Shurmur made a few more costly mistakes on Saturday. His interception in the second quarter led to a Richaud Floyr pick-six.
100
Yards of offense accumulated by Vanderbilt before halftime. Missouri’s 35-0 lead at the break was partly a result of the Dores’ inability to move the ball. Vanderbilt turned things on in the second half to finish with 399 total yards, but it was too little, too late for Shurmur and company.
WORTH NOTING: Ralph Webb‘s 20-yard run in the third quarter put him over 4,000 rushing yards for his career. Vanderbilt’s all-time leading rusher is just the ninth player in SEC history surpass that milestone.
WHAT’S NEXT: Vanderbilt closes the regular season on the road against Tennessee next Saturday, Nov. 25. Kickoff is 3 p.m. CT on SEC Network.
Zac Ellis is the Writer and Digital Media Editor for Vanderbilt Athletics.
