COLUMBIA, Mo. -- The mess went down to the wire, but Missouri won.
The No. 7 Tigers went to two overtimes against Vanderbilt, at risk of an upset that would have jeopardized their College Football Playoff hopes -- but they escaped.
Brady Cook found Luther Burden III in the end zone on MU's first offensive play of overtime before Vanderbilt missed a field goal in the second overtime to give Mizzou a 30-27 victory and preserve an undefeated record.
The Commodores opened the extra period with a touchdown. MU responded with an immediate touchdown of its own. In double-OT, the Tigers settled for a field goal before forcing Vanderbilt to try the same, only for the visitors to miss from 30 yards away.
Running back Nate Noel was the highlight of Mizzou's offense, rushing for a career-high 199 yards off 24 carries.
Cook struggled to string together much of significance in the passing game, completing 23-of-37 passes for 226 yards and two touchdowns.
In the run-up to Saturday's contest, Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz talked of buffing out the unforced errors that popped up in the Tigers' first three games of the season.
"It's not about our opponent," he said. "It's about us and our approach and how much better we can improve, how much more disciplined and consistent we can be in all three phases."
Not much, it would seem.
An illegal formation penalty -- not the first of the season -- on a Mizzou third down forced the Tigers to punt on their opening drive.
Then on Vanderbilt's second possession, a coverage breakdown reminiscent of one busted play against Boston College last week gifted the visitors a 65-yard gimme over the top of the MU secondary. Vandy wide receiver Joseph McVay's first collegiate catch on the play produced a long score.
Trailing by seven, runs from Cook and Noel drove Missouri back down the field. A snappy play design created an equalizing touchdown: On a play that looked to be moving leftward, Cook flipped his hips to roll out against the grain as Burden did the same farther downfield. With the tandem as the only players on the right side of the field, a prompt completion gave Burden room to burst to the pylon for a 20-yard touchdown.
Vandy quarterback Diego Pavia, perhaps emboldened by his deep completion on the last possession, evaded MU defensive end Zion Young in the backfield and broke past safety Tre'Vez Johnson for a 36-yard scramble down the sideline. Young came up with a points-saving sack on a third down near the goal line, getting just enough contact on Pavia to bring down the Commodores quarterback and force the visitors to settle for a field goal.
Back behind the 'Dores, Mizzou's wheels threatened to come off. Safety Marvin Burks Jr. let a ground ball kickoff get behind him, requiring a panicking scoop. He ran backwards in search of open space, leading to the Tigers starting their drive at their own 2-yard line.
They marched 91 yards downfield. Wideout Theo Wease Jr. made a one-handed catch and run to earn some breathing room. Noel cut upfield on an outside zone play at the right time for a weaving 32-yard gain, then later in the drive slipped through a hole for 18 yards to funnel the ball down to the 8-yard line.
Facing a third-and-1 close to the goal line, Mizzou dialed up a designed run for Cook. Not seeing an immediate opening, he hesitated and was taken down for no gain. Kicker Blake Craig missed a 24-yard chip shot off the upright, keeping the score at 10-7.
He got another try on a very similar kick on Missouri's next drive and made it. Cook threw the ball to a covered Mekhi Miller in the end zone -- perhaps to draw a flag that did not come -- on third down, bring out Craig to convert a 23-yarder and tie the game at 10-all.
There was 1:17 left in the first half at that point -- just enough for Drinkwitz and the Missouri staff to make a clock management blunder.
Vanderbilt went three-and-out quickly enough for the Tigers to get the ball back with 57 seconds on the clock. Not getting much traction, they faced a fourth down with a running clock and no need to run another play before halftime. Mizzou did anyway, and Cook was sacked with eight seconds left.
That was just enough time for the Commodores to run one play, call a timeout and kick a 55-yard field goal for a 13-10 halftime advantage.
"That's on me," Drinkwitz told radio sideline reporter Chris Gervino on his way to the locker room. "I put our defense in a bad spot."
Right guard Cam'Ron Johnson getting driven backwards into Cook stalled the Tigers' first drive of the third quarter, leading to boos when the offense left the field. Craig bailed out the drive with a 54-yard field goal to tie the score at 13.
Early in MU's next possession, Noel charged downfield for a 64-yard run that set up a short rushing score for fellow tailback Marcus Carroll. The four-play touchdown drive put Missouri ahead 20-13 for its first lead of the game.
Close to seizing momentum for good, the Tigers' defense forced a three-and-out -- the fourth such result from the Commodores' last five drives.
Vanderbilt settled things down just before the end of the third quarter. Two explosive rushes brought the visitors into the red zone, then Pavia pitched the ball out at the right time for a four-yard touchdown on an option play. That score tied the game at 20.
In both the fourth quarter and in need of points, Mizzou's offense took strong field position into Vandy territory but slowed. Craig missed a 40-yard kick at a critical juncture of the game.
The Commodores failed to capitalize on the momentum and went three and out once again.
Entering crunch time with less than 10 minutes to go, Cook finally found a deep completion, hitting Theo Wease Jr. between zones for a 27-yard gain. A sack and incomplete pass didn't do anything to help the drive, and Craig missed again from 46 away.
An 18-yard Pavia escape and scramble on third down helped get the Commodores into field goal range. Defensive tackle Chris McClellan deflected a key third-down pass to force Vandy into thee field goal try, which the Commodores missed.
Needing to drain the clock and come away with any kind of points, Mizzou began its biggest drive of the season so far with a few chunk plays to reach the two-minute timeout.
Then came the biggest play of the season to date: A fourth-and-1 just inside Vanderbilt territory. Both teams took timeouts before the Tigers ultimately chose to punt, pinning the Commodores at their own 7 with 49 seconds to operate. Vanderbilt kneeled the ball, opting for overtime.
Mizzou won the second coin toss and elected to begin overtime on defense.
After an unnecessary roughness penalty brought the Commodores even closer than the 25-yard line they started at, they scored a passing touchdown on a short goal line route. Vanderbilt opted to kick the extra point, taking a 27-20 lead.
The Tigers only needed one play to equalize: Cook found Burden open in the end zone for a 25-yard passing touchdown.
Taking the ball to start the second overtime, Cook threw into double coverage on third down, bringing Craig back onto the field -- he delivered from 37 yards away.
Settling for three points put the pressure on Mizzou's defense. An offensive pass interference penalty in the end zone helped with the defensive effort, setting up a second-and-28 for the Commodores. They gained much of it back before Williams batted down a third-down pass to set up Vandy's tying field goal.
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