Missouri’s BJ Harris gets tackled by Vanderbilt’s Jaylen Mahoney on Saturday, Oct. 30, 2021 at Vanderbilt Stadium in Nashville, Tn.
It often takes one play to swing the momentum of a football game. That’s what happened in the first half of Missouri football’s 37-28 win against Vanderbilt on Saturday.
On the final play of the first half, down 14-10, redshirt sophomore quarterback Connor Bazelak launched a desperate pass from near midfield toward 6-5 senior graduate wide receiver Keke Chism in the right corner of the end zone. Surrounded by five Vanderbilt Commodores defenders, Chism came down with the ball, giving the Tigers a 17-14 halftime lead.
“That was just a big momentum swing, and I am just proud of Keke for catching it,” senior running back Tyler Badie said. “That was the first time I ever witnessed a Hail Mary, so we were all excited about that.”
For Chism, who finished with a team-high of 95 yards, it felt like a Hollywood moment.
“I was running in the end zone and by the time I turned around and saw the ball in the air, it was like everything slowed down,” Chism said. “The main thing was just timing my jump, and I was able to make a play.”
The play energized the Tigers’ offense after four straight drives in which it seemed dead. After building a 10-point lead in the first quarter, Bazelak threw an interception to senior defensive back Maxwell Worship, and the following three possessions resulted in three straight punts.
Following the Hail Mary, Missouri’s offense bounced back in the second half and only punted one time.
The Tigers outgained Vanderbilt to 286-175 in the second half after only outgaining the Commodores by 11 yards in the first. The Tigers scored on four of their final six drives. The big plays — such as 15-plus-yard passing plays and 10-plus-yard rushing plays — favored Missouri in the second half 5-4.
The Tigers have dropped two of their last three games in Nashville, Tennessee, but on Saturday they left with a victory — their first conference and road win of the year to get back to .500 with a 4-4 record.
“[I was] proud of our offense in the second half,” head coach Eli Drinkwitz said. “I thought we were able to really run the ball.”
Badie was the heart and soul for the Tigers’ offense all day. In the cold, rainy weather at Vanderbilt Stadium, Badie carried the ball a career-high 31 times for 254 yards and two trips to the end zone.
“He’s a workhorse man,” Chism said. “Anything we ask him to do in this offense, whether it’s carrying the ball 30 to 40 times or making plays in the passing game out of the backfield, man, he’s a true professional. He’s a true baller.”
Badie recorded 40 receiving yards as well. Chism led the team in receiving yardage with 95.
“[Badie] is a great player, which I’ve been saying for a long time,” Drinwitz said. “He is really the engine that drives us. He’s just got a big heart and he is a competitor and showed it tonight.”
Aside from the first quarter interception, Bazelak had a decent day. He left the game with an injury and was replaced by freshman Tyler Macon, but he finished 22-28, 218 yards and a score.
One of Bazelak’s better plays came when the Tigers were facing a 4th and 2 at the Vanderbilt 34-yard line, where he completed a perfectly-placed pass to redshirt junior receiver Tauskie Dove, setting up Badie’s second touchdown of the game, putting the Tigers up 24-14 in the third quarter.
As for Macon, he put the game on ice on a two-yard touchdown run that was set up by a 73-yard Badie, with just under three minutes left in the game.
“At the end of the game there, we felt like we were going to need some quarterback runs potentially and for [Macon] to pull it on the last zone read for a touchdown was pretty cool,” Drinkwitz said.
The Tigers’ 502 total yards of offense was their highest since their 675 against SEMO in September. Next week, the Tigers play arguably their toughest game of the year when they head down to Athens, Georgia, to take on the No. 1 Georgia Bulldogs.
Edited by Kyle Pinnell, kpinnell@themaneater.com