NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Redshirt senior Johnathon Johnson lined up to quarterback Kelly Bryant’s right on Vanderbilt’s 20-yard line. He burst off the line of scrimmage, taking three hard steps downfield, looking to get open and convert an early third down.
There was only one problem: the ball hadn’t been snapped yet.
Johnson was flagged for a false start. On the next play, Bryant was sacked for a loss of seven, pushing Missouri to the edge of kicker Tucker McCann’s range. McCann pushed his 50-yard attempt wide left and the Tigers came away from the 12-play drive with nothing.
It wasn’t the only time Missouri shot itself in the foot on Saturday, as ill-timed physical and mental mistakes sent it back home to Columbia with its second loss of the season.
“Any time you’re in position to maybe convert on a third down and you’ve got a penalty, and then the next snap, you miss a field goal, that’s draining,” coach Barry Odom said. “But also, you’re gonna have plays that don’t go your way. That’s the game of football. Let’s regroup and snap out of it and get onto the next one, and we didn’t do a very good job of that the entire game.”
In total, Missouri was flagged for 12 penalties totaling 120 yards.
“That’s probably the most disappointing part of this game because that’s something we control completely,” tight end Albert Okwuegbunam said. “[We] definitely need to learn from those mistakes. That simply just can’t happen again.”
On first and 10 from just shy of midfield in the fourth quarter, Vanderbilt quarterback Riley Neal checked the ball down to running back Ke’Shawn Vaughn. Vaughn picked up nine yards as a flag landed in the middle of the field at the end of the play. Redshirt junior defensive lineman Markell Utsey was called for unsportsmanlike conduct. The 15-yard penalty moved the ball to Missouri’s 24 yard line, and Vanderbilt scored three plays later to take a 21-14 lead it didn’t relinquish.
“We gotta be smart,” Odom said. “One guy said something. He said something back. They flagged him. They usually get the second guy. That’s the way it works. We’ve talked about that over and over and over.”
Despite the mistakes, the penalties and the poor decisions, Missouri still found itself within range of tying the game in the final three minutes. Its defense was on the field at its own 33 yard line with two timeouts. It would likely take a missed field goal, but if it could keep the Commodores out of the end zone, the offense would have the ball with potentially a minute left in the game.
Defensive tackle Jordan Elliott made that mission harder with a first down offsides penalty, moving Vanderbilt up five yards. Vaughn’s runs of one and two yards respectively brought up third and two. Then, in perhaps the most fitting way Vanderbilt could have gotten a first down to seal the game, Elliott jumped offsides again.
“It’s as simple as staying onsides,” linebacker Nick Bolton said. “Jordan, that’s my dude. I’m not gonna bash him. That’s my dude. He came up to me after the game and said that was on him. We just accept accountability.”
This isn’t the first time penalties have been an issue for the Tigers. In Week 2 against West Virginia, they committed 10 for 100 yards. That afternoon, they played well enough in other facets of the game to win. That wasn’t the case Saturday.
“You can’t win shooting yourself in the foot,” offensive lineman Trystan Colon-Castillo said. “Killing drives or the defense letting drives keep alive. We gotta address it and we gotta fix it.”
_Edited by Emily Leiker | eleiker@themaneater.com_
