NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Mizzou football found its unlikely hero in Nashville. But even heroes can't save the day every time. 

The Missouri Tigers were on the brink of a huge momentum shift, as starting quarterback Beau Pribula prepared to power in a fourth down carry on Vanderbilt's goal line to go up a touchdown and break a 3-3 tie early in the second half. 

He took the snap, and ran full-force ahead only to be met by a frontline of Vanderbilt defenders, and was stopped short of fourth down, ending the Tigers drive.

His day on the field was over as well. 

Pribula suffered a lower leg injury on the play, being twisted and folded by the opposing Commodores. He laid on the ground for minutes, before eventually being helped to a medical cart and heading to the locker room. The momentum had shifted, but in the complete opposite way the Tigers had expected.

True freshman Matt Zollers entered the game at quarterback, having just six passing attempts for 75 yards and a touchdown on the season, none of which against Power Four opponents. He captained the Tigers downfield on his next drive, throwing for 12 yards and setting up a 27-yard Robert Meyer field goal.

Meyer missed, Vanderbilt ball.

Vanderbilt's Makhilyn Young then broke loose for an 80-yard rushing touchdown on the first play of the Commodores drive, putting Vanderbilt up 10-3 in the blink of an eye. 

The Tigers could've quit – down their starting quarterback with all odds stacked against them. But if there were any words to describe the remainder of Missouri's game, "quit" wouldn't be one used to describe it.

Zollers led the rally. He marched the Tigers downfield on a 12-play, 75-yard drive resulting in a 6-yard touchdown pass to Jude James. Missouri was back in it, tying the score 10-10 early in the fourth quarter. 

A Jamal Roberts fumble set up Vanderbilt to score on a lengthy drive, bringing the score back to a touchdown lead for the Commodores, 17-10 with under two minutes remaining. 

In the biggest game of his life, Zollers had to lead his Missouri Tigers 75 yards down the field to send it to overtime. He brought the Tigers to the 37-yard line, and launched a pass to the end zone to Kevin Coleman Jr.

Coleman caught it, but was inches short of the goal line, and the clock hit zero before the Tigers had a chance. 

Zollers finished the night with 138 passing yards for one touchdown and no interceptions, while completing 14 of his 23 pass attempts. 

Zollers arguably out-dueled Vanderbilt quarterback and Heisman candidate Diego Pavia, who finished with a season-low 148 total yards to go along with one rushing touchdown and an interception. The Commodores as a whole were held to a season-low 17 points. 

Damon Wilson II stuffed the defensive stat sheet for the Tigers, racking up an interception, half a sack and half a tackle-for-loss. Nicholas Rodriguez joined Wilson on the half-sack effort, while Sterling Webb earned a solo sack of his own. 

Ahmad Hardy seemed to have returned to form, rushing for 97 yards and tacking on 2 through the air for his highest total yardage since Week 5 against Massachusetts. Jamal Roberts, on the other hand, struggled, rushing for 22 yards on 10 attempts and fumbling in the fourth quarter to set Vanderbilt up at midfield with 7:02 remaining. 

Kevin Coleman Jr. racked up 153 total yards, 109 through the air and 44 on the ground, a major bounce-back from his 2-yard performance against Auburn. 

Tight end Jude James caught his first touchdown since Week 1, also thrown by Zollers. James finished the night with four catches for 29 yards, and is now up to six catches, 91 yards and two touchdowns on the season, all from Zollers. 

Absolutely nothing went according to plan for the Tigers, yet they battled resiliently until the end. 

They'll take the upcoming bye week to reset, before preparing to host Texas A&M Nov. 8.