NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Mizzou's second loss of the season came in heartbreaking fashion at the hands of the Vanderbilt Commodores, as starting quarterback Beau Pribula suffered a serious ankle injury, leading freshman backup Matt Zollers to step up and captain the offense. Zollers performed well, but came up inches short of a game-tying hail mary throw to Kevin Coleman Jr., and the Tigers fell 17-10 in the Music City.
The offense once again had its weakest statistical outing of the season, this time understandably given the unpredictable mid-game lineup changes. Missouri's defense, however, largely shut down one of the nation's top offenses.
Here's an update on Mizzou's Pro Football Focus grades from its 17-10 Week 9 road loss to the Vanderbilt Commodores.
Team Grades
Mizzou had an overall grade of 70.9 as a team, the lowest since its 2024 Week 9 loss to Alabama. Despite this, it feels like the Tigers put up a valiant effort against a tough Commodores squad. They finished with an overall offense grade of 64.5, and overall defense grade of 76.2
Other grades
Passing - 63 (fourth-highest of of eight games)
Receiving – 60.4 (lowest of eight games
Rushing – 68 (sixth-highest of eight games)
Pass blocking - 86.4 (highest of eight games)
Run blocking – 55.7 (lowest of eight games)
Tackling – 56.4 (lowest of eight games)
Run defense – 79 (sixth-highest of eight games)
Pass rush – 75.7 (fifth-highest of eight games)
Coverage – 69.7 (tied for sixth-highest of eight games)
Special Teams – 71.2 (fourth-highest of eight games)
Individual offensive grades
Quarterbacks
Matt Zollers - 47 snaps, 58.2 offense, 58.9 passing, 57.2 running
Beau Pribula - 36 snaps, 74.6 offense, 68.9 passing, 69 running
Running backs
Jamal Roberts - 47 snaps, 51.3 offense grade, 24.5 pass blocking
Ahmad Hardy – 32 snaps, 72.2 offense grade, 74.4 pass blocking
Wide receivers
Joshua Manning - 65 snaps, 57.1 offense grade, 56.6 passing, 67.4 run blocking
Kevin Coleman Jr. – 64 snaps, 71.5 offense grade, 71.9 passing, 55.7 run blocking
Marquis Johnson – 56 snaps, 53 offense grade, 53.5 passing, 53.9 run blocking
Donovan Olugbode - 37 snaps, 58.9 offense grade, 64.5 passing, 54 run blocking
Daniel Blood - 3 snaps, 56.3 offense grade, 57.6 passing, 59.9 run blocking
Xavier Loyd – 2 snaps, 57.4 offense grade, 59.1 passing, 60 run blocking
Logan Muckey – 1 snap, 60 offense grade, 60 run blocking
Tight ends
Jordon Harris - 41 snaps, 66.7 offense grade, 71.9 passing, 72 pass blocking, 53.4 run blocking
Brett Norfleet – 32 snaps, 64.7 offense grade, 41.1 passing, 86.0 run blocking
Jude James – 30 snaps, 74.3 offense grade, 72.3 passing, 71.2 pass blocking, 60.7 run blocking
Vince Brown II – 1 snap, 60 offense grade, 60 run blocking
Offensive line
Cayden Green – 83 snaps, 64.4 offense grade, 87 pass blocking, 58 run blocking
Dominic Guidice – 83 snaps, 53.6 offense grade, 77.4 pass blocking, 46.1 run blocking
Connor Tollison – 82 snaps, 54.8 offense grade, 84.8 pass blocking, 68 run blocking
Curtis Peagler – 83 snaps, 52 offense grade, 67.1 pass blocking, 50.9 run blocking
Keagen Trost – 83 snaps, 75.7 offense grade, 86.2 pass blocking, 68 run blockingo
Tristan Wilson – 1 snap, 60 offense grade, 70.4 pass blocking
Thoughts of note
Olugbode is still significantly behind Manning, Coleman and Johnson on the depth chart. He only had one catch for 11 yards this week despite leading the team in yards the previous two.
James nearly matched Norfleet in snaps, but likely only due to Norfleet's injury. It's clear that James has an established connection with Zollers, and will be intriguing to see how involved he is going forward with Zollers at the helm.
Roberts out-snapped Hardy once again, and received 10 carries – more than his previous two weeks combined.
Individual defensive grades
Defensive ends
Zion Young – 43 snaps, 71.5 defense grade, 64 pass rush, 71.9 run defense
Darris Smith - 29 snaps, 55 defense grade, 59.4 pass rush, 63.1 run defense
Damon Wilson II – 28 snaps, 78.3 defense grade, 72.1 pass rush, 63.4 run defense
Langden Kitchen - 15 snaps, 53.7 defense grade, 63.7 pass rush, 60.9 run defense
Defensive tackles
Chris McClellan – 42 snaps, 72.7 defense grade, 76.4 pass rush, 63.2 run defense
Sterling Webb – 21 snaps, 74.4 defense grade, 71.7 pass rush, 68.6 run defense
Marquis Gracial – 13 snaps, 62.6 defense grade, 68.6 pass rush, 57.3 run defense
Jalen Marshall – 13 snaps, 69.1 defense grade, 59.7 pass rush, 68.3 run defense
Bralen Henderson – 1 snap, 60 defense, 60 pass rush
Linebackers
Josiah Trotter – 43 snaps, 81.4 defense grade, 90 run defense, 83.5 tackle, 64.4 coverage
Khalil Jacobs – 29 snaps, 69.6 defense grade, 70.6 run defense, 79.2 tackle, 63.9 coverage
Nicholas Rodriguez – 18 snaps, 77 defense grade, 58.8 run defense, 50.7 tackle, 78.7 coverage
Triston Newson – 8 snaps, 51.9 defense grade, 60.9 run defense, 26.4 tackle, 52 coverage
Cornerbacks
Toriano Pride Jr. – 42 snaps, 73 defense grade, 77.8 coverage, 47.1 run defense
Stephen Hall – 40 snaps, 47.5 defense grade, 44.7 coverage, 63.6 run defense
Daylan Carnell – 38 snaps, 76 defense grade, 71.4 coverage, 80 run defense
Drey Norwood – 16 snaps, 57.8 defense grade, 56.9 coverage, 60.6 run defense
Safeties
Marvin Burks Jr. – 47 snaps, 57.1 defense grade, 58.4 coverage, 54.9 run defense, 29.2 tackle,
Santana Banner – 43 snaps, 64.4 defense grade, 62.9 coverage, 65 run defense, 81.1 tackle
Jalen Catalon – 8 snaps, 58 defense grade, 61 coverage, 56.5 run defense, 41.1 tackle
Trajen Greco – 2 snaps, 60.1 defense grade, 60.3 coverage
Thoughts of note
Catalon was almost entirely phased out of the defense in favor of Burks and Banner, as he played a season-low 8 snaps. He's primarily a run defender, but it's hard to justify putting him in the box when linebackers like Trotter and Jacobs are performing as well as they are.
Hall's inconsistencies in coverage and the run game have been prominent in recent weeks, and Norwood should take his place back as a top corner.
Kitchen and Smith have fully carved out roles for themselves in the edge rotation as more-than situational players, and can be utilized consistently.