COLUMBIA, Mo. – The Missouri Tigers lost the game – and their starting quarterback – against the Vanderbilt Commodores Saturday. A 17-10 loss was the result of Beau Pribula suffering a potential season-ending injury, a Robert Meyer missed field goal, a Jamal Roberts fumble and a hail mary inches short from the goal line. 

"Really proud of the fight," head coach Eli Drinkwitz said. "I mean, that's what this game is. You know, they're one-play games. We're going to be disappointed in three or four plays that we had opportunities to win and we didn't get it done. "

The offense put up a season-low 10 points against a middling Vanderbilt defense, but the box score doesn't tell the story on the positives to take away from the game. 

Here's a thought for each position group heading into Missouri's Week 10 bye. 

Quarterback

Matt Zollers is enough.

Zollers stepped up in the biggest moment of the Tigers season, –and his career – and performed to the best of his abilities. He hadn't played on a typically constructed drive since Week 1 against Central Arkanas, but looked perfectly comfortable in the nightmare scenario against the Commodores. 

Zollers completed 14 of his 23 passes for 138 yards and a touchdown, out-passing Diego Pavia despite playing under two quarters. Zollers made multiple difficult throws on the run, under pressure and to all areas of the field. 

"I was really proud of him," Drinkwitz said. "I thought he did an excellent job. Obviously, you know, the one turnover on a mesh read. But other than that, I mean, I thought he played really big, the fourth down conversions to give us a chance, and then when they took the lead, to drive the ball down and score, I thought was really impressive."

Pribula may be out for the remainder of the regular season, but Zollers is as good as an option as a third string quarterback can get. 

Running back

Maybe it should be a workhorse backfield. 

Last week, I questioned if Roberts should get more touches after a successful first half of the season. Roberts earned more touches against Vanderbilt, but didn't make good work of them. He rushed for 22 yards on 10 attempts – his lowest yards per attempt for a game with more than five carries this season. 

He also had the aforementioned fourth quarter fumble, giving Vanderbilt possession with a chance to score, which they did. Ahmad Hardy on the other hand rushed for 97 yards on 20 carries. Allocate five more of Roberts' carries to Hardy, and the game could play out far differently. 

Wide receiver 

It's Kevin Coleman Jr., and then everyone else. 

Coleman led all Tigers in all-purpose yards, racking up 109 receiving yards while rushing for an additional 44. He proved a reliable option for Zollers in a moment of chaos, stepping up big on multiple fourth down throws in the fourth quarter. 

Coleman has led Missouri in receiving yards in four games this season, while no other wideout has led the team in more than two games. Marquis Johnson has flashed moments as a capable deep threat, Donovan Olugbode has came up big in multiple late-game scenarios and Josh Manning is a versatile blocker, but none have been as consistently reliable as Coleman. 

Tight End

The backup-to-backup connection is here to stay.

In Missouri's Week 1 bout against Central Arkansas, many backups played significant second half snaps due to a blowout score. Zollers saw his first action of the season, and threw his first collegiate touchdown to redshirt freshman tight end Jude James – a 40 yard pass James took down the sideline to the end zone.

James was backing up Brett Norfleet and Jordon Harris, while Zollers was behind Pribula. The connection was fun, but it appeared to be more of a glimpse into the future rather than a staple of the 2025 offense. However, Norfleet and Pribula both suffered injuries against Vanderbilt, leaving James and Zollers to step up once again.

Zollers hit James for four catches, 29 yards and a touchdown, making James Missouri's second leading receiver in both yards and catches on the day. Both of Zollers' collegiate touchdowns are to James, while all of James catches are from Zollers' passes. 

If Norfleet's injury is as significant as Pribula's, expect to see this connection utilized more. 

Offensive line

Pass blocking was clean for Zollers.

Missouri's offensive line received its highest PFF pass blocking grade of the year, with a score of 86.4. 

Zollers was pressured on seven of his 24 passing attempts, much of which were against blitzes. He took just one sack on his 14 drop backs. Zollers was poised and composed in the pocket, not rushing up or out of his area, allowing the line to play cleanly.