Mizzou Football defeated SEC East foe Vanderbilt, 41-0, Saturday afternoon at Memorial Stadium, improving to 4-3 in head coach Eliah Drinkwitz's first season at the helm of the program. The Tigers used a stout defensive effort, limiting Vanderbilt to 196 total yards, and a dominant rushing attack from Larry Rountree III and Tyler Badie who helped Mizzou rush for 223 yards on the ground in the win.
The win marked Mizzou's first SEC shutout since the 2018 season-finale when Mizzou defeated Arkansas, 38-0. It was Mizzou's first shutout since a 50-0 win over SEMO, Sept. 14, 2019. The win was Mizzou's largest margin of victory in an SEC game since joining the league.
The Tigers have now won four of the last five games, with its only loss in that span coming at No. 10 Florida on Halloween night. Mizzou has allowed just 20 points over its last three wins.
Junior Nick Bolton once again anchored a dominant defensive performance, posting nine tackles with 2.0 tackles for loss and one sack with a pass breakup. Rountree also rushed for a career-high three touchdowns and 160 yards on 21 carries to lead the offense. Thanks to the rushing attack, Mizzou never punted in the game.
Mizzou got on the board early thanks to a momentum-grabbing fourth-down stop on Vanderbilt's first series of the game. Junior All-SEC LB Nick Bolton stopped RB Keyon Henry-Brooks for no gain on a fourth-and-one, giving Mizzou the ball on the Commodore 44. The Tigers then covered 44 yards on just six plays, capped by a Larry Rountree III seven-yard touchdown. It was Rountree's fourth-straight game with a touchdown.
Rountree added another second-quarter score, giving him his seventh career game with multiple scores, while extending Mizzou's lead to 14-0 with 7:51 remaining in the second quarter. On Mizzou's third touchdown drive, it was Rountree's backfield partner, RB Tyler Badie, who did most of the heavy lifting. He had two catches and four carries, accounting for 67 yards on the drive, and he punched in a one-yard TD score as Mizzou took a 21-0 lead into intermission.
Harrison Mevis connected on a pair of third-quarter field goals as Mizzou took a 27-0 lead into the fourth.Rountree added his third score from 25 yards out to extend the lead to 34-0 and put the game on ice.
Seeing the field as a reserve, freshman QB Brady Cook hit WR Damon Hazleton for a 25-yard touchdown strike to put the Tigers up 41-0.
Even though she is not a Tiger, Vanderbilt kicker Sarah Fuller made her college football debut by kicking off to begin the second half. She became the first female ever to play in an SEC or Power 5 football game.
The four-straight contests with a rushing touchdown is tied for the longest of Rountree's career (final game of 2018, plus opening three games in 2019). Rountree's impressive four-game streak is the longest by a Tiger since Marcus Murphy, as he accomplished the feat over Mizzou's first four games in 2013. Additionally, Kendial Lawrence was the last Tiger to also produce four consecutive rushing scores in SEC play (2012).
Mizzou will return home next Saturday for a Dec. 5 tilt with SEC West Division rival Arkansas at a time TBD.