Football Hits Road For SEC Opener At Vanderbilt

COLUMBIA, Mo. – The No. 23/22 University of Missouri football team heads to Nashville to open Southeastern Conference play on Saturday, Sept. 30 at Vanderbilt. The Tigers and Commodores kick off from FirstBank Stadium at 3 p.m. CT. The game will air on SEC Network and Tiger Radio Network.

Mizzou (4-0) moved into the Top 25 – ranking No. 23 in the Associated Press poll and No. 22 in The US LBM Coaches Poll. The Tigers defeated Memphis in the 2023 Zou to the Lou Classic inside The Dome at America’s Center in St. Louis. Three St. Louis natives, WR Luther Burden III, QB Brady Cook and RB Cody Schrader, led the way for the offense Saturday night. Burden had 10 receptions for a career high 177 yards, Cook threw for 341 and two TDs while Schrader averaged 8.8 yards per carry, totaling 123 yards and a score.

THE SERIES
Saturday marks the 15th meeting between the two schools with Missouri leading the series 9-4-1, holding a three-game winning streak over the Commodores and leading 3-2 in games played in Nashville.

MISSOURI TIGERS
Head Coach Eliah Drinkwitz
Record at Mizzou 21-19 (Fourth Year)
Overall Record 33-20 (Fifth Year)

VANDERBILT COMMODORES
Head Coach Clark Lea
Record at School 9-20  (Third Year)
Overall Record Same

GAME INFORMATION
Facility FirstBank Stadium
Capacity 28,500
TV SEC Network / ESPN+
Radio 1580 AM / 105.1 FM / SiriusXM 108 or 204
Online The Varsity Network: “Search Mizzou”
Series Record Missouri leads 9-4-1
In Nashville Missouri leads 3-2
Last Meeting Oct. 22, 2022 (H), MU W, 17-14

TV: SEC NETWORK
• Play-by-Play: Lowell Galindo 
• Analyst: Derek Mason
• Reporter: Taylor Davis
• Online: WatchESPN.com
• Mobile App: ESPN

RADIO: TIGER RADIO NETWORK
• Play-by-Play: Mike Kelly
• Analyst: Howard Richards
• Sideline Reporter: Chris Gervino
• Host: Matt Michaels
• Engineer: Jeremy Washington
• Local: 1580 AM / 105.1 FM
• Satellite: SiriusXM 108 or 204 and on the SXM App
• App: Mizzou Tigers / The Varsity Network: “Search Mizzou”

THE SERIES
Saturday marks the 15th meeting between the two schools with Missouri leading the series 9-4-1, holding a three-game winning streak over the Commodores and leading 3-2 in games played in Nashville.

THE COACHES
ELIAH DRINKWITZ is in his fourth season as Mizzou’s head coach. He had led the Tigers to bowl appearances in each of his first three seasons, joining former head coach Warren Powers as the only two MU head coaches to achieve that feat. Additionally, only Powers won more games in his first two seasons at MU (1978-79, 15) than Drinkwitz (11). Prior to taking the Mizzou job, Drinkwitz was 12-1 as the head coach at Appalachian State in 2019. He had previous stops as the OC at NC State, Boise State and Arkansas State.

Clark Lea is in his third season as head coach at Vanderbilt. The Commodores alum is 9-20 during that span. 

STREAKS, STORYLINES, SIDEBARS … 
• Mizzou is playing its 133rd season of college football.
• Head Coach Eliah Drinkwitz has led Mizzou to a bowl in each of his first three seasons, only the second coach in school history to do so along with the late Warren Powers (1978-84). 
• The 2023 roster features 32 players who have started at least four games in the collegiate career at the FBS level. 
• Thirty-eight student-athletes on the team are from Missouri, including eight from the 573 area code, 19 from the St. Louis metropolitan region, nine from the Kansas City area and two from southwest Missouri.
• Mizzou has now finished nonconference play undefeated 10 times since 2000, and the first time since defeating Memphis, Purdue, UT Martin and Wyoming in 2018.
• MU totaled a season-high 542 yards of total offense vs. Memphis – 341 through the air and 201 on the ground.
• QB Brady Cook enters Saturday’s game ranked 10th among all FBS quarterbacks in passing efficiency (185.2). He has thrown for 687 yards and four TDs over the last two games.
• WR Luther Burden III leads the NCAA FBS in YAC (216) and missed tackles forced (11) according to PFF College. He’s the fifth MU player to register three-straight 100-yard games, the first since Emanuel Hall in 2017.
• RB Cody Schrader ranks fourth among active NCAA players in rushing yards with 4,217. Schrader leads the SEC in rushing, averaging 100.75 ypg. His 6.2 yards per carry average leads all SEC backs with 50 or more totes.
• Javon Foster’s 87.8 grade leads all P5 offensive tackles in PFF College’s rankings through four games.
• WR Marquis Johnson’s 76-yard TD from QB Brady Cook stands as MU’s longest play from scrimmage in 2023.
• K Harrison Mevis has made 68 career field goals and sits in sole possession of MU’s all-time record.
• CB Kris Abrams-Draine had a team-leading seven tackles and an INT vs. Memphis and topped 100 career tackles.
• The Tigers next home game – vs. LSU on Oct. 7 – is sold out, Mizzou’s second Memorial Stadium sellout in 2023.
 
LAST TIME OUT – Missouri 34, Memphis 27
• QB Brady Cook, WR Luther Burden III and RB Cody Schrader produced big plays in their hometown that keyed Mizzou’s seven-point victory over previously-unbeaten Memphis at The Dome at America’s Center.
• Cook got the Tigers started with a 76-yard scoring strike to WR Marquis Johnson and completed 18-of-25 passes for 341 yards. 
• Burden produced career highs with 10 receptions and 177 yards – the most by any Tiger in Mizzou’s seven games played at the Dome.
• Schrader registered his second 100-yard rushing performance of the season, totaling 123 on 14 carries, including a fourth-quarter 37-yard touchdown that netted Mizzou’s final points.
• Missouri improved to 4-0 for the first time since 2013 and ran its St. Louis win streak to seven straight games, dating back to 2002.
• MU finished with a season-high 542 yards of total offense – 341 through the air and 201 on the ground.
• DB Kris Abrams-Draine led the defense with seven tackles, one for loss, an interception and a pass break-up; LB Ty’Ron Hopper also logged seven tackles and DE Johnny Walker Jr. had six, including a sack, a quarterback hurry and a forced fumble.
 
TIGERS IN THE POLLS
• On the heels of its victory over Memphis and its first 4-0 start in 10 years, Missouri moved into the Top 25 for the first time since the 2019 season.
• The Tigers ranked No. 23 in the Associated Press poll and No. 22 in The US LBM Coaches Poll this week.
• Mizzou was last ranked in the AP poll on Oct. 23, 2019 (No. 22) and it’s the Tigers’ first appearance in the Coaches Poll since Sept. 20, 2015 (No. 23).
• This week mark’s the 256th week the Tigers have been ranked in the AP poll since 1939.
 
HE IS HIM
• WR Luther Burden III set career highs for the fourth-straight game with 10 catches for 177 yards in the 34-27 win over Memphis in his hometown of St. Louis. 
• It was his third-straight 100-yard game and fifth-straight contest with five or more receptions. Burden surpassed his 2022 receiving total of 375 yds, running his 2023 total to 502 yds through four contests. 
• He leads the NCAA FBS in yards after catch (216) and missed tackles forced (11) according to PFF College. He’s the fifth Mizzou player to register three-straight 100-yard games and the first since Emanuel Hall in 2017. 
• Burden is the second Tiger with seven catches in each of the first four games of a season (TJ Moe, 2010).
 
FANCY LIKE
• CB Kris Abrams-Draine had a team-leading seven tackles, including a TFL, interception and PBU in Mizzou’s 34-27 win over Memphis in St. Louis. 
• He grabbed his fifth career INT and became the first Tiger to haul in picks in back-to-back games since Daylan Carnell against New Mexico State and Arkansas. 
• KAD racked up his 100th career tackle during the second quarter, tallying seven total stops on the day.
• He has 18 stops on the season and is averaging 4.5 tackles per game. 
 
CAN I KICK IT
• A week after his SEC record-breaking game-winner to beat K-State, Harrison Mevis’ 25-yard field goal with five seconds left in the opening half against Memphis marked his 67th as a Tiger.
• The senior broke Andrew Baggett’s Mizzou record for most field goals made in program history (66). 
• Mevis extended his record with a 32-yard boot in the fourth, giving Mizzou a 10-point cushion in the win.
 
MIZZOU IN SEC OPENERS
• Saturday’s contest marks the start of Southeastern Conference play for the Tigers, who have gone 3-8 in league openers since joining the conference in 2012.
• The Tigers claimed a 51-28 road victory over Vanderbilt in 2013 in the two programs’ only previous meeting in an SEC opener.
 
MUSIC CITY MUSINGS
• Missouri will be making its sixth visit to Nashville since joining the SEC and the Tigers hold a 3-2 advantage over the Commodores in those meetings.
• Overall, the Tigers have won 10 of the previous 15 meetings with VU, going 10-4-1; Mizzou’s 26-17  win in 2016 was vacated, giving MU an official 9-4-1 edge in the series that dates back to 1895.
• MU has averaged 44.3 points per game in their three victories at FirstBank Stadium (2013, 2017, 2021).
• Mizzou is 8-0 vs. Vanderbilt when scoring 24 or more.
• A pair of Tigers – DL Nyles Gaddy and OL Brandon Solis – call Nashville home, while just one Commodore – St. Louisian Trent Weaver hails from the Show-Me State.

Group and single-game tickets for Missouri’s remaining home games are available for purchase now by calling 1-800-CAT-PAWS or buying online.

FOLLOW THE TIGERS
For all the latest information on Mizzou Athletics, please visit MUTigers.com. For up-to-the-minute updates, follow Missouri football (@MizzouFootball) and Coach Drinkwitz (@CoachDrinkwitz) on X. You can also find the Tigers on Instagram and Facebook.