Trailing by two points at the start of the fourth quarter, Mizzou's defense held strong on a Vanderbilt fourth and goal attempt on the first play of the quarter to swing the momentum back in Mizzou's favor. Vanderbilt had been marching down the field with two rushes by Vanderbilt's RB Ke'Shawn Vaughn – one for 44 yards and another for 20 yards.

Vanderbilt moved the ball all the way to the one-yard line before Mizzou was able to make back-to-back stops on the goal line. On fourth down, Vaughn took the handoff and leapt forward for the goal line, but the Mizzou defensive line was there to stop him at the line of scrimmage for a turnover on downs. Sophomore DL Akial Byers was credited with the stop.

"I don't know who made it, but there are a lot of guys taking credit for it," head coach Barry Odom said. "We'll see tomorrow who really made the play, but it was a big time stop."

Byers said it was definitely him that made the stop, but he also had help from his fellow defensive lineman.

"I'm pretty sure it was me," Byers said. "There were a couple other defensive lineman who were apart it too. That's our mindset though. We can't let anybody score on us from one or two yards because then it looks bad on us as a front. We stepped up and did what we needed to do to make that play."

The offense would respond with a long 14-play, 99-yard scoring drive that used up 5:38 of the clock. Sophomore RB Larry Rountree III was able to account for 31 yards on Mizzou's first five plays of the drive to give Mizzou breathing room from its own end zone. Rountree and junior RB Damarea Crockett combined to give Mizzou a total of 52 rushing yards for the drive.

Senior QB Drew Lock was a perfect 3-for-3 on his passes during the scoring drive. His third completion of the drive, a 25-yard catch and run by freshman WR Dominic Gicinto, brought Mizzou within three yards of the Vanderbilt end zone. On the next play, Lock kept it himself and ran in for a three-yard rushing touchdown, his fourth of season, giving Mizzou the lead.

The point after gave Mizzou a 33-28 lead with 9:18 left to go in the game. That score would hold as Mizzou's defense was able to knock down a Vanderbilt pass in the end zone as time expired to secure the victory and bowl eligibility.

Senior DL Terry Beckner, Jr. said he was happy to be bowl eligible again, especially in his final season at Mizzou. With the win, Mizzou qualified for a bowl game for a second consecutive season.

"I mean it's great, we hadn't been to a bowl game in a couple years before last season," Beckner said. "For us to do it in back-to-back seasons now, it's great for this program."

Mizzou travels to Knoxville, Tenn., on Saturday, Nov. 17, to face Tennessee. The game is set for a 2:30 p.m. (CT) kickoff and will be broadcast on CBS.