The last time the Missouri football team took the field, head coach Eli Drinkwitz took some heat for his clock management at the end of the first half. Boos rained down from the home fans as he let the final seconds tick away during the Tigers’ 21-point loss to Texas A&M.

Two weeks later, during Missouri’s 37-28 win at Vanderbilt, the Tigers got an unexpected opportunity at the end of the first half. This time, Drinkwitz opted for aggression. The reward was a much-needed touchdown.

At first, it looked like Vanderbilt, leading 14-10 at the time, might score to close the first half. The Commodores, who would also receive the ball to start the second, advanced as far as the Missouri 34-yard line. But their drive stalled there, and kicker Joseph Bulovas took the field to attempt a 52-yard field goal.

Missouri’s sideline was immediately suspicious. In fact, safety Martez Manuel said “I’m pretty sure everybody watching at home from Columbia could have told you it was going to be a fake there.” Sure enough, Vanderbilt’s holder pitched the ball over his head to Bulovas, who tried to run for first-down yardage.

He didn’t make it very far. Missouri safety Jaylon Carlies tackled him in the backfield for a loss of five yards.

“We just kind of knew that situation and what they needed,” Carlies explained. “So we kind of figured, you know, it most likely wasn’t going to be a regular field goal, so we were just ready for it.”

That gave Missouri the ball at its own 39 with 15 seconds on the clock and one timeout. Even though his offense had sputtered since scoring on each of its first two drives, having thrown an interception and punted three times in its past four possessions, Drinkwitz opted not to run the clock out.

Quarterback Connor Bazelak completed a 10-yard out to Barrett Banister, who got out of bounds, stopping the clock. Bazelak then dumped a short pass to tailback Tyler Badie. Badie gained six yards before sliding to the turf. The play won’t likely make the highlight reel for Badie, who carried the load all afternoon for the Tiger offense, touching the ball on 39 of 66 snaps. But Drinkwitz complimented his awareness. The fact that he didn’t fight for extra yardage and instead allowed Missouri to use its final timeout, setting up one more snap, proved vital.

“That's just an intelligent football play by Tyler Badie,” Drinkwitz said. “Being in the middle of the field, if he tries to get too many more yards, the clock is gonna run out, we're not gonna have a next play. So he surrendered himself, went down, clock stops, we were able to use our last timeout, get the perfect play call on. So tribute to him and his football intelligence.”

With four seconds left on the clock, Missouri was at the Vanderbilt 45-yard line — a bit outside the range of kicker Harrison Mevis. So Drinkwitz called for a Hail Mary.

Vanderbilt only rushed two defenders on the play, dropping nine into coverage. That gave Bazelak plenty of time to stand in the pocket before airing out a pass to the left side of the end zone. Wide receiver Keke Chism snatched the ball from just above the helmet of Vanderbilt defensive back Dashaun Jerkins. The touchdown sent Missouri’s players celebrating into the locker room and gave the Tigers a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.

“It was kind of like a movie moment,” Chism said. “I was running in the end zone, and by the time I turned around and seen the ball in the air, it was like everything just kind of slowed down, and the main thing was just timing my jump, and then I was able to make a play. It was a great ball by Baze, great job by the o-line actually giving him time to get that throw off. It was an amazing feeling.”

The 6-foot-5 Chism said he sees his role as someone who makes contested catches. That one proved momentous. Missouri had seized the momentum early in the first half but lost it after a Bazelak interception. Vanderbilt had scored 14 straight points. Several players said the successful Hail Mary changed the feel of the game.

“Man, definitely needed it,” Badie said. “Just like I talked about, the momentum, that was just a big momentum swing, and I’m just proud of Keke for catching it. … I’m just proud of him for making that play and being a big spark for our offense.”

All season, Drinkwitz has been coy about who would replace Bazelak should Missouri ever need to turn to a backup. When the team has put out a depth chart this season, it has listed redshirt freshman Brady Cook and true freshman Tyler Macon as co-backups. During the team’s blowout victory over Southeast Missouri earlier this year, Cook was the second quarterback into the game, but Macon played more snaps.

Bazelak’s injury during the fourth quarter against Vanderbilt forced Drinkwitz to show his hand — although after the game, he remained mysterious about the backup signal-caller.

With about seven minutes left in the game, Bazelak kept the ball on a zone read and got slammed to the turf by Vanderbilt’s Daevion Davis. Bazelak tried to walk off the field but wound up lying on his back while trainers examined him. He eventually walked off the field under his own power but did not return. Drinkwitz didn’t offer an exact diagnosis for Bazelak’s injury but said he believes it was a “soft tissue injury.” He also wasn’t yet sure about how soon Bazelak might be able to return to the field.

Drinkwitz turned to Macon to replace him. The true freshman from East St. Louis carried the ball for six yards on his first snap, which set up a 52-yard field goal by Mevis. Macon never threw a pass, but he did rush twice for eight yards, including the clinching touchdown.

Drinkwitz said that he opted for Macon over Cook because of the situation. Had Bazelak’s injury happened at a different time, he said, he might have inserted Cook into the game instead.

“It was really situational,” Drinkwitz said. “We've been practicing Maco in some four-minute offense stuff, and on that down and distance, I didn't want to try to force the ball. Was trying to just make it into a manageable field goal range, and that was a play that Maco had been practicing and executed well, so that's what we went with. But Brady is right there, too. If it had been a different situation, probably would have went with Brady.”

Asked who might start behind center next week, when Missouri travels to Georgia, if Bazelak is unable to suit up, Drinkwitz said he has “no idea.”

“I’m going to sip on my Diet Coke and then go trick-or-treating,” he said, “and then we’ll figure it out at practice Tuesday, Wednesday.”

Badie will likely generate the headlines from Missouri’s win, and deservedly so. But Mevis continued his perfect season by making several clutch kicks.

The second-year player made all three of his field goals and all four extra points Saturday. That included the aforementioned 52-yarder, as well as a 46-yard field goal on Missouri’s first possession.

Mevis has now made 19 consecutive field goals, the longest streak by a Tiger kicker since Jeff Wolfert in 2007-08. He’s converted 66 consecutive kicks overall, including extra points. And he’s already tied the Missouri record with six made kicks of greater than 50 yards, needing only 18 games to reach that mark.

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