Missouri wide receiver Luther Burden scored a pair of first-half touchdowns, keying the Tigers' 17-14 win over Vanderbilt on homecoming at Farout Field in Columbia, Mo., on Saturday afternoon.

Vandy took over at its 38 with 2:57 left and Mike Wright in, with starting quarterback AJ Swann on the sidelines. Wright hit Ben Bresnahan with what was ruled a first down at the Missouri 43, but upon review the ball was spotted about a half-yard short.

A play later, the Tigers stuffed Ray Davis at the line of scrimmage, turning the ball over on downs with 1:18 left. The Commodores, out of time outs,

The Tigers had a shot to go up 10 late in the game, but kicker' Harrison Mevis missed a 36-yard field goal after a stiff breeze pushed the ball right.

One play later, Wright hit Gamarion Carter on a short hitch, and Carter--who had four career catches coming in--raced 80 yards for Vandy's first offensive touchdown of the day with 3:59 remaining.

Missouri quarterback Brady Cook hit Burden for a 35-yard touchdown with 12:12 left in the first quarter for the game’s first score. After the Commodores repeatedly codlin’t move the ball, Cook hit Dominic Lovett for 46, which set up Burden’s 10-yard rushing score with 12:19 left before half.

Vandy's first score came early in the second half on a defense play. With Missouri backed up inside its 20 on a third-down play, Vandy’s CJ Taylor hurdled a blocker and picked up a Cook fumble that Anfernee Orji caused, returning it 3 yards for a score.

The Commodores squandered a scoring opportunity in the first half when Jaylon Carlies intercepted Swann in the end zone, then, the Tigers drove 59 yards before Mevis hit a field goal with a second left in the half.

That would be enough, as Vandy's offense couldn't get untracked enough to win.

The difference between Vanderbilt and the next-worst team in the SEC is this: Or at least it was today--three points, nine yards and 0.6 yards per snap.

This time, it wasn't the defense's fault. Defensive coordinator Nick Howell probably won back a little faith today; the defense gave up 17 points, scored a touchdown itself, got three sacks and forced three turnovers (though one came on special teams). The Commodores did get burned some dropping eight into coverage but for the most part, Howell called a more aggressive game and it paid off.

Taylor, Orji and Jaylen Mahoney were terrific today. Orji forced a fumble, had a pick and had 12 tackles (seven solo, 2.5 for loss). Mahoney also had a dozen tackles, with a stunning five for loss. Meanwhile, Taylor's play had to be seen to be believed and was reminiscent of the memorable Zach Cuninngham field-goal block against Auburn in 2016.

How is AJ Swann? Swann left the game in the second half and the TV crew provided no update (that I heard). Presumably, Swann must have been hurt but with no updates of this writing, we'll wait and see.

So much for good starts. The Commodores allowed a pair of third-and-long first downs on pass plays and then failed to bring down Burden in the open field, giving Missouri a quick 7-0 edge. On the ensuing drive, Bulovas missed a 45-yard field goal just left with a swirling wind blowing.

Vanderbilt’s second drive was tough to watch, as was most of its drives. Vandy averaged just 4.1 yards per snap today and didn't do much to put a scare into Missouri, though a stiff wind certainly didn't help the passing game. On that aforementioned second drive, Commodores got the ball at the Missouri 33 after Orji’s pick, then, capped that drive with Sheppard’s 15-yard pass interference penalty on the first snap and then a Davis run up the middle for 3 on third-and-28. That ended with Matt Hayball’s punt, which Burden caught three yards deep in the end zone and advanced to the Tiger 29.

Sheppard had a rough day. Sheppard was targeted 15 times and came up with just three catches, and left a lot on the table in Columbia. Sheppard got whistled for a big pass interference call early, had what was ruled a fumble overturned in the middle of the second quarter (it was ruled a drop on replay). Later, he dropped a TD that Kris Abrams-Drane knocked loose and then dropped another ball later on the same drive, then, couldn’t get separation that led to another break-up on that drive and then couldn’t come up with a couple more catches on that drive, though he did have two first down catches on that drive.

Swann’s no-interception streak got snapped at an awful time. Swann did not have Sheppard open and forced a throw that was easily picked in the end zone by Jaylen Carlies. That spoiled a first-and-goal at the 10 opportunity at the end of the first half.

A fake punt! Matt Hayball picked up a first down on an 11-yard run to the Missouri 47 on the first drive of the second half. It was also Vanderbilt’s longest rush to that point of the day. It ended up not mattering as the Commodores went backwards and punted from there.

Gunnar Hansen and Junior Uzebu split time at left tackle in the first half. Uzebu didn’t play last week and Hansen didn’t play the week before.