Heartbreak.

Vanderbilt head coach Clark Lea's signature win was in the balance. Vanderbilt's crown jewel was within reach. Instead of finding it, Lea's program gets on the plane back to Nashville with nothing to show for its opportunity that sailed wide left with Brock Taylor's missed 31 yarder that ended this one.

Lea's team looked like it belonged on Saturday as it took No. 7 Missouri to overtime, but leaves Columbia without anything to show for it.

Vanderbilt walked in to Columbia with confidence and played to its capability, but it still wasn’t quite good enough.

The older, better team eeked out a win on Saturday as Missouri took down Vanderbilt 30-27. The talent gap was still there. So was the gap between where Vanderbilt is in its build relative to where it wants to be. That gap was three point large on Saturday night.

It didn't look as big as it used to, though.

Vanderbilt led the No. 7 team in the country on the road at halftime, it saw its kicker knock down a program record 57 yard field goal, its offensive line looked like it belonged in the run game and it came out ready to play in a way that it didn't a week ago.

Bigger than all, Vanderbilt had a chance to win as it sat late in Saturday's contest. For much of Saturday Vanderbilt looked like it belonged on the same field with the No. 7 team in the country.

That didn't feel like a plausible outcome with a look at Saturday's 18.5-point spread or Vanderbilt's eerie 36-32 loss to Georgia State a week ago, but it was on Saturday.

Maybe it was a result of mistake-ridden football by its opponent or a performance below their standard, but Vanderbilt was on the doorstep.

Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz took the podium on Tuesday afternoon and sung Clark Lea’s praises. Drinkwitz lauded Lea for his improved roster, which Drinkwitz labeled as his best one. The Missouri coach found loads of adjectives to praise Vanderbilt’s newfound schemes.

Drinkwitz' words proved to have substance with the result of Saturday's contest.

It always felt as if his team would find a way, though.

What Missouri did offensively with its running game that netted it _ yards was too sustainable. Its pieces were too experienced. Its crowd was too much.

That doesn't insulate Vanderbilt from "what ifs," though.

What if Taylor's kick sails through the uprights and gives the Commodores another chance? What if it made it harder on Luther Burden? What if things were different?

Maybe a matchup like this at FirstBank Stadium ends differently. Maybe if a blade or two of grass were shaved differently around holder Jesse Mirco's hands it does.

Instead of seeing the fruits of its build, Vanderbilt will be left to wonder.

What if.