Before Missouri football’s great escape, it was trending toward a three-phase failure.

Now that the dust has just about settled …

The Tigers (4-0, 1-0 SEC) have a week off to get right after a double-overtime, 30-27 win over Vanderbilt (2-2, 0-1), as they enter their first idle week of the season. Then, it’s Kyle Field in College Station for Texas A&M.

And coach Eli Drinkwitz’s team, undefeated but not unscarred, has a lot of housekeeping to do.

“I mean the furthest thing from everybody in (the) locker room's mind, and starting with me and my staff, is going to be Texas A&M,” Drinkwitz said. “We’ve got to go take a hard look at the Missouri Tigers. We’ve got to figure out why we're not executing in the third downs, in the red area; why we're not kicking field goals; why we're missing tackles; why we're busting assignments. So, I'm not even kind of worried about Texas A&M.

“... What I'm concerned about is our team enjoying a win, being 4-0, which is as good as we can be record-wise, but we're not as good as we can be playing-wise. And we're going to have to settle in on that and figure out what we’ve got to do to improve.”

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Missouri’s defense got right as the game went on. That was important because the first blink was another bust.

MU cornerback Toriano Pride Jr. briefly turned his eyes toward quarterback Diego Pavia and the backfield as his man, freshman Joseph McVay, slipped by into more than enough room to canter into the end zone. Pavia, like Boston College’s Thomas Castellano before him, essentially couldn’t miss for a midfield-crossing, secondary-bypassing touchdown.

“Just really poor play on the defensive side of the ball,” Drinkwitz said. “So, we’ve got to get a lot better.”

Defensive coordinator Corey Batoon’s unit made it work. Yes, Pavia had gained 84 yards rushing. Yes, Drinkwitz was upset with some tackling angles.

But the Tigers held Vanderbilt to four straight drives (other than a bizarre coaching decision we’ll certainly address) to three plays and out around the half. The Tigers had six tackles for loss and four QB hurries to keep the Commodores cool most of the evening.

The offense couldn’t make that count.

Well, other than Nate Noel.

“Without him,” quarterback Brady Cook said of the man who rushed for 199 yards, “we don't win that game.”

Probably true. The offensive output was lacking — again.

The Tigers were woeful on third down, as they went 7-of-17. Cook’s running ability was essentially nullified, as he picked up seven yards on 11 carries. Luther Burden III had two touchdowns, but amid his 76-yard, six-catch night were two dropped balls that killed drives. The offensive line allowed eight tackles for loss, and Cook was sacked three times as pass protection continued to lag behind the run blocking.

Above all else, Mizzou stuttered and stumbled in the red zone. The Tigers have long been telling anyone who will listen that converting those trips into 6 is among the offense’s top priorities. They went 2-of-4 on Saturday. That’s a wound.

“We’ve got to take a hard look,” Drinkwitz said, "at what we're doing in the red area and figure out why we can't sustain drives and why we're not able to convert third downs.”

But there was salt for the gash, too. The Tigers couldn’t convert most of them to 3, either.

Blake Craig had the first truly poor performance of his career, missing field goals from 24, 40 and 46 yards. All credit to the redshirt freshman kicker, when he needed to make two kicks in overtime, he stepped up and delivered.

“It's a learning lesson. Can't get too high and can't get too low,” Drinkwitz said. “You know, last week we were SEC Player of the Week. This week, we're not. So we're somewhere in the middle.”

And if the three-phase problem wasn’t enough, the coaches got in on the act, too.

Here’s the situation from Missouri’s end-of-half meltdown:

The 40-second play clock started ticking with 25 seconds left on the game clock. Missouri’s offense stayed out. The Tigers snapped it with 13 seconds left on the game clock, meaning Cook’s in-helmet communication was still on. The quarterback was sacked with eight seconds until the half for a turnover on downs.

Vanderbilt capitalized, running one play and getting four yards to set up, and convert, a half-ending, 57-yard field goal.

Three free points. A significant three points, as it turned out.

“That was a really haphazard decision by me, and the team bailed me out. Bottom line: I've got to be much better,” Drinkwitz said. “And, so, should have never done that.”

It isn’t all doom and gloom. Mizzou has won eight straight games dating back to last season — the longest streak in the FBS.

There was plenty of reason for the Tigers to feel relief and pride and even a little bit of Saturday joy.

Mizzou got punched. And smacked. And jabbed.

But the Tigers won, stayed undefeated, and despite all their shortcomings kept their College Football Playoff bid in working order.

But heading to Texas A&M in less than two weeks? Missouri was an error-prone team entering the Vandy matchup and did little to absolve any fan anxiety.

The Tigers were bumped out of the top 10 of the coaches poll on Sunday, a semi-useful indicator that, as it stands, Mizzou is just on the outside looking in for a CFP berth.

October will clear up any questions, as Missouri either cleans up or fizzles out.

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Where Missouri football goes next after mistakes swelled vs Vanderbilt