Tennessee had plenty of chances to keep Saturday’s contest against Missouri a close one, especially in the first half. But much like they did against Florida earlier this season, Tennessee’s team imploded in front of their home crowd in Neyland Stadium.
Senior Night got spoiled by turnovers and an explosive Missouri offense, as the Tigers exploited UT’s mistakes and got out of Knoxville with a blowout 50-17 victory.
Jarrett Guarantano took a huge hit in the first quarter, stayed in for another few plays on UT’s next offensive possessions, but then was taken out in favor of Keller Chryst early in the second quarter. Guarantano would not return to the game, and Chryst led the offense for the rest of the game.
Chryst and UT’s offense came out and had a few good possessions to start, but then disaster struck.
The Vols were moving and in the red zone when Keller Chryst tossed the ball up to his receiver, and DeMarkus Acy picked off the pass and sprinted down the field for a 76-yard return to set Missouri up for a short touchdown drive before the end of the first half. And the game went from a 19-10 contest with Tennessee knocking on the door to Missouri suddenly up 26-10 before halftime.
Tennessee would come back and score on the opening possession of the second half, but Missouri would respond after that drive and never look back.
For the second straight year, the Tigers put up 50 points on the Vols. Last year, Tennessee fell 50-17 to Missouri. This year, it was the same outcome.
Here are our five biggest takeaways from the Vols’ discouraging loss to Missouri.
Lose the Turnover Battle, Lose the Game
Tennessee needed to force a few turnovers and capitalize off those takeaways in order to slow down Missouri’s potent offense. But they didn’t take the ball away from the Tigers until it was too late, and Missouri’s takeaways on defense were much bigger than Tennessee’s.
The Tigers had that interception just before halftime as mentioned above, but they had another takeaway that directly resulted in points in the third quarter. Carlin Fils-aime got the hand-off on a sweep, and he had the ball knocked loose. Missouri’s Joshua Bledsoe scooped up the loose ball and ran untouched for a 39-yard touchdown to put Missouri up 40-17.
Missouri would intercept another Keller Chryst pass in the fourth quarter, and they would end up scoring a touchdown on that possession too, putting the bow on the game with their 50th point of the contest.
The Vols forced a fumble late in the second half, but at that point the damage had been done. Tennessee also went three-and-out after that forced fumble.
Same Old Story
A terrible first quarter, missed tackles, and blown coverages. It was the same old, same old for the Vols in this one.
The Vols’ defense held Missouri to two field goals and two punts in their first four possessions of the game, but Tennessee’s offense had their worst start of the season since the Florida game. Tennessee went three-and-out on all three of their possessions in the first quarter, and they totaled -17 yards of offense thanks to a couple sacks as well.
The offense would recover in the second quarter, and they actually out-gained Missouri 155 yards to 149 yards in the second quarter. But Missouri out-scored the Vols 20-10 in that quarter of play.
Not only did the offense’s slow start affect the game, but Tennessee’s inability to tackle correctly did too. There was a pivotal third down on Missouri’s first possession of the second half where Tennessee had Missouri stopped behind the first down marker if they make the tackle.
Tennessee had two chances at bringing down Tyler Badie, but they couldn’t do it. Instead, he gained 21 yards.
That wasn’t the only time the Vols had obvious misses on tackles either.
UT’s secondary also got torched on a few throws, and if not for some drops by Missouri’s wideouts, the Tigers could’ve racked up even more yards through the air. As it was, the Tigers picked up 257 yards in the passing game, and they ended up with 227 rushing yards thanks to some garbage time runs.
Callaway, Chandler, and…That’s It
There were a small handful of bright spots for Tennessee on Saturday, but not many.
Ty Chandler had some good runs, and he scored both of the Vols’ touchdowns. He finished the afternoon with 14 carries for 82 yards and those two touchdowns.
Marquez Callaway was the Vols’ only other bright spot to point out during Saturday’s game. Callaway had two catches on the afternoon, and both were incredible, acrobatic receptions that showed off his athleticism and toughness. He finished with two receptions for 98 yards with both catches going for 49 yards.
Other than those two, there wasn’t much to point out as positives for the Vols in this one.
Keller Chryst started out the game 4-of-5 and had over 100 yards on those four completions, but he would close out the game just 3-of-14 and tossed two picks. He finished 7-of-19 for 173 yards, no touchdowns, and two interceptions. Tim Jordan was ineffective, Fils-aime had the costly fumble, and no other receivers really stood out besides a 41-yard reception from Jauan Jennings.
Tennessee’s defense also had a forgettable day, allowing 484 yards and 6.1 yards per play in the game. Kyle Phillips got a sack, but that was about the only bright spot for the defense after the first few possessions.
Dooley Actually Wins in Neyland
Derek Dooley didn’t win very many SEC games in Neyland Stadium as head coach of Tennessee, and he certainly didn’t get any blowout victories against conference opponents while he was head coach of the Vols. But as Missouri’s offensive coordinator, he finally got a big win in Neyland.
Dooley called a good game as the Tigers’ OC on Saturday, and Missouri had their best performance against an SEC team on offense all season. Missouri dumped on 43 points on offense, and they gained nearly 500 yards of offense.
Vol fans didn’t want to see Dooley’s team get a win on Saturday, but that’s exactly what happened.
Do or Die Next Week
After this blowout loss, Tennessee has one last chance to automatically qualify for a bowl game. And that comes next week at Vanderbilt.
The Vols fall to 5-6 on the season, and next weekend’s match-up on the road against in-state foe Vanderbilt will decide whether or not the Vols can get to six wins and make a bowl game.
Tennessee has been in this position before against the Commodores, and they’ve had mixed results. The Vols defeated Vanderbilt in 2014 in Nashville to get to a bowl game, but they lost a close one in Neyland the year before to miss out on making the postseason.
