For the second-straight week, Tennessee will be an underdog in their own home stadium.
A week after being nearly four-touchdown underdogs to No. 3 Georgia, the Vols (1-4, 0-2 SEC) have opened up as slight underdogs to their next opponent, Mississippi State (3-2, 1-1 SEC). According to Circa Sport, a betting sportsbook in Las Vegas, the Bulldogs have opened up as 6.5-point favorites ahead of next weekend’s match-up.
Mississippi State has stumbled in their last few games after winning their first two contests of the season. The Bulldogs started 2-0 with a 38-28 victory over Louisiana and a 38-15 win over Southern Miss. But Mississippi State faltered against Kansas State at home, losing 31-24 to the Wildcats. The Bulldogs bounced back with a 28-13 win over Kentucky, but they got routed by then-No. 7 Auburn 56-23 on the road two weeks ago.
The Bulldogs will be entering Saturday’s game coming off a bye week. Tennessee, meanwhile, is coming off a 43-14 loss to No. 3 Georgia on their home turf.
Mississippi State has been dealing with injuries to their starting quarterback, Penn State grad transfer Tommy Stevens. The veteran signal caller missed Mississippi State’s win over Kentucky after exiting the Kansas State game early, and he only played sparingly against Auburn two weeks ago. Stevens’ status for Saturday’s game is currently up in the air.
Freshman Garrett Shrader has filled in for Stevens in the meantime, and he’s had success. Schrader has completed 40 of his 68 passes on the season for 511 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception. He’s more dangerous on the ground than Stevens, and he’s totaled 312 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 46 carries.
Stevens, meanwhile, has completed 37 of his 58 pass attempts for 448 yards, five touchdowns, and two interceptions when he’s played. He has two rushing touchdowns on the year himself.
Tennessee has seen success from a freshman quarterback this season as well. After ineffective play from redshirt junior Jarrett Guarantano, head coach Jeremy Pruitt turned to true freshman Brian Maurer this past Saturday against No. 3 Georgia. The freshman sparked the Vols’ offense in the first half, leading UT on back-to-back scoring drives to take an early 14-10 lead.
That momentum would die down, but Maurer impressed in his first career start, finishing with 259 yards, two touchdowns, an interception, and a fumble on 14-of-28 passing.
The Bulldogs do have one of the top running backs in the SEC, however. Junior Kylin Hill has gotten off to a strong start this season, totaling 596 rushing yards and five touchdowns on 108 carries. He also has seven catches for 70 yards, giving him nearly 700 yards of offense through five games.
Tennessee and Mississippi State haven’t played since 2012. That game resulted in a 41-31 victory for the Bulldogs in Starkville. The Vols had won six-straight games against Mississippi State prior to that contest. All-time, Tennessee is 28-16-1 against the Bulldogs.
The two teams will square-off at noon Eastern in Neyland Stadium this upcoming Saturday, October 12th.
