A bowl game is on the line for the Vols this Saturday. If they win, they automatically qualify for the postseason. If they lose, they have one more shot next weekend. But getting a victory on Senior Day today won’t be easy.
Tennessee (5-5, 2-4 SEC) hosts Missouri (6-4, 2-4 SEC) on Saturday for a pivotal SEC East match-up. The Tigers are looking to win their third straight SEC game, while the Vols are looking to win their second straight and get six wins in Year One of the Jeremy Pruitt era.
These two teams never played each other until the Tigers joined the SEC in 2012. Since coming to the conference, Missouri has beaten the Vols more often than not, holding a 4-2 edge in the annual series over Tennessee.
Missouri’s offensive coordinator, Derek Dooley, was the Vols’ head coach the first time these two teams squared off in 2012. What resulted from that game was a 51-48 Missouri victory in four overtimes. Now, Dooley returns back to Knoxville for the first time since that game, and he has a lot of talented players at his disposal on offense.
Quarterback Drew Lock is second in the SEC in passing yards per game (264.7) and passing touchdowns (21), and he has a couple quality running backs to help support him as well. Damarea Crockett and Larry Rountree III have combined to run for 1,457 yards and 16 touchdowns on 287 carries.
But Missouri’s defense is suspect, and the Vols are coming off an impressive 24-7 upset over Kentucky last weekend. And they’re hungry for another upset this Saturday.
If you still need tickets to the game, we have you covered thanks to our partnership with TicketIQ. You can get tickets here.
But if you can’t make it to Neyland Stadium today, here’s how you can watch or listen to the Vols’ match-up with the Missouri Tigers.
Kickoff: 3:30 Eastern, November 17th, Neyland Stadium (Knoxville, TN)
TV: CBS (Brad Nessler, Gary Danielson, Jamie Erdahl)
Streaming Online: CBSSports.com
Radio: Vol Network, Sirius 94, XM 192
Line: Missouri (-6.5)
