The defense got overwhelmed
Usually, Missouri’s defense can handle anything that comes its way. Not today. Tennessee got almost anything it wanted and it showed over and over again. Tennessee quarterback Hendon Hooker had completed 17 of 24 passes for 224 yards and a touchdown in the first half. He also had six carries for 57 yards and a touchdown. Hooker would finish the game by completing 25 of 34 passes for 355 yards and three touchdowns. He also had seven carries for 54 yards and a touchdown. So, in the first half, Hooker had more passing yards than Mizzou had total offense and he finished the game with more passing yards than Mizzou had total offense. Tennessee had two wide receivers go over 100 receiving yards and neither was named Cedric Tillman.
Tennessee finished the game with twice as many first downs as Missouri. The game at one point was 28-24 in favor of Tennessee. Then the Vols scored 38 unanswered.
Tennessee had 724 yards of offense. The most allowed in school history was 750. Tells you a lot right there.
Self-inflicted wounds
Well, two of the Tigers' biggest issues of the season reared their ugly heads. Penalties and third downs (on both sides of the ball). Mizzou had 14 penalties and only one of them came from the offensive line, a position group that easily has the most penalties on the team. Seven of the penalties were from the offense with three false start penalties happening on one drive in the third quarter by position players at one point. Defensively, the secondary had four penalties and the defensive line had three. Drink talks about unforced errors and discipline and this was far from it.
Missouri was terrible on third down (5 of 16). Coming into today, the SEC average was 42% and Mizzou was 2-1 vs. P5 teams in games when it was over the league average in third downs. The third-down defense for the Tigers was alright. Mizzou held the Vols to 4 of 11 on third down, but that’s because the Tigers had 31 first downs.
For good measure, down 25 in the fourth quarter the Tigers ran the Tyler Macon play (you know the one I’m talking about) and running back Elijah Young fumbled, so the Tigers lost the turnover battle too. Not that it impacted the game either way, but it was a good chance to get a good rep in and the Tigers literally fumbled it.
The offense played its best game, still has a long way to go
Brady Cook followed up a pretty bad week 10 performance with a much better outing. The offense as a whole did. But that’s not saying a lot. Cook had his first multi-passing touchdown game of the season and he didn’t turn the ball over and it wasn’t even close to enough. He also had over 100 yards rushing. He still only completed 59% of his passes. The running backs still combined for just 58 of the 176 rushing yards.
Usually, Missouri’s defense can handle anything that comes its way. Not today. Tennessee got almost anything it wanted and it showed over and over again. Tennessee quarterback Hendon Hooker had completed 17 of 24 passes for 224 yards and a touchdown in the first half. He also had six carries for 57 yards and a touchdown. Hooker would finish the game by completing 25 of 34 passes for 355 yards and three touchdowns. He also had seven carries for 54 yards and a touchdown. So, in the first half, Hooker had more passing yards than Mizzou had total offense and he finished the game with more passing yards than Mizzou had total offense. Tennessee had two wide receivers go over 100 receiving yards and neither was named Cedric Tillman.
Tennessee finished the game with twice as many first downs as Missouri. The game at one point was 28-24 in favor of Tennessee. Then the Vols scored 38 unanswered.
Tennessee had 724 yards of offense. The most allowed in school history was 750. Tells you a lot right there.
Self-inflicted wounds
Well, two of the Tigers' biggest issues of the season reared their ugly heads. Penalties and third downs (on both sides of the ball). Mizzou had 14 penalties and only one of them came from the offensive line, a position group that easily has the most penalties on the team. Seven of the penalties were from the offense with three false start penalties happening on one drive in the third quarter by position players at one point. Defensively, the secondary had four penalties and the defensive line had three. Drink talks about unforced errors and discipline and this was far from it.
Missouri was terrible on third down (5 of 16). Coming into today, the SEC average was 42% and Mizzou was 2-1 vs. P5 teams in games when it was over the league average in third downs. The third-down defense for the Tigers was alright. Mizzou held the Vols to 4 of 11 on third down, but that’s because the Tigers had 31 first downs.
For good measure, down 25 in the fourth quarter the Tigers ran the Tyler Macon play (you know the one I’m talking about) and running back Elijah Young fumbled, so the Tigers lost the turnover battle too. Not that it impacted the game either way, but it was a good chance to get a good rep in and the Tigers literally fumbled it.
The offense played its best game, still has a long way to go
Brady Cook followed up a pretty bad week 10 performance with a much better outing. The offense as a whole did. But that’s not saying a lot. Cook had his first multi-passing touchdown game of the season and he didn’t turn the ball over and it wasn’t even close to enough. He also had over 100 yards rushing. He still only completed 59% of his passes. The running backs still combined for just 58 of the 176 rushing yards.
