Three Keys to a Tennessee Win over Missouri

Stop me if you've heard this before: this is a big game. I know, I know. You've heard that every week for the past 4 weeks, but it is no less true now than it was then. Taking a winning streak into bowl season would do wonders for our recruiting efforts in next year's (2021) class, and to a lesser extent the class we're building currently.

But it's no easy task. No SEC game is an easy win. (Okay, maybe Vanderbilt or Arkansas) Missouri is no exception. Barry Odom made his name on the defensive side of the football and his mark is all over his defense. Missouri has the #19 scoring defense in the country. They allow an average of 165.9 yards through the air this season and only 131.7 on the ground.


So now we get to the keys to getting a win over Missouri.

The only clear advantage the Tennessee Volunteers have over Missouri is Tennessee's defense vs. Missouri's offense. Derek Dooley has had a terrible time trying to replace the production of Drew Lock this year. Kelly Bryant has been very average most of the year and he's been banged up a lot too and missed games. He is, however, expected to be healthy for this game. Bryant is a much better runner than he is a passer and considering the trouble Lynn Bowden gave the Vols on the ground two weeks ago, keying on him and setting the edge on defense will be critical.

Key #1: Limit Missouri's running game with both Bryant and Larry Rountree.

Rountree has 706 yards on the ground this season averaging 5.6 yards per carry. He's a legit SEC back and he has run wild on Tennessee's defense previously, running for 135 yards, a TD on the ground and another through the air in 2018. Keying in on him will definitely be a big part of the gameplan and it's a portion of it the defense must execute.

That brings us to Key #2: Run the ball efficiently.

This is not going to be an easy task based on recent history and Missouri's defensive stats vs. the run this season. Still, it's something I feel like we must do to beat the Tigers. We don't have to dominate on the ground. We just need to run enough to keep the defense honest so that we can get good match-ups with our big wide receivers who match-up pretty well vs. Missouri's corners.

Key # 3: The Assasin, Brent Cimaglia

Cimaglia has been nothing short of brilliant this year making 90.5% of his field-goal tries including 14 of 15 from 40 yards out.

Due to Tennessee's notorious struggles in the red zone, I feel like Cimaglia will have to come through in a big way for Tennessee to win.

As long as Tennessee does these three things well on Saturday they should be able to carry a 4-game winning streak into the Vanderbilt game which will be much less of a challenge than Missouri.

Winning at Vanderbilt and carrying a 5-game winning streak into what should be a winnable bowl game will certainly get the attention of 2021 recruits and assure 2020 commits in their commitments. the Tennessee Volunteers are taking the baby steps that are necessary to return to prominence on the big stage. Time will tell whether or not they get there, but it appears they are at least on the right track.