Missouri Tigers football vs. Tennessee: Time, TV and 5 things to know about the Vols
The Missouri Tigers play their second SEC matchup of the season against Tennessee this Saturday. They are looking to pick up their first conference win in 2021.
Here are details and five things to know about the game.
THE DETAILS
Kickoff: 11 a.m. Saturday
Where: Faurot Field, Columbia, Missouri
TV: SEC Network
Radio: KMBZ (98.1 FM)
The line: Missouri by 3
FIVE THINGS TO KNOW
1. A familiar face leads the Vols. At the helm for the Volunteers is first year head coach Josh Heupel, who was Missouri’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach from 2016-17. Heupel played an integral role in developing Drew Lock and establishing a high-powered offense for the Tigers before leaving to take a head coaching position at UCF in December 2017. Also on the Tennessee staff are former Missouri offensive line coach Glen Elarbee and Joey Halze, who was an offensive analyst and assistant quarterbacks coach for the Tigers.
2. Reversing the trend. Tennessee has won the last two meetings between these two squads. The Volunteers took a 35-12 victory over Missouri in Knoxville last season and a 24-20 win in Columbia in 2019. The last time the Tigers beat Tennessee was in 2018, when they secured a 50-17 blowout on the road.
3. Both teams coming off losses. Both the Volunteers and Tigers are hoping to get back in the win column after losing their Week 4 matchups. Tennessee suffered a 38-14 defeat to Florida in its first SEC game of the season and Missouri fell to Boston College in overtime, 41-34. Each team now finds itself at 2-2 on the season; the Volunteers also lost to Pittsburgh and picked up wins over Bowling Green and Tennessee Tech.
4. Questions at quarterback. Joe Milton III started the first two games at quarterback for Tennessee, but suffered a leg injury in Week 2 against Pittsburgh. Hendon Hooker then started the following week against Tennessee Tech, passing for 199 yards and three touchdowns, along with 64 yards and a touchdown on the ground.
Milton was in uniform and available to play last week, but Heupel gave Hooker the nod at quarterback. The Virginia Tech transfer passed for 221 yards and two touchdowns against Florida, but left the game early with an injury, which Heupel didn’t give much of an update on the severity of following the game. The head coach has yet to commit to a starting quarterback and it’ll be interesting to see how that situation unfolds this week.
5. Red Zone woes. The Volunteers have allowed their opponents to score on all 13 of their trips to the red zone this season, with nine of those ending in touchdowns. This is welcome news for the Tigers, who have scored on all 15 of their attempts in the red zone this season, 13 of which have been touchdowns.
This story was originally published September 27, 2021 at 10:59 AM.
