Missouri Tigers defense shredded by Tennessee in loss: Here’s what went wrong
The Missouri Tigers entered Saturday’s contest against Tennessee as betting favorites, but looked like anything but in an all-around embarrassing 62-24 loss at Memorial Stadium.
With the defeat, Mizzou fell below .500 on the season at 2-3 and started 0-2 in SEC play for the second consecutive year.
The Tigers had absolutely no answer on defense, allowing 677 total yards and an average of 8.8 yards per play. The offense wasn’t up to par either, with quarterback Connor Bazelak throwing two interceptions.
Here are the biggest takeaways from the game.
Quick Tennessee scores
This game got ugly for Mizzou almost as soon as it started.
The Tigers began with the ball, but didn’t have it for long. On second-and-7, Bazelak was sacked for a loss of seven. He then nearly threw an interception and the Tigers punted.
With great field position, Tennessee only needed five plays and 1 minute, 15 seconds to go 57 yards for the first touchdown, a 35-yard connection between quarterback Hendon Hooker and wide receiver JaVonta Payton.
After settling for a field goal, the Tigers once again let the Volunteers have their way for a quick score. On the first play, wide receiver Velus Jones Jr. reeled in a 14-yard catch, followed by an 11-yard rush by Jabari Small.
A few plays later, on second-and-3, Small took a handoff and dodged several defenders, sending two Tigers on top of each other at one point, as he sprinted 21 yards. Two plays later, both runs from Tiyon Evans, and Tennessee had a touchdown. The Volunteers went 75 yards in seven plays in less than two minutes on that drive.
Missouri then had another three and out, setting up perhaps the most deflating play for the Tigers.
On the first play of the Volunteers’ third drive, running back Evans took a handoff at the 8-yard line and easily found a hole. He sprinted past every defender, going 92 yards for the score. The drive, which put Mizzou down 21-3, lasted 12 seconds.
The Volunteers scored 28 points in the first quarter while only having possession for 3:24. By the time they reached 35 points towards the start of the second, their time of possession was only 5:01.
The contest was all but over by halftime, at which point the Tigers trailed 45-10. The last time Mizzou allowed that many points in a half was on Oct. 13, 1990 in a 69-21 loss to then-No. 7 Nebraska.
The run defense continues to be nonexistent
Through the first four outings this season, Missouri’s defense had allowed 269.2 rushing yards per game — ranking 129th out of 130 FBS teams.
If there was any hope that Mizzou would show improvement in defending the run, throw it out the window. This isn’t getting better anytime soon.
The Tigers allowed 275 rushing yards to the Volunteers in the first half alone, surpassing their season average.
On the afternoon, Tennessee ran for 452 yards and five touchdowns, gaining 7.8 yards per rush.
Penalties cost Mizzou
Entering Saturday’s contest, Tennessee averaged 74.75 penalty yards per game. But Mizzou was burdened by mistakes in this one.
The Tigers had five penalties for 48 yards in the first quarter alone. By halftime, it was eight penalties for 82 yards. They finished the day with a total of nine penalties for 98 yards. Tennessee only had two for 20 yards.
Badie makes history
On the first play of Missouri’s third drive of the game, running back Tyler Badie reeled in a catch from Bazelak up the middle and took off towards the right sideline for a gain of 17 yards.
With that play, Badie became the first player in program history to record 1,000 career rushing and receiving yards.
Mike Jones (1987-90), Ronnell Kayhill (1989-92), Jeremy Maclin (2007-08) and Jon Staggers (1967-69) are the only other Tigers to record over 500 yards in both categories.
Badie, a senior, finished the afternoon with 41 rushing yards and one rushing touchdown on 21 attempts, along with three receptions for 27 yards though, marking one of his least productive games this season.
Saturday brings Badie’s career marks to 1,594 rushing yards and 1,022 receiving yards in total.
This story was originally published October 2, 2021 at 2:33 PM.
