Tennessee football will be looking for its first SEC win on the season with a road game against the Missouri Tigers in Week 11.
For the first time since September, Tennessee is entering a week off of a win. The Vols pulled away from Southern Miss late to earn a 24-10 home victory. The win boosted their record to 4-5 (0-5). With three games left on the schedule the Vols are two wins away from bowl eligibility – and then there’s the status of Butch Jones.
Nobody knows why Jones is still the coach at Tennessee. It’s unlikely that he returns no matter how this season finishes. As for Saturday, a win would seemingly stay his removal for at least one more week while a loss could put him out of a job by Sunday. Of course, that’s been the assumption for weeks now.
Missouri 4-5 (1-4) seems to be peaking as the Vols are tanking. The Tigers have won three games in a row, albeit with the first two coming against Idaho and UConn. They routed a hapless Florida squad 45-16 last weekend and come into Knoxville playing their best football of the season.
Here’s how you can watch Saturday’s Tennessee vs. Missouri game:
Date: Saturday, Nov. 11
Time: 7:30 p.m. ET
Location: Columbia, Mo.
Venue: Faurot Field
TV: SEC Network
Live Stream: WatchESPN
Keys to Victory
Missouri has surrendered 21 points or more in seven of their nine games this season. The Tigers have gotten in plenty of shootouts and the offense has topped 40 points five times. That’s not so difficult to do when Drew Locke is your quarterback.
Locke has been particularly impressive away from home. He’s throw 12 touchdowns on the road and just one interception. The Tennessee offense isn’t high-flying by any stretch so a couple of touchdowns from Locke should do the trick for the Tigers.
The Vols are 4-1 when running back John Kelly touches the ball at least 21 times. Tennessee is going to have to find a way to win the battle in the trenches and that starts by running the football. They need to extend drives and keep the Missouri offense off the field.
Prediction
It’s hard to have much faith in the Vols at all. Tennessee is a program that seems lost with a coach that is on his way out. The fanbase continues to grow apathetic and all the while the rest of the SEC East (outside of Florida) continues to improve.
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Tennessee has more talent than Missouri, but that talent hasn’t been able to win them an SEC game yet. Until they do it doesn’t seem prudent to put any measure of confidence in them whatsoever. It’s going to be close, but Missouri keeps streaking and Butch’s face turns red again.
Final Score: Tennessee 20, Missouri 21