Tennessee vs Missouri Report Card: Grading the Vols Against the Tigers

Nov 21, 2015; Columbia, MO, USA; Missouri Tigers quarterback Drew Lock (3) runs the ball and is tripped up by Tennessee Volunteers defensive back Cameron Sutton (7) during the second half at Faurot Field. Tennessee won the game 19-8. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

Here are grades on offense, defense, special teams and coaching for the Volunteers from the Tennessee vs Missouri football game. They beat the Tigers 19-8.

A 19-8 score is exactly what you would expect from even the best of the best in college football if they traveled to Columbia to play the Missouri Tigers given the current circumstances.

The emotions of Gary Pinkel’s retirement combined with the turmoil on campus along with the team’s desperation to become bowl eligible compounded with the cold weather Saturday would make for an ugly game.

So Butch Jones and the Tennessee Vols should make no apologies for how they fared in their victory to move to 7-4 on the year and 4-3 in the conference.

The Tigers, now 5-6 and 1-6 in the conference, are a very dangerous football team who can give anybody trouble despite what their record shows. They are still one game away from a bowl game.

The Vols covered the spread and had some sensational performances from some units.

As a result, we are not going to sit up here on a high-horse and pretend there is any concern surrounding the events of the game. It’s a good win on the road against a divisional opponent.

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Breaking it down position by position, the Vols clearly had some units that looked better than others, but a lot of that had to do with the strengths of the Tigers.

Still, some units rose to the occasion even better than expected. We evaluate each unit based on what they needed to do in order to help the team win the game and who they were going against.

So with a complete victory, here is the official report card and all of the grades for the Tennessee Vols football team in their 19-8 victory over the Missouri Tigers. They definitely made honor roll on this one.

Next: Offensive Grades