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Tennessee football blown out by Missouri: 5 takeaways from Vols loss

By Caleb Calhoun

KNOXVILLE, TN - SEPTEMBER 15: A view of the outside of Neyland Stadium before a game between the Florida Gators and Tennessee Volunteers on September 15, 2012 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by John Sommers II/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - SEPTEMBER 15: A view of the outside of Neyland Stadium before a game between the Florida Gators and Tennessee Volunteers on September 15, 2012 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by John Sommers II/Getty Images) /
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Tennessee football fell to 5-6 on the year after a 50-17 blowout loss to the Missouri Tigers. Here are five takeaways from Mizzou’s win over the Volunteers.

It was a reality check for Tennessee football. The Vols still have a long way to go to get where they need to be, as they lost in a blowout 50-17 to the Missouri Tigers. With the win, Mizzou moved to 7-4 on the season while UT fell to 5-6.

Jeremy Pruitt’s team allowed a team to score 50 on them for the first time all season. His kids will need to win their final regular season game against the Vanderbilt Commodores on the road in order to reach bowl eligibility.

Although this was not the way to go out on Senior Day, it’s important to note that the Vols were always going to have plenty of work to do this season. They’re still in contention for a bowl game, so it’s not panic time yet. Here are five takeaways from Tennessee football’s loss to the Missouri Tigers.

1. Offensive line wasn’t ready to play out of the gate

We were wondering if Tennessee football’s offensive line play against the Kentucky Wildcats was a fluke or a trend. Well, it looks like it was a fluke. The group looked horrendous right out of the gate. On the first two drives, the Vols gained minus-16 yards and allowed two sacks. They never got the run game going all day either, and of course, Jarrett Guarantano took a brutal hit that knocked him out of the game.

2. Keller Chryst showed why he wasn’t starting all year

A common theme on Rocky Top was that Jarrett Guarantano was starting all year because he was Jeremy Pruitt’s quarterback for the future, while Keller Chryst wouldn’t  provide much as a graduate transfer senior. However, after Saturday, that was clearly not the case. Chryst threw two interceptions on the day and floated far too many balls. With the line not blocking, he was not able to air it out the way he would want. And it showed.

3. Drew Lock had his way with the secondary.

Coming into the game, Drew Lock had six touchdowns and seven interceptions in SEC play. However, he had thrown five touchdowns and just two interceptions in his previous two games. So the improvement was showing. It blossomed on Saturday, as he completed 70 percent of his passes and threw two touchdowns with no interceptions. Lock truly looked like an NFL quarterback, and that’s a big deal.

4. Missouri’s balance was too much to overcome

Derek Dooley’s return to Knoxville wasn’t all about Drew Lock. He employed the balance his team had all year, and after blowing out the one-dimensional Kentucky Wildcats, Tennessee football wasn’t ready for it. The Vols allowed 257 yards through the air and another 227 on the ground, and Mizzou’s offense scored 43 points (one touchdown was scored by the defense).

5. Key turnovers proved costly

We mentioned Keller Chryst’s two interceptions and the touchdown scored by the defense. So it’s worth noting that, in general, key Vols turnovers knocked them out of the game. A Chryst interception at the end of the first half set up a Missouri touchdown to give them a 26-10 lead. Then Carlin Fils-Aime fumbled the ball in the second half, and Mizzou returned it for a touchdown to go up 40-17. They weren’t going to recover after that.

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