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Tennessee football vs. Mississippi State: 10 keys for Vols and Bulldogs

By Caleb Calhoun

KNOXVILLE, TN - SEPTEMBER 15: A view of the inside of Neyland Stadium during 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 inside of Neyland Stadium during 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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Photo by John Sommers II/Getty Images
Photo by John Sommers II/Getty Images /

Saturday is a must-win game for Tennessee football and the Mississippi State Bulldogs. Here are the keys to the game for the UT Volunteers and MSU.

As they get set to kickoff at noon on Saturday, Tennessee football playing host to the Mississippi State Bulldogs is a crucial matchup. Both teams absolutely have to win if they want to make a bowl game when you look at their remaining schedules.

At 1-4 with no wins over an FBS team yet, the Vols still have the Alabama Crimson Tide at home and Missouri Tigers and Kentucky Wildcats on the road. They are certainly losing one of those games, to Alabama, and will certainly lose one of two to Kentucky and Mizzou. So if they lose Saturday, 5-7 is their best-case scenario to end the year.

Meanwhile, Mississippi State is 3-2 coming off a bye, but if they lose Saturday their best-case finish is 6-6, as they will almost certainly lose to the Alabama and the LSU Tigers along with the Texas A&M Aggies since that one’s on the road. Simply put, Joe Moorhead’s team is just as desperate for a win.

So who is going to be ready to do what they need to do? Tennessee football clearly has lots of areas that they can use to exploit Mississippi State’s weaknesses. But the Bulldogs have even more against the Vols.

Looking at the factors in determining the outcome of this game, both of those are relevant as is the time and location of this location. Where it falls on the schedule for both teams is another factor that we’ll get into.

Simply put, there are a lot of moving parts determining what will happen in this game, and it’s one both teams will really need to win. So what are these factors? Who benefits the most? Let’s take a look here. These are the 10 keys to the game when Tennessee football hosts the Mississippi State Bulldogs Saturday at Neyland Stadium.

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