Tennessee football: Five Missouri Tigers to watch for against Vols

We start this post with a big guy up front. Jordan Elliott is one the players who makes the entire Missouri Tigers defense go. At 6’4″ 315 pounds, he is responsible for getting the push up front to clear the way for all the big plays the front seven makes, and as you will see in this post, they make lots of big plays.

But Elliott is not a guy who can’t make big plays himself. For the year, he has 36 tackles, 27 of which are solo. But he also has eight tackles for a loss, two sacks and two pass deflections. He continues to find ways to be effective, and that’s a big deal. Elliott has already matched his tackles for a loss totals from last year, and he’s still got two more games to go.

Tennessee football’s interior blocking has dramatically improved as the year has gone on. Brandon Kennedy and Trey Smith getting back into a rhythm after returning from injury has been a big part of that. But Elliott is a guy who will test them in a big way, and they’ve got to be ready for everything he brings to the table.

If the Vols let Elliott have a breakout game, they could lose badly. Playing in Columbia will already be difficult with that crowd noise on a Saturday night, and Elliott could make it even more difficult by blowing up plays early.