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Tennessee football: Five takeaways from Vols 24-20 win at Missouri

By Caleb Calhoun

COLUMBIA, MISSOURI - NOVEMBER 23: Head coach Jeremy Pruitt of the Tennessee Volunteers leads his team to to the field prior to a game against the Missouri Tigers at Faurot Field/Memorial Stadium on November 23, 2019 in Columbia, Missouri. (Photo by Ed Zurga/Getty Images)
COLUMBIA, MISSOURI - NOVEMBER 23: Head coach Jeremy Pruitt of the Tennessee Volunteers leads his team to to the field prior to a game against the Missouri Tigers at Faurot Field/Memorial Stadium on November 23, 2019 in Columbia, Missouri. (Photo by Ed Zurga/Getty Images) /
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Photo by Ed Zurga/Getty Images
Photo by Ed Zurga/Getty Images /

Jeremy Pruitt’s second team reached bowl eligibility with Tennessee football’s win at Mizzou. Here’s what we learned from the Volunteers’ victory.

They just keep finding ways to win. Tennessee football won it second straight road game, its fourth game overall and its fifth game in six weeks to reach bowl eligibility on Saturday night by besting the Missouri Tigers 24-20.

With the win, the Vols moved above .500 for the first time this season at 6-5. This is a far cry from the team that started the season 0-2 with two home losses to Group of Five programs, the Georgia State Panthers and BYU Cougars.

And the way they won this game was also impressive. For the third time in this four-game winning streak, Tennessee football allowed the opposition to score first. They fell behind 3-0 in the first quarter. Then, after going up with a touchdown in the second quarter, they fell behind 10-7 by allowing a touchdown of their own.

However, the Vols scored a touchdown and a late field goal to go up 17-10 at halftime. After allowing Missouri to tie it up in the third quarter, they then scored another touchdown to go up 24-20. Mizzou could only get a field goal in the fourth despite keeping UT from scoring and at one point forcing a fumble.

Rocky Top didn’t just move to 6-5 on the year, but they also moved above .500 in the SEC, to 4-3, for the first time since 2016, when they beat Missouri. That also happens to be the last time they beat Missouri, as the Tigers had won the previous two meetings 50-17 and had won five of seven since joining the SEC heading into the game.

While Jeremy Pruitt’s team has been behind a dramatic turnaround, Barry Odom’s team has continued its slide. This is their sixth straight loss, as they have fallen to 5-6 on the year, and UT and Florida are now the only two teams to win in Columbia, Mo. Taking all of that into account, here are five takeaways from Tennessee football’s huge win.

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