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

2. Front seven was dominant

The passing game will get the love, and it deserves that. But don’t forget what Tennessee football’s front seven was able to do in this game against an offense that finally came back to life in front of its home crowd with Kelly Bryant at quarterback. And they had to do it against their former head coach, Derek Dooley, running the Mizzou offense.

In epic fashion, the front seven held the Tigers to under three yards a carry running the ball. That  was despite the fact that Bryant was a dual-threat. Larry Rountree III, their star running back, only had 16 carries for 43 yards, and Bryant only had 18 yards on 10 carries. He was sacked twice. Tyler Badie was the best runner with only nine carries for 35 yards.

Daniel Bituli, as usual, led the way with 10 tackles, eight of which were solo, and a sack. But Darrell Taylor, despite not getting a sack, brought pressure all night. And Henry To’o To’o also made a few key tackles. In fact, Bituli and To’o To’o once again did what they did two weeks ago by making crucial fourth quarter plays.

For the second straight game, the defense needed a fourth quarter stand. And once again, they got it. They got it twice. Bituli got a key sack on one drive. Late in the game, up 24-20, To’o To’o made a key tackle on a 3rd down play that forced Mizzou to punt. They did just that, and the Vols never gave the ball back.