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

4. There were too many special teams errors.

If there’s one area of glaring weaknesses for Tennessee football in this game, it was on special teams. And honestly, these errors were somewhat shocking. Nobody would have seen this coming heading into the game, and it could have clearly cost the Vols. It’s something they need to fix if they are going to finish strong.

Let’s start with place-kicking. Brent Cimaglia had two field goals blocked in the game. Heading into the game, we said that the Vols would be the one with the place-kicking advantage. But they missed two field goals while the Tigers made both of their attempts. UT only made one, going into halftime. And that difference is what kept Barry Odom’s team in the game late.

On top of that, the Tigers at one point called a fake punt. Jeremy Pruitt was seen screaming it from the sideline. However, the defense wasn’t ready, and Mizzou converted it anyway. Those were three critical plays in the game that could have proven costly, and they are things the Vols need to work on going forward.

There is still reason to believe Tennessee football has the default special teams advantage over any team it faces. But Saturday was not a good night, and it’s something that needs to be corrected heading into the matchup with the Vanderbilt Commodores. No matter how bad Vandy is, you know they will give the Vols a fight. Special teams errors, as a result, could prove costly.