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Tennessee football: Five major obstacles Vols overcame in win at Missouri Tigers

By Caleb Calhoun

COLUMBIA, MISSOURI - NOVEMBER 23: Head coach Jeremy Pruitt of the Tennessee Volunteers runs off the field after their 24-20 win 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 runs off the field after their 24-20 win 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 Jamie Squire/Getty Images
Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images /

4. Missouri’s 5-1 record at home

Sure, they were on a four-game losing streak heading into the game. But the book on the Missouri Tigers was they lose all their games at home and win on the road. The only exception was the week before, when they lost at home to the Florida Gators. But Florida is a top 10 caliber team, and Kelly Bryant hadn’t gotten to full strength yet.

However, even coming off a bye, Tennessee football had an uphill climb because of the fact that Bryant had appeared to return to form. Again, Mizzou had gotten to 5-1 at one point and into the top 25 by running the table at home, and Jeremy Pruitt’s team just didn’t seem like the program with the level of talent to be able to win in Columbia.

Well, it looks like they are. Now yes, Missouri did have some key injuries. But none of them had anything to do with how well Jarrett Guarantano threw the ball, going for over 400 yards. And past injuries had not stopped them from being a major force at home. So there was no reason to believe that Rocky Top had a real chance in this one.

Doing what only Florida has done to Barry Odom this year is highly impressive. This is back to back road wins for the Vols now when the goal was for them just to win one before heading home to face the Vanderbilt Commodores. Scoring one of them against Missouri is a huge deal.

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