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Tennessee Football: Five Vols to watch for against Missouri

By Dean Zulkofske

KNOXVILLE, TN - OCTOBER 12: Alontae Taylor #2 of the Tennessee Volunteers looks on during a game against the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Neyland Stadium on October 12, 2019 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - OCTOBER 12: Alontae Taylor #2 of the Tennessee Volunteers looks on during a game against the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Neyland Stadium on October 12, 2019 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images) /
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Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images
Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images /

Watch for these Tennessee football Volunteers against the Mizzou Tigers.

After hanging on to a 31-27 victory last week in Columbia, S.C., Tennessee football will have a chance to improve to 2-0 against the Missouri Tigers on Saturday. Mizzou heads to Knoxville coming off a 38-19 loss to Nick Saban and the Alabama Crimson Tide.

Since Missouri joined the SEC in 2012, the Tigers and Vols have only faced off eight times, with Tennessee winning just three of those contests. Sure, this decade doesn’t harbor the better years of UT history, but moving forward under the Jeremy Pruitt staff, Mizzou is not a team the Vols can afford to lose to.

This Missouri team that will be in Knoxville this Saturday won’t be the same squad Tennessee football saw last November. For starters, they have replaced Barry Odom with former Eliah Drinkwitz as head coach. Drinkwitz arrives after a year as head coach and play-caller of the Appalachian State Mountaineers, where he went 12-1 and won the Sun Belt.

From a lost production standpoint, last year’s quarterback Kelly Bryant and top receiver Jonathon Nance are both no longer on the roster. Simply put, this is a different team, even if it has retained defensive coordinator Ryan Walters.

At the same, much of the key production from Knoxville last year is gone as well. That 2019 team beat the Tigers on the road thanks in part to a career-high 415 yards passing from Jarrett Guarantano, and a sack and 12 tackles from Daniel Bituli. But Bituli is no longer on Rocky Top and neither are Guarantano’s top two targets from last season.

So, who can Vol Nation trust to get the job done this week? The Vols we told you to watch for last week accounted for 357 total yards, 11 tackles, an interception, and three touchdowns. Let’s keep the crystal ball rolling. Here are the five Vols to watch for in Tennessee football’s matchup against the Missouri Tigers.

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