Tennessee football vs. Missouri: Keys to the game

6. How overwhelming can the Vols’ pass rush be?

Last week, Deandre Johnson appeared to turn into the heir apparent to Darrell Taylor. He came away with two and a half sacks and got the hurry that forced Collin Hill to throw the pick-six to Henry To’o To’o. That was part of four total sacks by Tennessee football and officially another four hurries. Derrick Ansley did a great job sending pressure from everywhere.

Johnson, To’o To’o, Kivon Bennett, Matthew Butler, Quavaris Crouch and Doneiko Slaughter all registered a sack or a hurry. This is the key to the Vols being able to win games, as it’s the sole reason they beat the South Carolina Gamecocks last week. In fact, since Jeremy Pruitt took over, it’s been key in all of their big close wins for two years.

So enter the Missouri Tigers. Eliah Drinkwitz is an offensive mastermind, and for all their issues last week, Mizzou allowed three sacks but was only hurried once. That was against a Nick Saban defense and an Alabama Crimson Tide team that should have been loaded. Adjusting for Alabama’s quality, that’s actually a really impressive performance.

Will the Vols be able to repeat what they did last week? Drinkwitz is not Will Muschamp when it comes to offense, but something’s got to give when you look at their track records. If Missouri can contain the UT pass rush, then it has a chance to make this game competitive. That should be the focus of the offense all week.