Tennessee football: Five reasons Missouri could upset Vols

4. Ryan Walters maintains stability on Missouri’s defense.

Where Tennessee football and Jeremy Pruitt do have an advantage when it comes to film study, they can’t cash in on the Missouri Tigers rebuilding. Typically, when you hire a new head coach, you expect rebuilds in all phases of the game. However, Eliah Drinkwitz made sure to maintain defensive coordinator Ryan Walters, who was there the whole time under Barry Odom.

As a result, Mizzou still hasn’t lost much. They can be very effective with preseason All-American linebacker Nick Bolton. Again, what happened last week against the Alabama Crimson Tide doesn’t count. Alabama dominates and overwhelms every team, including where they have their biggest strengths, so you can’t judge the defense negatively by what happened in that game.

Anyway, Walters if familiar with Jim Chaney, as is his defense. These guys have gone head to head for the past four years, three of which Chaney spent with the Georgia Bulldogs. To be fair, Chaney is also familiar with Walters, so this isn’t necessarily an advantage Mizzou has. It’s just one area of a coaching change that the Vols can’t take advantage of.

We should note that Missouri did only hold Alabama to three yards a carry last week, and while you can’t judge the negatives against the Tide, you can credit teams for their positives. There is promise with this team, and the stability Walters provides certainly makes them less in rebuilding mode early in this season than they otherwise would be.