Tennessee football: Five takeaways from 35-12 win vs. Missouri

3. Secondary still has some issues without Shawn Shamburger.

For the second straight week, Tennessee football was without Shawn Shamburger, and for the second straight week, the Vols had some major issues in the secondary. It didn’t show early, as Shawn Robinson completed only one-of-four passes and had a total of zero passing yards on the first two drives with the Missouri Tigers.

Then Eliah Drinkwitz brought in Connor Bazelak, and everything changed. Bazelak completed completed 13-of-21 passes for 218 yards, and he ran for 11 yards. It could have been more. Mizzou was forced to kick a field goal because of a dropped third down pass, and they had another field goal drive despite a clear touchdown pass being dropped. Simply put, there were issues.

The issue for Rocky Top, once again, was the lack of Shamburger, who is their best defensive back. Last year at nickel, Shamburger didn’t allow a touchdown in coverage, and he also forced the worst quarterback rating on passes to slot receivers he was guarding of any defensive back in the nation. Losing him with Nigel Warrior’s departure proved costly.

Now, the pass-rush was still solid at times, but if it weren’t for those drops and a couple of key mistakes, Missouri could have had another touchdown while both of their field goal drives were touchdown drives. That would have made the game interesting late, and the Vols have some work to do in the secondary. Bryce Thompson and Alontae Taylor need more help back there.