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Tennessee football: Five takeaways from Vols’ 62-24 win at Missouri

By Caleb Calhoun

Oct 2, 2021; Columbia, Missouri, USA; Tennessee Volunteers running back Tiyon Evans (8) celebrates with quarterback Hendon Hooker (5) after scoring at touchdown against the Missouri Tigers during the first half at Faurot Field at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 2, 2021; Columbia, Missouri, USA; Tennessee Volunteers running back Tiyon Evans (8) celebrates with quarterback Hendon Hooker (5) after scoring at touchdown against the Missouri Tigers during the first half at Faurot Field at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports /
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Tennessee leaves the locker room before a game Tennessee and Missouri at Faurot Field in Columbia, Mo. on Wednesday, Sept. 29, 2021.Kns Tennessee Missouri Football
Tennessee leaves the locker room before a game Tennessee and Missouri at Faurot Field in Columbia, Mo. on Wednesday, Sept. 29, 2021.Kns Tennessee Missouri Football /

The last time Tennessee football scored over 60 points in a game, it was at Josh Heupel’s expense, ironically against the Missouri Tigers back in 2016. Rocky Top did it again on Saturday at Mizzou in a 62-24 win, by far the most impressive early victory for Heupel.

With UT coming off a 38-14 loss at the Florida Gators and Mizzou coming off an overtime loss to the Boston College Eagles, both teams came in at 2-2 and with an extreme sense or urgency. The Vols’ urgency paid off, scoring on their first nine possessions in the game, including touchdowns on their first six possessions, and no punts.

Not only do the Vols improve to 3-2 while Mizzou falls to 2-3, but they have evened the head-to-head series at five dating back to when Mizzou joined the SEC in 2012. Next week, UT returns home to face the South Carolina Gamecocks, while the Tigers will host the North Texas Mean Green. Here are five things we learned from Tennessee football’s huge win.

5. Penalty trends reversed.

Entering this game, Mizzou was supposed to have a huge penalty advantage. The Tigers were No. 26 in fewest penalty yards per game. They had committed 19 on the year and allowed just over 42 penalty yards a game. It was the opposite for Rocky Top, which was No. 119, committing 31 penalties on the year and allowing 74.75 yards on average per game.

This time out, though, the Vols only committed two penalties and surrendered 20 yards on them. Meanwhile, Mizzou committed nine penalties and surrendered 97 yards on them. That was very uncharacteristic of what Eliah Drinkwitz’s team had done all year.

Going forward, this could be very good news for Tennessee football. Heupel’s offense is prone to lots of penalties given the tempo, so if the Vols can master that issue, they should have a much better time moving the ball without miscues going forward. That could make them extremely dangerous for even some of the best teams in the league.

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