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Tennessee football vs. Purdue: 10 keys to the Music City Bowl game

By Caleb Calhoun

Nov 14, 2021; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; View of Nissan Stadium before the game between the Tennessee Titans and the New Orleans Saints. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 14, 2021; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; View of Nissan Stadium before the game between the Tennessee Titans and the New Orleans Saints. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports /
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Oct 18, 2021; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; View of Nissan Stadium before the Tennessee Titans game against the Buffalo Bills. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 18, 2021; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; View of Nissan Stadium before the Tennessee Titans game against the Buffalo Bills. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports /

It’s another Big Ten matchup for Tennessee football in a bowl game, the fifth straight for the Vols. UT has won the past four dating back to 2014, and one of those was a Music City Bowl game as well, when they beat the Nebraska Cornhuskers in 2016. Josh Heupel has the program back in Nashville with a high-powered offense, just like 2016.

Lining up on the other side of the field against UT will be the Purdue Boilermakers. At 8-4, Purdue has two top five wins this year. They beat the Iowa Hawkeyes and Michigan State Spartans when both teams were undefeated, so Jeff Brohm has a dangerous program.

Both of these teams rely on efficient offensive play to win, but they do it in dramatically different ways. As we get set to break down the keys to this game, those differences will play a huge role. Let’s break down how. Here are the factors that will determine the outcome between Tennessee football and Purdue on Thursday.

10. Effect of the crowd

This should be an advantage for UT. After all, the game is in Nashville, and fans on Rocky Top are incredibly excited to see their team in a bowl game given everything that has happened this year, last year’s 3-7 record and the fact that they have a first-year head coach. Taking all that into account, you have to think Vol fans will fill the stadium.

If that happens, the effect of that crowd noise should help out in certain ways. Both teams rely heavily on their quarterbacks to make plays, and the crowd noise can impact that greatly. Of course, COVID could limit things, but it shouldn’t keep Vol fans from being who they are.

As a result, Tennessee football needs its fans to sell out Nissan Stadium. They usually do in games like this, and it’s obvious that a win here would go a long way toward helping Heupel develop the program he is trying to build. Purdue did beat Iowa on the road, so they aren’t as impacted by the noise as most teams, but it can still have an effect.

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