Well, that was a loud statement.

Mizzou didn’t just beat Tennessee. It took the Vols to the woodshed.

A 36-7 win against Tennessee confirmed the clear takeaway from the Tigers’ 9-point loss in Athens last week. That is, Mizzou is no slouch.

The Tigers earned their second home win vs. a top-15 team for the first time since 1976.

Here were 3 takeaways from Mizzou’s victory in Columbia:

1. Cody Schrader was out of this world good

On a day in which Luther Burden III was limited by his ankle injury and Brady Cook got off to a slow start, Schrader played at an All-American level. He racked up 205 rushing yards and another 116 receiving yards. Schrader became the 5th Power 5 player in the last 25 seasons to rack up 200 rushing yards and 100 receiving yards in the same game.

The former Truman State transfer continued his All-SEC season in a huge way. Schrader was so dialed in that he even made the savvy play of sliding on a run late in the first half to set up what felt like a pivotal field goal.

Of course, by day’s end, 3 points wasn’t make or break. Schrader’s durability and effectiveness in this game were plenty make-or-break, though.

Schrader might’ve just locked up All-SEC status with his brilliant showing on Saturday.

2. Tennessee’s slim East hopes are gone

It wasn’t going to happen, but the Vols did enter the day with East hopes hanging by a thread. Of course, that still would’ve taken consecutive Georgia losses and 3 consecutive wins to end the season. That didn’t happen. Georgia will represent the East in Atlanta for the 3rd consecutive year.

Likely off the table for Tennessee is a New Year’s 6 Bowl. The Vols were trying to do that in consecutive seasons for the first time in the 21st century.

This limited offense had a frustrating day. Hope that the passing game had turned the corner with a solid couple of games was dashed by day’s end. Joe Milton had a pick-6 and the dominant Vols ground game was held to a season-low 83 rushing yards.

That was the fewest points in the Josh Heupel era. To say it was a stark contrast from 60-plus showings in his first 2 years would be an understatement.

3. A New Year’s 6 Bowl is all sorts of realistic for Mizzou

How about that? A 10-2 regular season is now in Mizzou’s sights with 2 games against struggling SEC teams to close the 2023 regular-season slate. Technically, the Tigers have never played in a BCS/New Year’s 6 Bowl game because the Cotton Bowl wasn’t part of that in 2007 and 2013 when Mizzou had its best seasons of the 21st century.

There’s no world in which a 10-win projection would’ve been taken seriously for the Tigers entering 2023. But at this point, there’s no denying that Mizzou is a legitimate top-15 team, and perhaps even a top-10 team depending on how the season finishes out.

Not too shabby.