The Missouri Tigers have a critical matchup this Saturday against the Tennessee Volunteers. After dropping a heartbreaker to Boston College, Mizzou finds itself at a crossroads.

This game can either make or break the Tigers’ season. Although Missouri looks like the better team, can it do enough to pull off the victory?

Let’s take a look.

Offense

The biggest advantage the Tigers have is on offense. They are ranked 3rd in the SEC with 38.75 points per game,  while the Vols are 10th.

Connor Bazelak is 2nd in the SEC in passing, while the duo of Hendon Hooker and Joe Milton has the Vols ranked 96th in the country. To say that the passing game isn’t Tennessee’s strength is an understatement.

The Vols are, however, ranked 23rd in the country in rushing.Both Mizzou and Tennessee have solid running games. Tyler Badie still leads the way for the Tigers, ranking 2nd in the conference with 417 yards. The Vols’ Tiyon Evans is tied for 11th with 211 yards and has 2 touchdowns and a 5.02-yard-per-carry average.

Although the Vols’ running game is very good, their issue continues to be at quarterback. Neither Milton nor Hooker hss shown he can win with his arm, but they might not have in this game.

They may do just enough to pull off the victory, but for now, Bazelak gives the Tigers the edge.

Advantage: Missouri

Defense

Needless to say, the Mizzou defense struggles a lot stopping the run. The assignment this week doesn’t get any easier with Evans, who said about the Tigers” defense: “We going to have some fun.”

Evans knows that Mizzou is terrible at stopping the run. So the Tigers are going to have to put pressure on the Vols’ quarterback, whoever that is, and force him to turn the ball over.

The Vols’ tendency to turn the ball over in critical moments should be an advantage for Missouri, especially if they are having problems stopping the run again.

The Vols’ defense is pretty solid, at least, at stopping the run. Its Achilles’ heel is stopping the pass. It is ranked 18th in the FBS in total defense but 67th in stopping the pass. The Vols did a pretty good job of slowing Florida in the 1st half of their game last week, but once the Gators started rolling offensively, it was over.

That was also evident in the Vols’ game against Pittsburgh on Sept. 11 as the Panthers passed for 301 yards and 3 touchdowns. But because the Vols are pretty good at stopping the run, that may give them a slight edge over Mizzou, which has yet to prove it can do the same.

Advantage: Tennessee

Who will win?

If you check out the stats, these teams are basically the same. They both have issues on defense, and they both have strengths on offense that could win the game.

They both also have issues closing out games. If Mizzou had closed out the BC game last week after its amazing comeback, it would be 3-1, and it also had a chance to win against Kentucky on Sept. 11.

The same can be said of the Vols. Tennessee could be 3-1, but its defense had no answer for Pittsburgh.

Last year, the Vols dominated Mizzou, 35-12, behind the rushing of Eric Gray and Ty Chandler, who for 190 yards and 3 touchdowns. But this is a different and better team despite its woes on defense. The Tigers have the offense behind the Killer B’s of Bazelak and Badie to take out the Vols.

This game will be close, but in the end, it will be the Missouri passing game that will have the last say.

Winner: Missouri