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Tennessee is better than its 6-4 record may indicate. Three of its four losses this season have come against Oklahoma, Florida and Alabama — teams with a combined record of 27-3 and ranked in the top 12 of the College Football Playoff Rankings.
Considering Tennessee lost those three games by a combined 13 points (Oklahoma won by seven in overtime) and is currently on a three-game winning streak, the Volunteers should be able to win their final two contests against Missouri and Vanderbilt.
But as ESPN College GameDay analyst Lee Corso would say: “Not so fast, my friend.”
In its first game after coach Gary Pinkel announced his end-of-season resignation, Missouri ended its four-game losing streak with a 20-16 win over BYU (7-3).
At 5-5 (1-5 SEC), Missouri is only one win away from being bowl eligible. But before its win over BYU, Missouri’s season was falling off the rails. The Tigers hadn’t scored a touchdown in three of their previous four games.
But on a night when Missouri was fighting for its season and its coach, the Tigers’ offense amassed a season-high 434 yards and produced 23 first downs.
Missouri is now galvanized and confident heading into Saturday’s game against Tennessee. It will be Pinkel’s final game at Faurot Field. Pinkel, Mizzou’s all-time winningest coach (118 wins), will have his players fired up and ready to go.
With a bowl bid on the line for Missouri, Tennessee (3-3 SEC) should be in a hostile environment.
The week after, the Vols face an improving Vanderbilt team. The Commodores defense is outstanding, allowing only 17.4 points and 123 rushing yards per game. Plus, coach Derek Mason is starting to develop playmakers on that side of the ball.
The defensive standouts include S Oren Burks, who had two interceptions, including one that he returned for the go-ahead touchdown in Vanderbilt’s 21-17 win over Kentucky.
The Vols will need to play inspired football to win their last two games.
Chase Erickson is a contributing writer for SDS. He covers Tennessee. Follow him on Twitter @ChaseDownField.
