COLUMBIA – University of Missouri head football coach Eliah Drinkwitz told reporters that his team needed to make adjustments, especially on the run defense, after losing to Boston College last Saturday. 

“We have to adjust our scheme to make it match,” Drinkwitz told reporters last week, “We’ve got our work cut out with this. That’s the job. We’ll figure it out. It’s what we’ve got to do.”

Safe to say that the Tigers didn’t figure it out against Tennessee.

The Tigers were playing against the Tennessee Volunteers, who whooped them the last time they met last year, and former Tigers offensive coordinator Josh Heupel. It was a chance to give the Volunteers some payback.

Tennessee, however, had other ideas. Heupel and the Volunteers came to Faurot Field and absolutely demolished the Tigers by a score of 62-24. 

Tennessee treated Mizzou like they were a high school football team that came to have a scrimmage with them. It was a complete masterclass by the Volunteers in every single phase of the game. Tennessee came out hot, holding an early 28-3 lead heading into the second quarter. 

Volunteers’ junior running back Tiyon Evans was the biggest performer during that run, scoring three out of the first four touchdowns for the Volunteers in the first quarter alone. Those scores included a 92-yard touchdown with three minutes to go in the first quarter.

Tennessee would score a touchdown on their first six possessions of the game. The Volunteers would score in all but one possession, where the Tigers stopped them short of the goal line. 

For Tennessee, scoring 45 in the first half was the most points scored at halftime since 2000 against Louisiana-Monroe. The Volunteers would become the first opposing team to score 60 or more points on Missouri since Texas did in 1932. 

For the Tigers, it was a complete team loss at all positions of the game. To take a quote from Sky Sports soccer commentator Jamie Carragher, the Tigers were “weak. Bullied. Men against boys again. New season, same old story.”

Tyler Badie was quiet, rushing only for 41 yards. However, he did score the Tigers’ first touchdown of the game. 

Bazelak was under pressure all day by Tennessee, having his first pedestrian game of the year. He threw two picks in the game and almost got picked off a third time early on in the game. 

On the Tigers’ second drive, the offensive line killed momentum. Multiple holding calls killed the momentum and relegated the Tigers to only a field goal as their opening points of the game. 

The Tigers did have some nice moments during the game, including a kickoff return touchdown by Kris Abrams-Draine, and a stop of Tennessee at the goal line.

As it has been an obvious case, Steve Wilks still has a project on the Tigers’ defense, especially on the rushing defense. Tennessee was able to rush for a ridiculous 384 yards, the most the Tigers have allowed on the run all year. They previously allowed 340 to the Kentucky Wildcats. 

Speaking after the game to reporters, Drinkwitz was not happy with what happened on Saturday. He stepped into the press conference and it felt like for a moment, he wanted to completely hulk out and go off, but Drinkwitz stayed cooled and collected. 

Kris Abrams-Draine and Eliah Drinkwitz both spoke to reporters and both took a page out of the late Dennis Green’s book, with both emphasizing that they weren’t surprised by what Tennessee did in the game. 

Speaking to reporters about what the coaching staff can do after this game, Drinkwitz said that they need everyone to be accountable. 

“We have a long way to go but it starts with me,” Drinkwitz said, “We took a step back today. We need to move forward.”

Tigers now move on and prepare for the North Texas Mean Green next Saturday in their Homecoming Game. 

For the Volunteers, they now return to Knoxville and prepare for the South Carolina Gamecocks.