Saturday’s game against No. 13 Tennessee was always going to be personal to No. 14 Missouri.
It was personal for a MU program whose last victory in the series came in 2018. It was personal to a Tigers defensive unit that was matching up against a three-headed Volunteers rushing attack that was averaging 227.8 yards per game, the third-most in the country. It was personal to a Mizzou offensive line tasked with upending a Tennessee defense that was allowing just 97.3 rushing yards per game, the 13th-fewest in the nation.
It was personal after the Volunteers scored a touchdown with less than a minute left in last season’s meeting, well after the outcome of the game had already been decided, to go up 66-24 — Tennessee’s highest point total in any outing last year.
Missouri didn’t just want to beat Tennessee this season. The Tigers wanted to put the Volunteers through “four quarters of hell” in front of 62,621 people inside Memorial Stadium. They did so on Saturday, coming away with a 36-7 victory.
“We've taken every game personally. You know, we remember what last year felt like and that was a huge thing for us in the offseason, in the spring ball. And every game we play is personal because we lost a lot of these games last year,” graduate senior running back Cody Schrader said. “I think the O-line and the receivers and the tight ends and everybody truly bought into that. And I think definitely our defense bought into that seeing their performance. So yeah, I think everybody just bought into that and we played complementary football, I thought, really well today. And I think that was a huge part of our success.”
Tennessee’s vaunted ground game was stifled to 83 yards and kept out of the end zone. The Volunteers’ highly-touted rush defense was shredded by Schrader, who racked up a historic 321 yards from scrimmage to go along with a touchdown.
On the visitors’ last possession of the afternoon, Tennessee was within field goal range and looked to narrow Mizzou’s margin of victory. Tigers head coach Eli Drinkwitz called a timeout to ice Volunteers kicker Charles Campbell. The redshirt senior missed the kick wide right.
It was MU’s most complete game of the season.
“There is zero doubt about that,” Drinkwitz said. “All three phases came to play today.”
The units covered up for each other’s mistakes all game long and built on the big plays that each side generated. Junior quarterback Brady Cook threw an interception on the hosts’ opening drive, which was returned for 36 yards to the Missouri 49. But the Tigers’ defense didn’t let the Volunteers take advantage, forcing a three-and-out on the ensuing possession. The black and gold’s offense responded with a 20-play, 72-yard march down the field that took 10:55 off the clock and ended with the first score of the day, a 31-yard field goal by senior kicker Harrison Mevis.
Tennessee countered with a touchdown drive, taking its first and only lead of the game. Mizzou’s offense didn’t let them keep it long, though, flying down the field for 75 yards in just five plays to jump back in front, 10-7, on a seven-yard touchdown carry by Schrader.
Drinkwitz said it’s the exact type of game they had to have against the Volunteers.
“I think creating and keeping momentum is really critical against teams like this because, with their tempo, they're able to kind of steal the momentum from you and you kind of feel like you're always behind the eight ball,” Drinkwitz said. “But for us, offensively and special teams and defensively, we were always kind of able to keep them out of rhythm. And I think anytime you can keep a no-huddle team out of rhythm, it gives you a huge advantage. And that's really what we did tonight.”
At the end of the second quarter, the visitors seemed to be picking up steam, advancing the ball to the Tigers’ 33-yard line. But Missouri junior linebacker Triston Newson forced a fumble on the next play and graduate senior linebacker Chuck Hicks came up with the recovery, allowing the offense to return to the field with 20 seconds on the clock. The hosts zoomed ahead for 53 yards in three plays, allowing Mevis to kick a 46-yarder to extend the lead to six heading into the half.
Mizzou’s defense didn’t allow Tennessee to score again, holding the Volunteers to their lowest point total of the year. The offense reached the end zone three more times in the second half and knocked in another field goal.
It was complementary football, the type that Drinkwitz has been clamoring for all season long. The team had an answer for every move Tennessee made. It brought a smile to graduate senior defensive lineman Darius Robinson’s face. It was the first game he’d won against Tennessee in his career. He’d been waiting a long time for it to happen. Most Tigers had.
“We needed to finally play a complete game, offense, defense, special teams and everybody to be sound. And you know, everybody was able to come together and work really hard and push one another. So it was needed,” Robinson said. “And, like you said, this is our first time playing complementary football and it's, what, Week 11? We've still got so much more work to do and it's like, we want to really enjoy these next three weeks.”
The Tigers have two more games left in the regular season. There’s a chance they could reach double-digit wins for the first time since 2014.
Saturday night’s victory over the Volunteers is one they’re going to take pride in.
“We just wanted to whip their butt and score points,” Drinkwitz said.
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