Missouri 50 Tennessee 17

Photo Credit: Austin Perryman/Tennessee Athletics

Tennessee fell to Missouri at home on Saturday, losing by a score of 50-17. This is the same exact outcome at last season, as the Tigers defeated the Vols 50-17 in 2017 as well. Early in the game, it looked as if the Vols had a decent shot of winning, but Drew Lock and the Missouri offense proved to be too much.

Missouri marched down the field on the game's opening possession, fairly easily, but Tennessee was able to hold them to a field goal. Later, with 1:15 left in the first quarter, the Tigers took a 6-0 lead with another field goal. Jarrett Guarantano took a hard hit and was ruled unable to return to the contest. Redshirt senior, Keller Chryst entered the game on senior day and led a quick scoring drive. His 41-yard completion to Jauan Jennings set the Vols up at the Tigers' 24-yard line and 3 plays later, Ty Chandler ran into the end zone from 6 yards out. Tennessee led 7-6 at that point.

After the Vols failed to recover their onside kick attempt, the Tigers used a 5-play, 66-yard drive to answer with a 4-yard touchdown run of their own. Then, on a drive that started with a 49-yard pass from Chryst to Marquez Callaway, Tennessee settled for a 19-yard field goal, trimming their deficit to 13-10.

The turning point of the game came late in the first half. Missouri executed a 13-play, 75-yard drive that resulted in an 8-yard touchdown pass. Down 19-10, it looked as if Tennessee was going to score again right before halftime. Bryce Thompson returned the kickoff 35 yards and Ty Chandler carried the ball for 33 yards on the second play of the possession. The Vols got to the Missouri 28-yard line, before Chryst threw a costly interception, which was returned 76 yards to the Vols' 11-yard line. Just 3 plays later, Missouri had scored again, claiming a 26-10 lead going into halftime. A touchdown for Tennessee would have made it 19-17, but they couldn't capitalize on the explosive plays from earlier in the drive.

On the opening play of the second half, Chryst found Callaway for another 49-yard gain. A few plays later, Chandler scored on a 2-yard touchdown run. The Vols trailed 26-17 at that point, but would not score again in the contest. The Tigers followed a touchdown with a defensive touchdown, returning a Carlin Fils-Aime fumble for a 39-yard score. Missouri's final touchdown came with 2:53 remaining in the game and the final score was 50-17.

Ty Chandler carried the ball 14 times for 82 yards and 2 touchdowns, while Marquez Callaway's 2 receptions went for 98 yards. Jauan Jennings hauled in 1 pass for 41 yards and Josh Palmer had 2 catches for 23 yards.

5 Takeaways

1. Defense struggled mightily: In back-to-back seasons, Tennessee has given up 50 points to Missouri. This is... not great. After the excruciatingly poor end to the first half, the Vols seemed to have a very slim chance of winning. Still, the defensive effort in the second half was rather embarrassing. Drew Lock has the second-most passing yards in SEC history and the Tigers have been putting up high numbers against most of their opponents this season. Still, it was frustrating to see the Vols allow 484 total yards (257 passing and 227 rushing) and 29 first downs.

2. Guarantano took a beating: Well, in reality, he has taken a beating all season long. He could not recover from a hard hit he took early in the Missouri game on Saturday. He stayed in the game for a while, but was never really himself afterwards. Keller Chryst entered the game and provided a spark, as he has done multiple times this season, but his production tapered off and fans realized why Guarantano was named the starter at the beginning of the season. Guarantano is a warrior, but Chryst may be called on to send the Vols to a bowl game against Vanderbilt.

3. Big plays helped Tennessee: The Vols' offense passed the ball for 173 yards and ran for just 82, accumulating 255 total yards on the day. It seemed as if Tennessee's only success in the passing game came in deep shots. In fact, 139 of their 173 passing yards came on 3 plays. They had completions of 41, 49 and 49 yards, but besides those 3 plays, the Vols only had 34 more passing yards. Both of Guarantano's pass attempts fell incomplete and Chryst completed 7-21 attempts. This is definitely not a recipe for success and it is extremely difficult to win this way.

4. Seniors gave their all for Tennessee: It is often difficult for seniors to buy into a new system when they have a new coach for their final season, but this group did a fantastic job this year. They went through highs and lows during their careers. That's for sure. They experienced the glorious start to the 2016 season and arguably the worst season in program history just a year later. As much as they went through, they want to go to a bowl game and give the program some momentum heading into next year.

5. Win or go home: Tennessee's loss sets up a win or go home scenario in Nashville on Saturday. The Commodores have beaten the Vols 4 times in the past 6 meetings and the teams will battle for the right to play in a bowl game. It's simple now. The winner earns a bowl birth and the loser's season comes to an end. It's time for Tennessee to put Vandy back in their place.