TV details finalized for Tennessee-Missouri game
Tennessee football’s game against Missouri, a Noon Eastern Time kickoff Saturday at Neyland Stadium, will be televised by CBS. It was previously announced as either a CBS or ESPN broadcast, depending on results of Saturday’s game.
The Vols (8-1, 4-1 SEC) lost 27-13 to Georgia Saturday at Sanford Stadium in Athens, as the Bulldogs took control of the SEC East.
“These guys are resilient,” second-year Tennessee coach Josh Heupel said after his team’s first loss of the season, “these guys are competitors, these guys have a great amount of pride. We’ll reset. We got to this point by focusing on one game at a time.
“For us, hate the way that this one turned out, for sure. Everybody hurts inside of that locker room. We’ve got to reset and get back to work on Monday.”
Missouri (4-5, 2-4) lost 21-17 at home against Kentucky. The Tigers entered Saturday having won back-to-back SEC games, beating Vanderbilt at home then winning at South Carolina, after dropping three straight games to start conference play.
Vols have won three straight against Mizzou
Tennessee and Missouri have split their 10 games since the Tigers joined the SEC before the 2012 season. Mizzou won five of the first seven while the Vols have won the last three straight in the series.
The Vols had their eight-game win streak snapped Saturday at Georgia as their high-flying offense was grounded.
Tennessee finished with just 289 total yards and didn’t score a touchdown until late in the fourth quarter.
Hendon Hooker completed 23 of 33 passes for 195 yards. Jaylen Wright ran 21 times for 76 yards and Tennessee’s only touchdown. Hooker ran 18 times for 47 yards and Jabari Small had three carries for eight yards early in the game before leaving with an upper body injury.
Cedric Tillman caught seven passes for 68 yards to lead the team in receiving. Jalin Hyatt had six catches for 63 yards and Bru McCoy caught six passes for 38 yards. Jacob Warren caught three passes for 21 yards and Princeton Fant had one catch for five yards.
Tennessee looking to ‘reset and continue to grow’
Tennessee will have to win out — after hosting Missouri, the Vols end the regular-season schedule with trips to South Carolina and Vanderbilt — and have other teams near the top of the rankings drop a game to stay in the College Football Playoff conversation.
Notre Dame beat previously undefeated Clemson Saturday night and Alabama lost in overtime at LSU, its second loss of the season.
The Vols were the No. 1 team in the College Football Top 25 when the selection committee released their first rankings of the season on Tuesday. Clemson was ranked No. 4 and Alabama was No. 6.
“Our kids have handled a bunch of adversity throughout their careers inside of this program,” Heupel said Saturday night. “They’ve continued to fight and scratch and claw and be connected and come together. There’s not doubt in my mind that when we get back in the building on Monday, they’ll continue to do that. That’s how we got to the point of making this a big football game.
“We’ve got to go reset and continue to grow individually and collectively as a program. Everybody has got a hand in this. Starting with me and our staff and our players. Learn and grow and continue to climb as a program.”
