Tennessee vs. Missouri: Neyland Stadium sold out for sixth straight game
No. 5 Tennessee’s Senior Day game against Missouri at Neyland Stadium is officially sold out. It’s the sixth straight sellout for the Vols in Knoxville this season.
Tennessee (8-1, 4-1 SEC) and Missouri (4-5, 2-4) are scheduled for a Noon Eastern Time kickoff (TV: CBS), the final home game of the season.
The Vols are a perfect 6-0 at home this season and 11-3 at Neyland during the first two seasons of the Josh Heupel era. They’re looking to become the first Tennessee team since 2007 to go undefeated at home.
Senior offensive lineman Jerome Carvin narrated a social media video published Wednesday that thanked fans for their support both this season and during their careers.
Tennessee sells out Neyland Stadium for sixth straight game
“Vol Nation, you made our home the most unbelievable environment in all of college football,” Carvin said in the video. “Every Saturday, you showed up and made an impact on our opponent. And we just want to say thank you.
“Thank you for the Vol Walks. For the pageantry that makes us who we are. For Checker Neyland. For celebrating all our wins. For the 703,726 of you that came to watch us perform. For all the times we sang Rocky Top. And for the passion that made our home field the toughest place to play in all of college football. We just want to say thank you.”
Tennessee climbed to No. 1 in the College Football Playoff last week after starting the season 8-0 — including home wins over rivals Florida and Alabama — before falling 27-13 at Georgia last week. The Vols fell to No. 5 in the College Football Playoff Top 25, the Associated Press Top 25 and the USA Today Coaches Poll while Georgia became the new consensus No. 1 team in the country.
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When asked about this senior class on Thursday, Heupel said he knew they’d bounce back from the loss like all the times he’s seen them bounce back the last two seasons.
“At the beginning of the week, you guys kind of questioned this group, how would they respond to it (the Georgia loss),” Heupel said. “You look at all the obstacles, the hurdles, that this group has gone through, it tells you about their resiliency. Their ability to grow and focus. To take correction. Just the DNA of who each of them are and how they’ve responded to anything that has been thrown at them however long it’s been now, 20 months or whatever that I’ve been here.
“The ability to see them grow, there’s so much that is inside of our building because of who these guys are. It’s a class that I’ll remember forever. But a group of guys that accepted me, accepted our staff and allowed us to get off and running really quickly.”
No. 5 Tennessee vs. Missouri, Saturday, Noon ET, CBS
Tennessee beat Missouri 62-24 on the road last season, jumping out to a 28-0 lead in the first quarter in another Noon Eastern Time game. The Vols scored 28 points again in the first quarter the following week, in a Noon kickoff against South Carolina at Neyland Stadium.
“If it starts really fast in this one, that’s awesome,” Heupel said. “You have to keep your foot down on pedal. If it doesn’t, that’s ok, too. You’ve got to reset and regroup and do a better job of it than we did a week ago.”
