Throwback Thursday: Tennessee's win at Missouri last season was 'the tip of the iceberg'

Josh Heupel stood in the visiting locker room at Missouri’s Faurot Field last season, addressing his Tennessee football team after a head-turning 62-24 win over Mizzou, giving him his first SEC win with the Vols.

The message to his players included a vision of many more victorious locker rooms to come.

“This is the tip of the iceberg,” Heupel said, “of what we’re capable of.”

Turns out, he was right.

No. 5 Tennessee has won 13 of its last 18 games dating back to that road win at Missouri last season, including an 8-0 start this season, climbing to No. 1 in the College Football Playoff Top 25, before falling 27-13 at Georgia last week.

The Vols (8-1, 4-1 SEC) host Missouri (4-5, 2-4) on Saturday (Noon Eastern Time; TV: CBS) on Senior Day at Neyland Stadium. 

“(Missouri is) a good football team that, I think, continues to get better, in particular on the defensive side of the ball,” Heupel said on Thursday. “They’ve gone through this year with a new defensive coordinator. They’re physical, they to the football extremely well, they do a great job of tackling in space, too.”

Missouri is fourth in the SEC in scoring defense this season, giving up just 19.6 points per game under first-year Mizzou defensive coordinator Blake Baker, who was promoted in February. He was hired as safeties coach by Missouri in January.

The Tigers were 13th in the 14-team conference in scoring defense last season, giving up 33.8 points per game.

Tennessee scored 28 in first quarter at Mizzou last season

Tennessee had 28 on the board by the time the first quarter ended at Mizzou last year. JaVonta Payton caught a 35-yard touchdown and Tiyon Evans scored three times on the ground, going for an 8-yard score, then a 92-yarder, then a 1-yarder.

The Vols had 45 at halftime after Velus Jones Jr. caught a 35-yard touchdown and Hendon Hooker ran for a 1-yard score. Chase McGrath added a 25-yard field goal, too.

Tennessee finished the game with 683 total yards and 35 first downs. The Vols ran for a staggering 458 yards and passed for 225.

Hendon Hooker completed 15 of 19 passes for 225 yards and three touchdowns. Tiyon Evans ran 15 times for 156 yards and the three touchdowns in the first quarter and Hooker ran for 80 yards and a touchdown.

Len’Neth Whitehead ran nine times for 76 yards and walk-on Marcus Pierce Jr. carried 11 times for 45 yards and a touchdown.

Velus Jones Jr., Cedric Tillman and JaVonta Payton combined for 187 receiving yards and three touchdowns.

“Some really positive things today,” Heupel said after the game. “The ability to run the football, the ability to stretch the field vertically, to be accurate and consistent and to be good on the few third downs we had.”

Eli Drinkwitz: ‘You always remember being embarrassed like that’

Missouri head coach Eli Drinkwitz, who last week signed a two-year contract extension through 2027 that a hefty raise, described the loss as “being embarrassed.”

“It definitely was something that, as a coach, you always remember being embarrassed like that,” Drinkwitz said on Thursday. “But it’s not something we’ve discussed this week or this year. (It) has no bearing on this game from our standpoint. 

“They don’t get to carry any of those scores into this year’s game. We don’t get to carry any of our turnovers into this year’s game. So it’s a new game. A new opportunity. Last year really doesn’t have any bearing on this year.”

Hooker finished his breakout redshirt junior season with 2,945 yards and 31 touchdowns to just three interceptions. Through nine games this season he has passed for 2,533 yards and 21 touchdowns, with just two interceptions.

Jalin Hyatt, who didn’t catch a pass at Missouri last season, has already set a Tennessee single-season record with 14 touchdown catches. He has 970 yards on 51 receptions, averaging 19 yards per catch.

“Obviously Hendon is playing at a really high level,” Drinkwitz said. “Some of the wide receivers, I don’t even think Jalin played against us last year very much. So I think you’ve got to see what their offensive style is and see if what they did last year.” 

“There were some things they did differently because of a different defensive scheme that we trotted out there in the first quarter. We’re aware of what they did to us and what we need to try to do to stop it. I’m sure they will try it and see if we did.”