No. 5 Tennessee blows out Mizzou football 66-24: Final score and recap from the loss
Chris Kwiecinski
Missouri football aims for a massive upset as it travels to Knoxville to visit the Tennessee Volunteers in Neyland Stadium.
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FINAL: Tennessee 66, Missouri 24
Missouri scores once in the second half. Tennessee outscored its point total from last year's blow out win.
Stick with up for our post-game coverage.
The second-stringers are scoring for Tennessee
Joe Milton fired a long touchdown pass for Tennessee. Milton is the second-string quarterback. Hendon Hooker's day is done as the Vols are about the score 60 points on MU for the second-straight year.
Missouri trails 59-24.
Tennessee adds a field goal
After a fourth down play went, well, not great, Tennessee went three-and-out to settle for a field goal.
It's 52-24, Tennessee. This game is over. It just depends on what the final score ends up being.
End of the third: Tennessee 49, Missouri 24
Tennessee sticks a fork in Missouri's defense
After the offense struggled to get anything going, MU punted the ball to Tennessee. That put the defense on its back.
After two fast drives, Missouri is now down 49-24. The defense is overmatched and overwhelmed for the first time this season.
This was a 28-24 game just a few minutes ago.
That was shortlived
We barely had time to finish the last update.
Hyatt took a short pass 68 yards to the house to put Tennessee back up two nine in the third quarter. It took 25 seconds for the Vols to score.
Missouri's offense is working, but the defense needs to get stops if MU wants a chance.
Lovett comes down with a score
Missouri's defense got a stop to start the half, and the deep-passing game made Tennessee pay.
Cook connected with his favorite deep target Dominic Lovett for 38 yards and a touchdown that brings Missouri back within a score. It's 28-24, Tennessee still leads in the third.
Halftime: Tennessee 28, Missouri 17
Missouri got a fourth-down stop and drove into Tennessee territory to get a Harrison Mevis field goal before halftime.
Cook brought MU there with a long rush. Cook had 86 yards on nine carries in the first half.
That was a short-lived one-score game
A 21-14 deficit is back to a two-score game. A 14-yard rushing touchdown by Hendon Hooker makes it 28-14. Missouri couldn't stop the rushing attack there.
It's the 15th time in Hooker's career he has a rushing and passing touchdown in the same game. Tennessee scored in 1:42.
Tauskie gets his first of the year
Cook, on fourth and one, rolled the dice and got its sixth fourth-down conversion on the season. That was also a 43-yard touchdown to Tauskie Dove.
Dove caught a pass on a play fake, eluded a defender and that defender took out his teammate. Dove strolled in for a touchdown. Tigers trail, but by a score. It was Dove's first score since 2020.
Vols move further ahead
Hooker hit Princeton Fant for a 19-yard score and its 21-7 Tennessee. Missouri had its chances to get off the field, but some confusion on third and long led to a long completion for Tennessee.
The Volunteers have control on this game, and it's on MU to wrestle it back.
Tennessee regains the lead
On fourth and four, Tennessee's Hendon Hooker showed off his guts, and the guts of his play caller, going deep when the Vols just needed a few yards.
That resulted in a pass down to MU's three-yard line, and Jaylen Wright took it in for a score on the next play. The Tigers are down 14-7.
End of the first: Tennessee 7, Missouri 7
Mizzou evens the score
After a sack on fourth down forced a turnover on downs, the Tigers found some momentum on a drive that went right into the heart of Tennessee territory.
MU makes the Vols pay. Brady Cook hit Luther Burden for a four-yard touchdown, and this game is tied at 7-7 with 1:56 left in the first.
MU caught a break, as a Tennessee lineman lined up over the long snapper on a field goal attempt.
Tennessee scores first, and fast
It took just about three minutes for Missouri to have a deficit in the morning.
Jabari Small ran for a 10-yard touchdown and MU is already down 7-0 just a few minutes into the game. Missouri, on the other hand, goes three and out.
Mizzou aims for another Top 25 upset win, and defensive exoneration, against Tennessee
Most Missouri Tigers fans remember Oct. 2, 2021. If they don't, that's probably for the better.
When MU was decimated, dismantled and toyed with by Tennessee 62-24 at Faurot Field last season, it led to immediate change for the Tigers and was a turning point in the middle of the season.
This year, a game against Tennessee is a chance to banish all the shadows of last year in a game that's seemingly unwinnable on paper.
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The Volunteers are ranked No. 5 overall in the latest College Football Playoff rankings as Josh Heupel has turned Tennessee into a winner. Last year, the Vols were just a team that scored lots of points in a very short manner. This year, they're the team that can dust opponents in a matter of minutes.
This is where MU has set itself up for some vindication. Perform against such a potent offense, and there's no doubt the Tigers' defense is one the best in the SEC.
In fact, this would lift Missouri's defense into a tier that's among the best in the nation.
The statistics don't lie under Blake Baker. MU was ranked 106th in FBS in yards allowed in 2021; so far in 2022, MU ranks 19th overall. The 87-place improvement ranks second nationally, trailing only Virginia which improved by 90 sports.
But this Tennessee offense is a juggernaut for a reason.
The Vols average 45.3 points per game, 523.7 yards per game and seven yards per play. These numbers plainly say Tennessee is averaging 1,000 yards every two games and a first down every two plays.
More:What is the spread and total for Missouri football's matchup with Tennessee?
It's scary, but it's not unstoppable. Georgia nearly blanked Tennessee last weekend.
It's easy to point out the Bulldogs are a title contender because of their top-rated defense. However, Missouri took that same team to the wire in October.
Taking Tennesse down to the same wire would prove Missouri isn't a farce and that it's defense is force.