Brady Cook and the No. 14 Missouri Tigers will host the No. 13 Tennessee Volunteers, Saturday at Faurot Field. (Photo: Terrance Williams)

Mizzou Football – Gameday Info
Game No. 10 – #13 Tennessee (7-2, 3-2) at #14 Missouri (7-2, 3-2)
Date/Time – November 11, 2023 – 2:30 pm
Location – Faurot Field — Columbia, MO
Broadcast – CBS Network
Live Stats – Mizzou Sidearm Stats

Cedric Williams
Senior Editor

COLUMBIA, MO — The University of Missouri football team will host SEC rival Tennessee in one of the national games of the week, Saturday afternoon at Faurot Field.

Missouri comes into the game ranked No. 14 in the most recent College Football Playoff poll, while Tennessee was one spot ahead at No. 13.

Many believe the showdown between the Tigers and Volunteers might be the game of the day, which is why it was picked to broadcast to a national audience on CBS. Kickoff is set for 2:30 p.m.

Mizzou is coming off a 30-21 loss to defending national champion Georgia, in a contest where the Tigers trailed 27-21 and had possession of the ball, but gave up two unfortunate turnovers that cost them the game.

Tennessee, on the other hand, is coming off a pair of dynamite wins. The Vols went on the road two weeks ago and pummeled Kentucky, 33-27, then absolutely blasted Connecticut in a non-conference game, 59-3. The Vols have been ranked every week this season and have been rolling since early September, with their only loss coming three weeks ago, on the road against SEC West Division leader Alabama.

Missouri and Tennessee are tied for second place in the SEC East. The Tigers have been eliminated from contention. The best they could do is tie for first, with Georgia owning the tiebreaker due to last week’s win. But the Vols still have a shot at winning the division.

If Tennessee could win its final three games, which includes a showdown with Georgia next week, and the Bulldogs lost that game and this week’s game against Ole Miss, it would be the Vols that would own the tiebreakers and send Rocky Top to the SEC championship game in Atlanta on December 2.

There are high stakes on the line on Saturday, and already sold out crowd is expected on what should be a beautiful day at Faurot Field.

Players to Watch: In most football games, the primary players to focus on would be the quarterbacks. And both teams have a good one in Mizzou’s Brady Cook and Tennessee’s Joe Milton III.

But the players most likely to decide Saturday’s game will be the running backs.

Mizzou’s Cody Schrader, a native St. Louisan who starred at Lutheran South in high school, leads the SEC in rushing with 919 yards and 10 rushing touchdowns. Tennessee’s Jaylen Wright is right behind though. He had 826 yards and three touchdowns. The Vols also have a pair of potent backups in Jabari Small and Dylan Sampson, who have combined for 820 yards and nine touchdowns this year.

Overall, Tennessee is the top rushing team in the SEC and No. 3 in the entire country, with 2050 total yards on a whopping 355 total carries.

Both teams’ passing numbers are pretty good too. Cook is fourth in the SEC, with 2,475 yards and 16 passing touchdowns, while Milton is seventh, with 2.016 yards and 15 touchdowns.

Defensively, standouts for Mizzou include DE Darius Robinson (six quarterback sacks), CB Kris Abrams-Draine (four interceptions), and LB Ty’Ron Hopper (53 tackles, three sacks).

For Tennessee, DL James Pearce, Jr. and Tyler Baron have seven sacks and five sacks, respectively. And LBs Elijah Herring and Aaron Beasley have 58 and 51 tackles, respectively.

Up Next: Win or lose, Mizzou will have another big game next week, when it hosts Florida. The Gators are 5-4 heading into this weekend, but with each of its three final opponents being ranked, they might find themselves listed as the underdogs as they try to reach that sixth win to gain bowl eligibility.

Next Saturday’s game at Faurot will kickoff at 6:30 p.m. and will be televised live on ESPN.

As mentioned above, Tennessee will host Georgia in the CBS Game of the Week, next week.

When Missouri Has the Ball

When Tennessee Has the Ball

2023 Missouri Tigers Football Remaining Schedule

Date	Time	At	Opponent	Location	TV
November 11, 2023 (Saturday)	2:30 PM	Home	#13 Tennessee	Faurot Field
November 18, 2023 (Saturday)	6:30 PM	Home	Florida	Faurot Field
November 24, 2023 (Friday)	3:00 PM	Away	Arkansas	Fayetteville, Ark.