KNOXVILLE, Tenn. _ A quarterback change gave Missouri a spark, but Connor Bazelak can't play defense, can't catch his own passes and can't control the line of scrimmage. The Tigers struggled in all those areas Saturday at a sparsely populated Neyland Stadium, falling to No. 21 Tennessee, 35-12, in their first road game under Eli Drinkwitz.
Two weeks into this unprecedented Southeastern Conference-only schedule, the Tigers fell to 0-2 for the first time since way back in 1996 _ when Drinkwitz was 13 years old. Not a single player on the roster had been born. The Tigers' attempt to avoid an 0-3 start doesn't get any easier: Next Saturday they've got an evening date at Louisiana State.
Drinkwitz has now tasted defeat more in eight days than he did all of last season at Appalachian State, where he parlayed a 12-1 record into the Mizzou job.
"Don't like the situation we're in ... and the only way we know to get out of it is to go back to work," he said.
On Saturday, Bazelak relieved a woefully ineffective Shawn Robinson to open the second quarter and unlike last week against Alabama, the redshirt freshman played the rest of the game. On a day Mizzou receivers dropped five passes, Bazelak nearly carried the Tigers out of their early deficit, finishing the game 13 of 21 for 218 yards and an interception in the most extensive playing time of his Mizzou career. Does that mean he'll be Mizzou's starter next week?
"I'm not gonna make any decisions right now, but I did think he handled himself well, handled the environment," Drinkwitz said. "Other than the one decision on the interception I thought he managed the game really well, gave us a chance to move the ball and made some good throws, made some good reads."
Missouri spoiled a chance to make it a one-score game early in the fourth quarter when Bazelak finally made a freshman mistake. Looking for tight end Daniel Parker Jr. deep inside Tennessee territory, Bazelak didn't see safety Theo Jackson, who cleanly picked off the pass and dashed 36 yards across midfield.
The Volunteers (2-0) capitalized on the turnover with a fourth-and-short touchdown run, UT's fourth fourth-down conversion of the day.
For the game, Tennessee had little trouble gashing Mizzou's defensive front and finished with 223 rushing yards and nearly averaged 5 yards per carry. The Vols converted 6 of 13 third downs in addition to their fourth-down prowess. Missouri didn't force any takeaways.
On a day when Tennessee lived on the edge of fourth down, the Tigers seemed to catch a break early in the fourth quarter on fourth-and-1 when wideout Damon Hazelton Jr. jogged on the field and was clearly moving before the snap. But no flag hit the field and Bazelak connected with tight end Logan Christopherson for a 37-yard gain into the red zone. Larry Rountree's 1-yard touchdown run trimmed the Vols' lead to 28-12. MU couldn't convert the 2-point try.
Dropped passes and third-down breakdowns continued to haunt the Tigers in the second half. Heading into the fourth quarter, Tennessee had converted 6 of 11 third downs and all three of its fourth-down tries. The Tigers dropped five passes through the first three quarters, two on third down by receiver Jalen Knox.
Tennessee took a 21-6 lead into halftime after moving the ball 283 yards and averaging nearly 6 yards per rushing attempt.
A quarterback change seemed to be the answer for a sluggish Mizzou start. Down two touchdowns early, the Tigers pushed the ball down the field with Bazelak in relief of Robinson, leading to a couple Harrison Mevis field goals. With Robinson off to a frigid start, Bazelak finally got the passing game going with completions of 14 and 21 yards on his first series. For the half, Bazelak completed 5 of 8 passes for 72 yards. Two of those incompletions were drops, including a 50-yard strike to Dominic Gicinto that could have gone for a touchdown. Mevis finished the series with a 50-yard field goal.
On the drive before that, Knox dropped a third-down pass in the red zone, setting up Mevis' 27-yard field goal.
Missouri's defense didn't offer much resistance, especially against the run. Vols running backs Ty Chandler and Eric Gray combined for 122 yards on 19 carries and each scored a touchdown. Gray added a touchdown reception on a screen pass just before halftime.
What appeared to be a Mizzou takeaway early in the second quarter turned into something much worse for the Tigers. Safety Martez Manuel scooped up a fumble and returned it deep into Tennessee territory, but the Tigers were flagged for illegal hands to the face on the play _ and replay review then ruled that the original play was an incomplete pass. One snap later, Gray slithered 20 yards through the Missouri defense for the touchdown, good for a 14-0 lead.
Tennessee didn't a little bit of everything on the first drive, including a couple fourth-down short-yardage conversions. The Vols entered the red zone on a 36-yard pass from Jarrett Guarantano to Jalin Hyatt. Chandler's 3-yard slash up the middle put the Vols in front. The Vols ventured into Mizzou territory on its second series but missed a 39-yard field goal
Meanwhile, Mizzou's offense got off to another flat start. Outside of a couple Larry Rountree runs for 17 yards, the Tigers went backward in the opening quarter, netting just 13 yards on nine snaps on their first two series. Robinson completed just one of his first four attempts but for 0 yards _ and lost 4 yards on three carries, including a doomed read-option keeper that failed to cross the line of scrimmage on third-and-9.
