Published Oct 1, 2021
Notebook: Vols looking to run the ball, slow down Bazelak and Badie in CoMo
Ben McKee  •  VolReport
Staff Writer

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Josh Heupel returns to a college town he's very familiar with this weekend when his Volunteers square off with Missouri in Columbia.

Heupel served as Mizzou's offensive coordinator in 2016 and 2017. With current Denver Bronco Drew Lock at quarterback, Heupel's offenses in Columbia were explosive. His success led to his first head coaching job at Central Florida.

“It had a huge part (in becoming a head coach)," Heupel told the media this week when asked about his time at Missouri. "The players are the first think that come to mind for me when I think about heading back to Missouri this weekend. The relationships you formed and the guys that were part of that experience. It was an awesome two years for myself and our family.”

The heartwarming feelings won't last long. Saturday's game is a pivotal one for each program, serving as a game that will likely determine the trajectory of the remainder of the season.

Both teams are coming off of close losses. Missouri (2-2) lost to Boston College 41-34 in overtime on the road, while the Vols (2-2) fell to Florida in Gainesville 38-14. Each squad comes into this matchup desperate to get their season back on track.

“(Missouri is) playing well," Heupel said. "Got some experience up front. Their offensive line is doing a good job of protecting the passer. They’re running the football really efficiently."

"Obviously got a really tough game this week versus a quality opponent that I think is really well-coached," Mizzou coach Eli Drinkwitz added. "Really I think coach Heupel is doing a tremendous job on both sides of the ball."

Run. The. Football.

The Vols have to run the football on Saturday if they want to exit Columbia with a win. And they'll have every chance to do so.

Missouri enters Saturday's game ranked 129th out of 130 in rushing defense. The Tigers are allowing 271.0 rushing yards per game and 6.16 yards per carry. Last week, Boston College averaged 6.3 yards on its first downs, including 7.2 yards per carry.

Central Michigan rushed for 174 yards against Missouri in the season-opener. Two weeks later, Southeast Missouri rushed for 294 yards.

There's no excuse for Tennessee to not run the ball successfully this weekend. Even with starting center Cooper Mays doubtful to play.

“It’s integral to who we are and what we’re about," Heupel said of his running game. "Our pass numbers in the past have gotten a huge point of emphasis. Or have been noticed by people. But it starts with the run game. Running the football will be critical in this one. Interested just to see that matchup unfold.”

Drinkwitz and defensive coordinator Steve Wilks have expressed concerned this week about their defense's ability to communicate before the ball is snapped, as communicating the calls and getting everybody lined up has been an issue.

Now Missouri, in the midst of dealing with those issues, must deal with an offense that leads the country in plays per minutes and will give them very little time to get aligned.

“Defense is about communication," Drinkwitz said. "You’ve got to see the call, get in position, make sure your eyes are on your keys and then react accordingly. When somebody’s snapping the ball three plays every 60 seconds, there’s a lot of opportunities for error, and they capitalize on those errors.”

Slowing down Bazelak

It's no secret that Missouri's defense isn't very good. While the passing defense may rank 33rd in the country, its total defense (117th), rushing defense (129th) and scoring defense (108th) is abysmal.

Drinkwitz's offense, however, is a much different story. Led by quarterback Connor Bazelak, Missouri's offense ranks 20th in total offense, 73rd in rushing offense, 12th in passing offense and 20th in scoring offense.

Bazelak is 13th in the country in passing yards per game, 10th in the country in touchdown passes and 40th in the country in quarterback rating. And his offensive line does a good job of protecting him. According to Pro Football Focus, Bazelak was hit only two times and hurried once on 45 dropbacks against Boston College. He wasn't sacked.

“They make it hard to get a great bead on what they’re doing, and he’s very, very smart with the football," Tennessee linebackers coach Brian Jean-Mary said on Vol Cals this week. "You don’t see a lot of chinks in his armor. He’s sneaky athletic. He wears a knee brace, which always makes you think, ‘Ah.’ But then, when you watch him in the pocket, he moves around well and can scramble to get first downs, so we’re going to have to do a good job there. And he makes good decisions when he’s in the pocket.”

Accounting for Badie

Bazelak's favorite target is running back Tyler Badie, who played his high school football at Briarcrest Christian in Memphis. Whether it's on the ground or through the air, Missouri consistently gets the ball in Badie's hands.

""(Badie is) a dynamic player," Heupel said. "They use him in the run game. When they drop back to pass, it’s usually to get him the football. Got to do a good job of tackling. He’s elusive in space. He’s what makes them go. Got to do a good job on him all day long.”

Badie is just five receiving yards away from becoming the first Mizzou player to ever record 1,000 rushing yards and 1,000 receiving yards in his career. The senior is averaging 149.5 all-purpose yards this season, good for eighth nationally and first in the SEC. He ranks fourth in the country with 48 points scored on the year.

“I think Coach Drinkwitz does a great job on offense," Jean-Mary said. "When you break them down, they’re very simple as far as an offensive philosophy. They find ways to get number 1 (Badie) the ball. They’ll line him up anywhere on the field. That’s why he’s leading them in rushing and receiving, and he’s not the biggest guy, so he does a great job of hiding behind that big offensive line. And when he finds a crease, he knows how to get there.”

The duo of Bazelak and Badie has led to Missouri leading the SEC in third down efficiency. Mizzou is converting on 54.7% of third downs this season.

“They do a good job of running the football and you’re in manageable situations there," Heupel said. "I think (Badie is) a big part of it, their ability to use him in the pass game and find mismatches. (Bazelak) played consistent, too, and their protection up front’s been really pretty solid as well. You put all those pieces together, you’ve got a chance to be highly successful on third downs.”

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Other Tidbits

What's the health of Joe Milton and Hendon Hooker?

Heupel said on Vol Calls Wednesday night that Hooker "has been able to practice the last couple of days. Not his normal amount of work, but has been able to get work in. We want to make sure that he ends up getting to 100%. And (we) feel like he’s on that path."

As for Milton, “Joe is continuing to get better," Heupel claimed on the SEC Teleconference. "He’s moving around on the practice field, closer to 100 percent at this point.”

Heupel on Cooper Mays gutting through his injury against Florida:

“Tough, competitive, cares. Cares about playing at a really high level. Cares about the Power T. Cares about his teammates. Wants to be in there. He’s a warrior. As the game went on, you watch the film, you can tell that things started to bother him more as the game wore on. He didn’t want to come out. He competed extremely hard.”

Heupel on what Jerome Carvin needs to do if Mays can't play against Missouri:

“I think the toughest thing for him is when he’s starting at one spot, getting him enough reps at the next spot. It’s difficult to manage and get what you need at both during the course of the week in practice. At the end of the day, some of the snaps have got to be better. That’s true with Coop in there as well. There’s times where there’s plays down the football field that we’re not able to connect on (because of) just simple execution of the center-quarterback snap. Some of that’s the quarterback catching it, too, but all those pieces got to play in together.

“Once he’s at the center position, do a great job of communicating. He’s done that for the most part during the first four ball games that he’s played some center, but need to do it at a higher level.”

Jean-Mary on why Tennessee rotates linebackers:

“I come from a background where we didn’t rotate a lot at that position, because you wanted guys to get comfortable and get a better understanding of what we do on defense. But I felt like, for us to play we needed our linebackers to play — and that’s with some violence and to play all-out with effort — we want to rotate those guys, because we don’t want them to be tired when they’re on the field."

Jean-Mary on Jeremy Banks and Juwan Mitchell:

On Banks: "‘Flying all over the place’ is probably an understatement. I tell people he’s the hardest-playing linebacker I’ve had the opportunity to coach, and I feel like I’ve coached some guys who’ve given great effort and who were great players.”

On Mitchell: "When we first got him here, our expectations were high because he had a really good season at the previous spot that he was at. He led them in tackles. And he came in. It was a little bit of a tougher transition. And the big thing with Juwan:

“He’s battled through so many nagging injuries since the first time he got here, so he hasn’t been 100 percent since we kicked off. But he’s been fighting through it, trying to be a team player, and he’s itching to get on the field. But it’s been tough. He hasn’t been able to practice full-speed."

Drinkwitz on Tennessee:

"I think their offense is as explosive—I know last week probably didn’t score as many points as they could have, but very explosive offensively. They’re snapping the ball about three plays per minute which is at times the fastest offense in college football, which presents a whole new set of challenges for us defensively. Defensively, they’re very aggressive. I don’t know coach Banks personally, but extremely impressed with what he’s done so far at Tennessee and watched a lot of his Penn State tape and see the aggressive style of defense that they play. Very complementary football, I think their special teams, coach Ekeler does an outstanding job. They play very fast on special teams and you can just tell their whole football team plays in sync with how they’re wanting to play."

Tyler Baron on this year's team compared to last year:

“I think we’re playing with a lot more effort this year … and we’re playing for each other.”

Matchups to Watch

Will Tennessee run the football?

This is the matchup that will likely determine the game. Tennessee's rushing offense against Missouri's rushing defense. Missouri hasn't stopped anybody from running the football. Tennessee's been able to run the football well with Cooper Mays in the game, but his status is doubtful. Still, the Vols should be able to run the football.

Can the Vols generate pressure?

Missouri likes to throw the football with Bazelak. And they do a good job of protecting him when he does, particularly at tackle. Both left tackle Javon Foster and right tackle Hyrin White have dropped back in pass protection 175 times. Foster has allowed just three pressures and a sack, while White has given up no sacks and just two two pressures, respectively.

Tennessee's edge rushers have a tall task ahead of them and need to find a way to generate some pressure.

Keeping an eye on Badie

Tim Banks will have a close eye on Badie out of the backfield. Missouri likes to use Badie as a pass-catcher as much as they like handing the football off to him. Whether it's a linebacker or a defensive back matched up on Badie in coverage, Tennessee is going to have be locked in on where Badie is at all times. And then win those matchups.

Stats to Know

- Tennessee and Missouri are meeting for the 10th time on Saturday. The Vols are 4-5 against the Tigers. UT has won the last two contests and four out of the last six in the series, including a 35-12 win in Knoxville last season.

- The Vols are seeking three straight wins in the series for the first time and looking to improve to 3-2 in Columbia.

- Tennessee is averaging 3.01 offensive plays per minute, which is tops in the nation.

- Theo Jackson's 6.5 tackles for loss ranks third in the country and 11th in the nation.

- Tennessee has racked up 34 tackles for loss through four games, third-most in the SEC and eighth-most nationally.

- Tennessee has outscored opponents 45-10 in the first quarter this season. The Vols issued their first points in the first quarter last week at Florida.

Missouri Week Interviews

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