Staff picks: No. 5 Tennessee vs. Missouri
Sitting at 8-1 on the season and ranked No. 5 in the second College Football Playoff Top 25, Tennessee heads into its final stretch of SEC play on Saturday as it hosts Missouri at Neyland Stadium.
Ahead of Saturday's game, the VolReport staff is sharing its predictions. Who'll come out on top – the Vols or Tigers? Here's a look at how we see the contest playing out.
TYLER MANSFIELD
Tennessee isn’t happy with the way it performed last week at Georgia — not one bit. Because of that, I fully expect the Vols to be back firing on all cylinders on Saturday against Missouri and recording a big win in their final game of the season at Neyland Stadium.
The Vols had much success against the Tigers in last year’s meeting, and I feel that Josh Heupel’s offense will again be able to score plenty of points this time around. It’s going to be a smooth victory for Tennessee.
Tyler's pick: Tennessee 38, Missouri 17
NOAH TAYLOR
Missouri is pesky enough and has the defense to hang around at times, but I think this Tennessee offense — especially coming off the Georgia loss — is eager to prove something.
The Vols get back to scoring a lot of points and the defense has one of its best performance of the season against a struggling Missouri offense.
Noah's pick: Tennessee 45, Missouri 20
JAKE NICHOLS
Missouri’s defense will keep the Tigers in the game through the first half, but the combination of a sold-out Neyland Stadium, the emotion of Senior Day and Tennessee’s eagerness to snap back into form will be too much to overcome down the stretch.
The Vols send their seniors and Smokey X out the right way with a big win.
Jake's pick: Tennessee 48, Missouri 14
TYLER BANNERMAN
Missouri has a solid defense, which I think can keep this game close. However, I think we will see Hendon Hooker’s best game of the year. With it being the last home game for the Vols' seniors, I’m sure they are hungry for a win after losing last week.
I think Tennessee gets the job finished and the seniors can claim a big win in their last game at Neyland Stadium.
Tyler's pick: Tennessee 51, Missouri 17
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