Tennessee stays on the road in SEC play as they travel to Missouri. What’s key for the Vols to get their first conference win under Josh Heupel? Here are four, in our weekly Cheat Sheet.

1. Run the football —Missouri is 129th nationally in stopping the run. The Tigers are giving up an average of 269 yards a game. Last week Boston College rushed for 275 yards in an overtime win. Kentucky rushed for 332 against the Tigers. Even 0-3 Southeast Missouri rushed for 294. So Tennessee must run the ball effectively and they must run it often. Last week at Florida, the tailbacks rushed for 109 yards on 22 carries. They need twice as many carries this week.

2. Harass Conner Bazelak — Bazelak has been productive and is a good player. The quarterback has 1,200 yards passing and 10 touchdowns on the year. He also has three interceptions including 2 last week. Bazelak has only been sacked twice on the year, but he’s not a real running threat. In four games he has 12 rushes for a net of 22 yards. Tennessee has to make him move and be uncomfortable. The Vols need Tyler Baron and Byron Young to show up off the edge and they need to push the pocket in the middle.

Tennessee must play their rush lanes better and not give up outside contain like they did against Pitt and Florida.

3. Limit explosives —Missouri is a big play offense. The Tigers have 8 receivers who have at least one catch of 25+ yards. Six receivers are averaging over 10 yards a catch. Last week Boston College held the Tiger offense to just one play over 25 yards. Tennessee’s defense must limit the explosive plays.

Against Pitt and Florida, the Vols gave up 11 plays of 20 yards or more. Tennessee must make Missouri’s offense drive he length of the field.

4. Stop being your own worst enemy —I’m not saying if Tennessee would have done this one thing or if this one play had been different then they would have beaten Florida but the Vols self inflicted wounds have been their biggest enemy in their two losses. From the overthrows against Pitt to the dropped passes and bad snaps against Florida, this team hasn’t given themselves their best chance to win. Heupel’s team must get out of their own way better.

In their two losses, the Vols have 23 penalties for 219 yards. That just can’t happen. They had substitution issues at Florida. They misaligned on both sides of the ball. This teams margin for error is too small to help the opponent out.

Tennessee must stop beating themselves.