COLUMBIA, Mo. – University of Missouri football plays its final road game of the 2022 regular season Saturday, heading to Knoxville, Tennessee to take on the No. 5 ranked Volunteers in Neyland Stadium.
The game is slated to kick off at 11 a.m. CT / Noon ET and air on CBS and the Tiger Radio Network. It’s Mizzou’s second top 5 opponent in 2022 after playing a one-score game vs. No. 1 Georgia (L, 28-22).
MISSOURI TIGERS
Head Coach Eliah Drinkwitz
Record at Mizzou 15-17 (Third Year)
Overall Record 27-18 (Fourth Year)
5 TENNESSEE VOLUNTEERS
Head Coach Josh Heupel
Record at School 15-7 (Second Year)
Overall Record 43-15 (Fifth Year)
GAME INFORMATION
Facility Neyland Stadium
Capacity 101,915
TV CBS
RADIO 1580 AM / 105.1 FM / XM 109 or 304
Online The Varsity Network: “Search Mizzou”
Series Record Tied 5-5
In Knoxville Mizzou leads 3-2
Last Meeting Oct. 2, 2021 – Tennessee won 62-24
THE SERIES
Mizzou and Tennessee meet for the 11th time, all since the Tigers joined the Southeastern Conference in 2012. The Vols have won the last three matchups but the Tigers hold a 3-2 edge in games played at Neyland Stadium.
THE COACHES
Eliah Drinkwitz is in his third season as Mizzou’s head coach. He led the Tigers to bowl appearances in each of his first two seasons, joining former head coach Warren Powers as the only two MU head coaches to achieve that feat. Additionally, only Powers won more games in his first two seasons at MU (1978-79, 15) than Drinkwitz (11). Prior to taking the Mizzou job, Drinkwitz was 12-1 as the head coach at Appalachian State in 2019. He had previous stops as the OC at NC State, Boise State and Arkansas State.
Josh Heupel is 15-7 in his second season at Tennessee and 43-14 in five seasons as a head coach. The former Mizzou offensive coordinator (2016-17) was a national-championship winning QB at Oklahoma and most recently served as the head coach at UCF and has made coaching stops at Utah State, Oklahoma and Arizona.
STREAKS, STORYLINES, SIDEBARS …
- Mizzou announced a pair of contract extensions last week, adding two years to Head Coach Eliah Drinkwitz and three to Defensive Coordinator Blake Baker. Drinkwitz is locked up through the 2027 season while Baker is inked through 2025.
- WR Barrett Banister was named a semifinalist for the Wuerffel Trophy and is Mizzou’s nominee for the Burlsworth Trophy.
- The 2022 Tigers rank among the SEC’s top four teams in scoring defense (4th, 21.4 ppg), rushing defense (4th, 86.3 ypg), passing defense (4th, 192.4 ypg) and total defense (4th, 304.1 ypg).
- All four of Mizzou’s SEC losses are by seven points or less and a combined 18 points.
- With 61,047 fans packing Faurot vs. Kentucky, it marked the first back-to-back games with an attendance of 60,000 since 2015 (South Carolina and Florida). Mizzou has averaged 56,147 fans per game at home, an increase of nearly 10,000 fans per game from the Tigers’ 2021 averages of 46,516 fans per game.
- First-time starters in 2022 include: Taj Butts (RB), Kibet Chepyator (TE), Jayden Jernigan (DT), Mehki Miller (WR), EJ Ndoma-Ogar (OL), Tyler Stephens (TE), Connor Tollison (C), Mitchell Walters (RG) and Kristian Williams (DT).
- First Division I snaps in 2022 include: Luther Burden III (WR), Tyler Jones (DB), Armand Membou (OL), Mekhi Miller (WR), Jack Stonehouse (P) and Ja’Marion Wayne (DB).
- Academically, the 2.92 team grade point average in Spring 2022 was football’s highest in eighteen years, excluding the spring 2020 pass/fail period.
