Mizzou Welcomes Tennessee for SEC Home Opener

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou football (2-2, 0-1 SEC) welcomes Tennessee (2-2, 0-1 SEC) to Memorial Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 2 for an 11 a.m. CT kickoff between the Tigers and Volunteers. The matchup will air on SEC Network with Dave Neal, Deuce McAllister and Andraya Carter on the call.

Mike Kelly, Howard Richards and Chris Gervino will have the call on the Tiger Radio Network.

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MOBILE TICKETS

All Mizzou Athletics events will feature mobile tickets in the 2021-22 season. Tiger fans can easily download their tickets using the Mizzou Mobile app on their smartphone. Fans are encouraged to download all tickets before arriving at Memorial Stadium to ensure a smooth entry.

To learn more about mobile ticketing and how to download tickets, visit MUTigers.com/MobileTix.

GAMEDAY AT MIZZOU

• 7 AM – Parking Lots Open
• 8 AM – Tiger Town Opens | West Lawn of Hearnes Center
  • Enjoy food trucks, drinks, tailgate games, a DJ and other football games from around the country
• 8 AM – MU Health Care Kid’s Zone Opens | SE Corner of Stadium Blvd. & Mick Deaver Dr.
  • Young Tigers can get ready for gameday with face painting, inflatables and more
• 8:30 AM – Tiger Walk | Intersection of Champions Dr. & Mick Deaver Dr.
• 9:30 AM – Memorial Stadium Gates Open
• 11 AM – Kickoff

SERIES vs. TENNESSEE

• Mizzou holds a narrow 5-4 edge in the all-time series with Tennessee. All nine meetings have come as members of the SEC.

• The Tigers won the first three meetings of the series from 2012-14 but the Vols have taken the past two contests, including a 35-12 win in Knoxville in 2020.

• Mizzou and Tennessee have split four games in Columbia with the Vols winning the 2019 meeting 24-20 at Memorial Stadium.

LAST TIME OUT: MIZZOU

Missouri quarterback Connor Bazelak engineered a dramatic last-ditch drive to set up a game-tying 56-yard field goal by Harrison Mevis that forced overtime. But after Boston College had taken the OT lead on a 10-yard pass from Dennis Grosel to Zay Flowers, Bazelak’s first pass of the extra period was intercepted at the goal line by Brandon Sebastian allowing the Eagles to come away with a 41-34 victory. The pass was intended for Keke Chism who was Missouri’s leading receiver with seven catches for 67 yards. Bazelak completed 30-of-41 passes for 303 yards and one touchdown.

LAST TIME OUT: TENNESSEE

Trailing by only three at halftime, Tennessee was outscored 21-0 in the second half, falling to No. 11 Florida, 38-14, in its Southeastern Conference opener at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. Hendon Hooker completed 13-of-23 passes for 221 yards and two touchdowns, while a balanced rushing attack of Jabari Small, Tiyon Evans and Hooker ran for 148 yards. The Vols (2-2, 0-1 SEC) never turned the ball over and forced their first fumble of the season late in the second quarter, but it was not enough to overcome the Florida offensive attack. Trevon Flowers led all tacklers with a career-best 15 on the night. Flowers’ 15 tackles were the most in a game for Tennessee since Daniel Bituli had 19 in a 17-13 win over Kentucky on Nov. 9, 2019.

IN THE ZONE

• Mizzou is one of 11 teams in the country that has scored in every trip to the red zone this season. The Tigers have 13 touchdowns and two field goals in their 15 trips to the red zone.

• The Tigers have scored touchdowns on 86.7 percent of their trips to the red zone, giving Mizzou the best touchdown efficiency among the 11 teams with perfect red zone marks.

• Mizzou has five rushing touchdowns and eight passing touchdowns inside the 20 this season.

• The Tigers are one of two SEC teams which are perfect in the red zone in 2021, joined by LSU who has converted on each of its 10 possessions.

THIRD DOWN TRENDING UP

• Mizzou leads the SEC and ranks seventh in the country with its 54.7 percent conversion rate on third down. The Tigers have moved the sticks on 29 of their 53 third down attempts this season.

• After going just 1-for-11 on third downs in the season opener against Central Michigan, Mizzou has converted third downs at a 66.7 percent clip (28-for-42) over the past three weeks.

• Mizzou was 9-for-15 on third downs at Kentucky, 11-for-15 against SEMO and 8-for-12 at Boston College.

PROTECTION PLAN

• Mizzou’s offensive line has been among the nation’s best at keeping it’s quarterback upright in 2021. The Tigers have allowed just three sacks through the first four games.

• At 0.75 sacks surrendered per game, Mizzou ranks sixth in the country and second in the SEC in sacks allowed.

• Two of the three sacks allowed this season came in the season opener while the other came in week two.

• Mizzou has allowed just four quarterback hurries over the past two weeks combined. As a result, QB Connor Bazelak has completed 71.8 percent (51-of-71) of his passes in the past two games while throwing for over 300 yards in each.

BADIE APPROACHING HISTORY

• Senior running back Tyler 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.

• Badie ranks fourth in the country with 48 points scored on the year. The total co-leads the SEC with LSU receiver Kayshon Boutte.

MEVIS MAGIC

• Sophomore kicker Harrison Mevis started his season with a bang, drilling a 53-yard field goal in the waning seconds of the first half to give Mizzou a lead over Central Michigan. The kick was a then-career-long from Mevis and had plenty of leg to spare.

• He was equally impressive at Boston College, hitting a career-long 56-yard boot to send the game to overtime.

• Mevis is now 5-for-6 in his career from beyond 50 yards through his 12 collegiate games. His 56-yarder is the national leader.

• Mevis has made 13 consecutive field goals, ranking third nationally and leading the SEC.

• He is one of just two Tigers in program history to make five or more kicks of 50+ yards, joining Tom Whelihan (6, 1984-87).

BAZELAK BRINGS GROWTH

• Redshirt sophomore Connor Bazelak has already produced a career-best 10 touchdown passes through just four games on the season. The QB is completing 68.8 percent of his passes in 2021.

• Bazelak has thrown for over 250 yards in all four games this season, including back-to-back 300-yard performances in the last two weeks.

• Bazelak picked up right where he left off in 2020, going 21-for-32 for 257 yards and two touchdowns against Central Michigan.

• Bazelak and the Tigers jumped out of the gate fast, hitting a 63-yard shot on the first play of the season. The pass was the second-longest of Bazelak’s career (69 yds – 2020 vs. LSU).

• At Kentucky, Bazelak matched his career high by slinging four touchdown passes. He finished the day 34-for-51 for 294 yards in the air. The 34 completions mark a career high for the Tiger QB.

• During the Kentucky game, Bazelak passed the 3,000 career passing yards mark in his 15th game played.

TAKE YOUR PICK

• Mizzou’s secondary has snagged an interception in each of the first four games this season.

• The Tigers have an interception in five consecutive games dating back to the 2020 season finale against Mississippi State.

• Four different Tigers have an interception this season, tallying five as a team.

• Jaylon Carlies leads Mizzou with two INTs while Kris Abrams-Draine, Akayleb Evans and Shawn Robinson have one each.