Tennessee opened its 62-24 victory at Missouri two years ago with a 28-3 surge, and the Volunteers closed last season’s 66-24 trampling of the Tigers in Knoxville on a 38-0 run.
When Josh Heupel’s Vols have erupted, Eli Drinkwitz’s Tigers haven’t responded.
“You have to play complementary football in the sense that when the defense gets stops, the offense has to answer,” Drinkwitz said, “and if the defense doesn’t, then you still have to find ways to answer. Offensively, we haven’t been able to keep pace, and defensively, we’ve got to do a good job of finding stops in the game.
“The pressure they put on you is that they can score so fast.”
Saturday afternoon will mark the first top-16 matchup in Faurot Field history as the No. 14 Vols visit the No. 16 Tigers in a pairing of 7-2 teams that are also 3-2 in Southeastern Conference play.