COLUMBIA, Mo. — It’s rarely a good thing when a team MVP is its punter.
Such was the case Saturday afternoon in Tennessee’s 36-7 loss to Missouri at Faurot Field, as the brightest spot for the Volunteers came in the form of redshirt freshman Jackson Ross. The 6-foot-3, 195-pounder from Melbourne, Australia, matched season highs with two punts in excess of 50 yards and three that were downed inside the 20-yard line.
Ross, who has the unique talent of rolling to either side and kicking with either foot, had a 34-yard punt that was downed at Missouri’s 14-yard line less than five minutes into the game. He had a 45-yard punt that was downed at the Mizzou 3 at the 9:08 mark of the second quarter, and he placed a 37-yarder at the 1 during the final minute of the third quarter.
“He did a nice job,” Tennessee coach Josh Heupel said, “and our coverage team obviously had the ability to pin them deep and put them inside the 1 when it’s still a ballgame. It was a two-possession game right there, and he did a nice job, and the unit as a whole did a nice job.”
Tennessee had a 6-yard loss on its first play of the second half and ultimately punted from its own 26, but Ross launched one of his two 54-yard efforts that was fair caught by the Tigers at their 20.