Thirty minutes does not a college football game make, but Tennessee coach Jeremy Pruitt sure seems impressed by what Missouri accomplished during the second half of its season opener last weekend against Alabama.
After getting overwhelmed in the first half to the tune of a 28-3 Crimson Tide lead, Eli Drinkwitz's Tigers surrendered another touchdown in the third quarter before clawing back for some respectability in a 38-19 final.
"I think they held Alabama to less than 100 yards in the second half, and that's probably the lowest total maybe, for a half, in Nick Saban's era," Pruitt said. "That's pretty impressive. I think it's one of the better defenses in this league, and they have been for several years."
Tennessee will conduct its home opener inside a socially distanced Neyland Stadium at noon Saturday, with visiting Mizzou hoping to build off last week's finish. The Tigers posted 12 first downs to Alabama's seven in the second half, and their 209 yards after the break were noticeably more than Alabama's 99.
Drinkwitz, who guided Appalachian State to the Sun Belt Conference championship last year, was hired to resurrect a Mizzou program that flattened to a 25-25 record in Barry Odom's four seasons. He got the toughest opening draw in the Southeastern Conference's seven head-to-head matchups and didn't come away from it celebrating any kind of moral victory.
"Before we can go win a championship, we've got to keep from beating ourselves," Drinkwitz said. "We had too many self-inflicted plays on offense, defense and special teams. We just didn't execute to a standard we needed to execute to."
Missouri Athletics photo by Zach Bland / Coach Eli Drinkwitz and the Missouri Tigers will be looking to spoil Tennessee's home opener when the Tigers and No. 21 Volunteers collide in a noon showdown Saturday.Drinkwitz wasn't alone in making his Tigers debut, as quarterback Shawn Robinson got his first SEC start after transferring from TCU and sitting out last season. The 6-foot-2, 220-pounder from DeSoto, Texas, completed 19 of 25 passes for 185 yards and a touchdown.
Robinson was the nation's No. 6 dual-threat quarterback signee in the 2017 class, a list that was headed by Tua Tagovailoa (Alabama signee), Tate Martell (Ohio State), Kellen Mond (Texas A&M), Sam Ehlinger (Texas) and Keytaon Thompson (Mississippi State).
"I thought they were efficient on offense, and he's a guy who can extend plays," said Pruitt, who added that the Tigers will mix some option out of the shotgun with counter and gap schemes.
The Volunteers are beyond familiar with senior running back Larry Rountree, who has amassed 60 carries for 333 yards and two touchdowns the past three seasons against Tennessee. Rountree shredded the Vols for 155 yards as a freshman and 135 as a sophomore, when the Tigers won consecutive games in the series by identical 50-17 counts.
As for Tennessee's ground attack, the Vols must be ready for the eight-man fronts that Mizzou presented Alabama, which rushed for just 111 yards last Saturday night.
"We need to eliminate them creating negative plays for us," said Pruitt, whose third season at Tennessee began with a 31-27 victory last weekend at South Carolina. "We don't need negative plays. We don't need to get behind in the sticks. We need to be in manageable third downs, and we obviously have nowhere to go but up when it comes to third down.
"Being able to run the football in the second half was a challenge for Alabama last week."
Pruitt said he and his staff have studied film of Appalachian State and North Carolina State, where Drinkwitz served as offensive coordinator from 2016-18, in preparation for this home opener.
"I'm really impressed, especially with what Coach Drinkwitz and his staff have done without spring ball and not your usual summer and fall camp," Pruitt said. "I know their last game didn't turn out the way they wanted, but watching the way they played and toughness they played with - they never quit.
"We need to play a complete game to have a shot in this game."
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524. Follow him on Twitter @DavidSPaschall.