Tennessee 7, Missouri 36 | Advanced Stats Review

On November 24, 2007, Tennessee beat Kentucky 52-50 in a 4-overtime game that sent the Vols to Atlanta for the SEC Championship game. Tennessee would not play in another November game with SECCG implications for 15 years, not until last season's game in Athens--a game the Vols lost. Then, with the playoffs still within reach, Tennessee went to South Carolina and got their faces blown off. Today in CoMo, UT lost another November game that ended their chances to go to Atlanta (of course, they still would've needed help from Ole Miss, and as I write this UGA has a 24-point lead in the 3rd). 

Yes, that's three meaningful November losses. But that's also three more meaningful November games than Tennessee has had in a decade and a half. Some of us have teenage children that weren't alive the last time November mattered on The Hill. So while I won't tell you not to be frustrated from what you saw in Missouri today, or what you saw at Georgia and South Carolina last year, I will ask you to have some perspective. When the day comes that Meaningless November returns, then you can panic. 

Five Factor Box Score

Zero. Points. Per. Opportunity. That along with only having three scoring opportunities (and one of those being late in the 4th with the game put away) pretty well sums up the ineptitude of Tennessee's offense in this game. 

Offensive Line Stats

And here we have the ineptitude of the defense on full display. UT just had no answer for Cody Schrader. That 100% power success rate simply means that any time Mizzou needed 3 yards, they got 3 yards. And that 102 open field yards means that they were getting a lot more than 3 yards regularly. 

Player Usage & PPA

I've been following these stats all season, and Schrader's 56% usage is the first time I've seen anyone other than a QB at the top of a team's usage chart. Just an incredible performance. He's still a vanilla midget though. 

Most of Tennessee's usage charts have had at least two (and often three) running backs in the top five. Today it's just Jaylen Wright, and woof. Seeing -4.1 PPA out of your best offensive player is painful. Also, I'm certain Kaleb Webb will be a very good player Tennessee over the next couple of years. I'm not certain that you want him being an equal piece of your offense to Squirrel White and Ramel Keyton in a conference road game of this magnitude.