A Daily SportsLine Betting Podcast
The SEC East championship race and New Year's Six bowl picture both will become a little bit clearer when No. 13 Tennessee travels to face No. 14 Missouri in the SEC on CBS Game of the Week on Saturday Interactive Slide
The Volunteers are coming off a victory over UConn that has given them momentum heading into the home stretch. Led by quarterback Joe Milton III, a stout rushing attack and a defense that creates chaos behind the line of scrimmage, they have to win and get help from Ole Miss against Georgia to stay alive in the division title race.
The Tigers fell to Georgia 30-21 last week in a pivotal division matchup. However, quarterback Brady Cook has established himself as one of the most consistent signal-callers in the league.
What will go down Saturday afternoon in Columbia? Let's break down the game and make picks straight up and against the spread.
Check out LIVE updates from Tennessee vs. Missouri
Date: Saturday, Nov. 11 | Time: 3:30 p.m. ET Location: Memorial Stadium/Faurot Field -- Columbia, Missouri TV: CBS | Live stream: CBSSports.com, CBS Sports App (Free) Streaming on Paramount+ with Showtime (Try It Free)
The identity of the Vols: Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel made waves last year when he led the Volunteers to the No. 1 spot in the initial College Football Playoff rankings and kept them in the mix throughout the regular season thanks in large part to a dynamic passing attack. Things are different this year. The run game, led by Milton and running backs Jaylen Wright, Jabari Small and Dylan Sampson, has allowed the Vols to stay competitive. They lead the conference with 227.78 rushing yards per game.
"That's the number one stat I think we look at as an offensive line," said offensive lineman Ollie Lane. "It's a testament to the hard work we put in, plus with how great our running backs see and their field vision, being able to hit a hole that we create for them is huge. But, being able to be rated at the top means a lot to us. Coming through this whole offseason, that was a big point of emphasis for us is that we have to be able to run the ball. That's SEC football everywhere. There is a big emphasis on running the ball, and being able to be the best at it is a huge testament to the hard work we put in this entire offseason."
If Missouri can't slow down the Volunteer rushing attack, it's going to be a long afternoon.
The status of Luther Burden III: Missouri's star wide receiver suffered an ankle injury in the first half of last week's loss to Georgia. He stayed in the game, but it was clear that he was extremely limited. The offense lost its rhythm as a result of his absence. Coach Elli Drinkwitz was asked about the status of his superstar during Wednesday's SEC coaches teleconference.
"Well, I haven't seen him practice today, but yesterday he was in a green jersey and didn't take a whole lot of reps," he said. "You know, we'll just have to see how he progresses, so I won't know more about that, probably, 'til after today's practice. But I would anticipate Friday is the first time I'll have a real feel on whether or not he's going to be able to play or not."
However, Burden was cleared to play later in the week and is expected to play vs. the Volunteers.
All eyes on Cody Schrader: The Tigers will rely on their veteran running back in a big way. The senior leads the SEC in rushing at 102.11 yards per game and is second in the conference in rushing touchdowns with 10.
Tennessee's coaching staff compared Schrader to Kentucky star Ray Davis.
"This guy may be just a tad more physical where the guy at Kentucky was faster,"defensive line coach Rodney Garner said. "I think they both do a really good job of pressing the blocks and just finding the soft spot, just squaring up the shoulders (and) getting downhill. We've got to do a great job of playing vertical, creating knock backs, (and) be able to tear up blocks. We've got to keep our pads square. We've got to tackle. We can't miss tackles. All the little things are what it comes down to playing in this conference. Just play a great, sound, fundamental game."
It's likely that Missouri will want to shorten the game and keep Tennessee's offense off the field. It'll be up to Schrader to make that happen.
This one will be a nail-biter. Both of these teams have dynamic offenses, so Cook and Milton should lead their teams up and down the field in what will look like the college football version of a ping-pong match. Tennessee's tempo will give the Volunteers the edge at the end. The sheer number of plays will wear down the Tigers defense, and the Vols rushing attack will dominate the final five minutes to earn the critical road win. Pick: Tennessee -1
Which college football picks can you make with confidence in Week 11, and which underdogs will win outright? Visit SportsLine to see which teams will win and cover the spread -- all from a proven computer model that has returned well over $2,000 in profit over the past seven-plus seasons -- and find out.
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