Junior Kenya Dennis pulled in his first career interception in with 12:30 remaining in the quarter, stalling a drive that had advanced deep into Mizzou territory.
On the importance of Jimmy Hunt's touchdown catch: "It's momentum. It's a huge momentum play. I mean, mammoth. And that's why big plays...they help control momentum if you make them on offense or defense. Certainly, that was a big play that we needed. I thought it was a good call. They were playing real tight coverage, and we did, on the next drive I think, did it with Bud Sasser, too, and we hit one down the sidelines with him and Maty made some good throws there. So, you know, it was a really good day, but yet things we need to improve."
MU has become an assembly line for NFL defensive linemen, with assistant coach Craig Kuligowski cranking out one batch after another. It has become the glamour position at Missouri. And the D-line was never more ready for its close-up than Saturday, when the Tigers beat Tennessee 29-21 in a game that put them one step away from their second straight Southeastern Conference Eastern Division title.
With 1.5 more sacks from Markus Golden, he and Shane Ray will become the only MU teammates to ever have double-digit sacks in the same year.
Baggett missed his second extra point of the game, keeping it a two-score margin and leaving the door open for Tennessee. Volunteers quarterback Joshua Dobbs completed 8 of 11 passes for 81 yards on the next drive and hit Jason Croom for a 4-yard touchdown, then brought Tennessee within a score at 29-21 on a diving 2-point conversion run with 1:51 to go.
But when the Tigers needed stops from their defense and points from their offense, both sides delivered. Missouri harassed Tennessee’s young offensive line and sophomore quarterback Joshua Dobbs to the tune of six sacks and six more tackles for loss. Mizzou forced two turnovers.
Tod Palmer over in Kansas City takes a look at some of the key stats from Mizzou/Tennessee, including his player of the game, Markus Golden
Player of the game: Senior defensive end Markus Golden continued his resurgence with six tackles, incliding 2 sacks and 2 1/2 tackles for a loss. He was a standout for the Tigers’ stingy front seven, which helped limit Tennessee to 279 total yards.
Arkansas' running game once again didn't get much in terms of raw yardage (159 rushing yards, 3.2 yards per carry), but it was certainly efficient, posting a success rate of over 40 percent against a top-20 rush defense (in S&P+) for the second straight week. The passing game was extremely impressive. Note the yards per play. The Hogs hit four passes of 25+ yards (two by B. Allen and two by A. Allen) over the top of the Ole Miss defense.
That difference often comes in little, reliable things, and the Vols were bad at most of them last night: 5 of 15 on third down while surrendering 8 of 17 on the defensive end, a -2 turnover ratio, and though Missouri easily out-penaltied the Vols, Tennessee had a couple of critical ones to sustain Mizzou drives.
Mizzou Hoops in Maui; Arizona at 4pm CT
Our Arizona blog has a quick look at us here, although they don't appear too chatty. They seem confident their defense will be able to shut us down and they're probably right.
Dave Matter says Mizzou must hope Sean Miller's Arizona squad, which went 33-5 last year, is caught off guard, but also points to precedent
But, Wildcats, be warned: Upsets define Maui’s history. Just two years ago Chaminade toppled Texas. The Silverswords, now a Division II program, stunned Oklahoma in 2010.
Tod Palmer explains how Kim Anderson has already shown some of that resiliency necessary to coach at the D1 level:
"Coach Stewart taught me how to survive," Anderson said when he was hired. "He taught me how to get up when I fell down. He taught me how, when I had disappointments, to get back up and keep going."
That’s precisely what Anderson did, leading the Tigers, 2-1, to a pair of victories ahead of the young season’s biggest test Monday against No. 2 Arizona in the first round of the Maui Invitational.
"I know Hawaii looks like it’s a nice place, but we’re going there for three reasons, and that’s to win three games," he said. "So that’s our main focus, is to go down there and just have fun and be close as a team. That trip is like a growing experience for us. We’re going to be around each other the whole entire time. But we’ve just got to go down there and handle business, too, and get three wins."
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From Sunday 