COLUMBIA, Mo. – With a 17-yard reception in the first quarter, Tyler Badie, became the first player in Mizzou football history to surpass 1,000 rushing and 1,000 receiving yards. Badie ended the day with 1,594 yards career rushing and 1,022 receiving.
Badie's Saturday total included 21 carries for 41 yards and three receptions for 27 yards, proving to be a bright spot for the Tigers who defensively struggled to keep Tennessee off the board. The Tennessee Volunteers came away with the 62-24 victory Saturday afternoon at Faurot Field.
Tennessee (3-2, 1-1) averaged 15.5 yards per play in the first quarter, scoring on all four of the Vols first-quarter possessions, jumping out to a 28-3 lead. After a Connor Bazelak interception late in the quarter, Tennessee returned it from the 33-yard line down to the one, before scoring on the next play.
Missouri (2-3, 0-2) was hurt by five penalties for 48 yards in the first period – four of them for holding. Two of those penalties negated gains of 36 and 21 yards when Tennessee led just 7-0.
By halftime, the score was 45-10, and UT quarterback Hendon Hooker had added a TD run of his own and thrown two scoring passes. For the game, Hooker completed 15 of 19 passes for 225 yards and three TDs, and he rushed 14 times for 74 yards and a score.
Harrison Mevis continued his consistency with his 14th-conseuctive made field goal, knocking in one from 43 yards in the first-quarter. The Tigers additional first half offense came on the second-quarter TD run by Badie.
In the third quarter, after Tennessee expanded its lead to 48-10, Mizzou's Kris Abrams-Draine returned a Vols kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown. The return tied three others for the longest kickoff return in school history, last done in 1976 by Joe Stewart against Oklahoma State. It was MU's first kickoff return for a TD since Marcus Murphy went 96 yards at Florida in 2014.
In the fourth quarter, the Tiger defense stuffed the Vols on a fourth-and-one play at the goal line, and the MU offense turned around and marched 99 yards down the field for a four-yard touchdown run on a jet sweep by Boo Smith. The big gainer was the first play of the drive when Bazelak hit Keke Chism with a crossing pass that he took 56 yards down the sideline.
Bazelak finished the game 27 of 44 passes for 320 yards, but both of his interceptions were turned into touchdowns by Tennessee.
UP NEXT
It will be the 110th Homecoming at Mizzou as the Tigers host the North Texas Mean Green on Faurot Field in Columbia, Missouri. Game time next Saturday (Oct. 9) is 3:00 p.m. CDT. The game will be televised on the SEC Network.
For all the latest on Mizzou Football, stay tuned to www.MUTigers.com and follow the team on Twitter (@MizzouFootball) and like the team on Facebook and Instagram.
