A week ago Missouri had a 17-0 lead on South Carolina but could not hang on and lost in overtime. Here we are a week later and Missouri once again built a 17-0 lead on their visiting SEC East opponent, Tennessee. Missouri leads Tennessee 24-3 at halftime.
Quarterback Maty Mauk lacked big numbers early on but has started to find his groove leading the offense. He has three touchdown passes and leads the team in rushing at the half with 84 rushing yards.
A win for Missouri will keep them on top of the SEC East standings. With South Carolina winning earlier in the day against Mississippi State, the Gamecocks remain one game behind Missouri in the division. Because South Carolina owns a head-to-head tiebreaker with the Tigers, Missouri needs to pick up the win to stay on top of the SEC East and control the path to Atlanta for the SEC Championship Game.
The half ended with Missouri kicker Andrew Baggett bouncing off the left upright in an eerily familiar fashion from a week ago, but the kicker has kicked one field goal and converted three extra point attempts as well.