“I’m not gonna make any decisions right now, but I did think he handled himself well, handled the environment,” Drinkwitz said. “Other than the one decision on the interception I thought he managed the game really well, gave us a chance to move the ball and made some good throws, made some good reads.”

Missouri spoiled a chance to make it a one-score game early in the fourth quarter when Bazelak finally made a freshman mistake. Looking for tight end Daniel Parker Jr. deep inside Tennessee territory, Bazelak didn’t see safety Theo Jackson, who cleanly picked off the pass and dashed 36 yards across midfield.

The Volunteers (2-0) capitalized on the turnover with a fourth-and-short touchdown run, UT’s fourth fourth-down conversion of the day.

For the game, Tennessee had little trouble gashing Mizzou’s defensive front and finished with 223 rushing yards and nearly averaged 5 yards per carry. The Vols converted 6 of 13 third downs in addition to their fourth-down prowess. Missouri didn’t force any takeaways.

On a day when Tennessee lived on the edge of fourth down, the Tigers seemed to catch a break early in the fourth quarter on fourth-and-1 when wideout Damon Hazelton Jr. jogged on the field and was clearly moving before the snap. But no flag hit the field and Bazelak connected with tight end Logan Christopherson for a 37-yard gain into the red zone. Larry Rountree’s 1-yard touchdown run trimmed the Vols’ lead to 28-12. MU couldn’t convert the 2-point try.