Familiar Ties, Faces Run Deep in Tennessee-Missouri Face-off

This weekend’s trip to Missouri will be one of familiarity for several members of the Tennessee football program.

For starters, there’s the obvious connection in Josh Heupel, who will make his first trip back to Columbia since he left Mizzou to take the UCF job — his first head-coaching gig.

At Missouri, Heupel served as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. There, he worked closely with Jake Breske, who spent five years on the Tigers’ staff — two with Heupel — before they reunited in Knoxville when Breske became the Vols’ director of player personnel. Breske’s time at Missouri saw him serve as the Director of Recruiting for the Tigers, a position in which he excelled. In 2021, he helped the Tigers secure the best class in school history. His familiarity with almost every player on the Tigers roster is uncanny.

Aside from Breske, Heupel also has another Missouri connection in Denver Broncos quarterback Drew Lock.

Lock’s performance at Missouri helped bolster Heupel’s reputation with gunslingers, and he gave a telling quote about Heupel’s impact — even dating back to his high school years.

“Coach Heupel played a huge role in my development both on and off the field,” Lock said. “His knowledge of the game helped me become the player I am today. He taught me principles that I still apply today in the NFL. He is competitive, driven and always looks out for his players. Tennessee players will thrive in the fun culture he creates.”

So far, we’ve seen that to be true, especially in the case of the last sentence.

But the ties in this game don’t just run through Tennessee’s head coach. They also run straight into south Knoxville, just a few miles from Neyland Stadium.

Player familiarity

Three days, 20 hours, zero minutes, 27 seconds.

As of Elijah Young’s Tuesday afternoon Instagram story, that’s the amount of time that separated the Knoxville native from his second reunion with Tennessee, whose stadium is located 8.2 miles from his South-Doyle alma mater.

Last season, Young made his first trip back to Knoxville as a freshman with the Tigers. Now, the sophomore is welcoming the Vols to his new home turf.

And judging by his Boomerang of the game day countdown clock, it’s safe to say he is looking forward to Saturday.

The countdown clock from Elijah Young’s Instagram story for Tennessee’s matchup against Young and the Tigers. (Elijah Young/Instagram)

Before he carried the rock for Missouri, Elijah Young was a standout for 5A South-Doyle in Knoxville. He even played the first game of his senior year inside Neyland Stadium. (Jake Nichols)

So is Tennessee edge rusher Tyler Baron, who is one of five Knoxville natives on the Vols’ roster. When asked if he’d “take it easy” on his old neighbor from South of the River, Baron answered without cracking a smile: “Of course not.”

Still, Baron and the Vols’ defense will have their hands full.

Before coming to Missouri, Young was the Gatorade Player of the Year at SDHS under former Vol Clark Duncan. He also captured the Tennessee Titans’ Class 5A Mr. Football for Award as a senior and racked up 2,170 rushing yards with 39 scores in his final season as a Cherokee.

Now, Young and his Tiger teammates are gearing up for UT this Saturday. A win for either program would put the team at 3-2, or halfway to bowl eligibility.

Since Young spurned the Vols, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisville and South Carolina in favor of Mizzou, he’s totaled 30 attempts for 150 yards and a touchdown.

The majority of those carries have come this season, as he’s taken the ball 20 times for 80 yards and one score.

In short, Young has already made a name for himself in an offense that averages 38.75 points per game to Tennessee’s 35.5.

But he isn’t the only familiar face the Vols will line up against this weekend.

Tyler Badie, who is ahead of Young as the Tigers’ starting running back, has already drawn heavy praise from Heupel.

"Everything goes through the running back whether it's in the run game or in the pass game,” Heupel said Monday. “He's dynamic."

He’s also a close friend of Tennessee running back Jabari Small.

Badie and Small graduated from the same school, Briarcrest Christian in Memphis, where they played under Brian Stewart.

“That’s like my brother,” Small said. “I’m real close with Tyler. I played with him my sophomore year and my freshman year (at Briarcrest), so we’re pretty tight.”

Small also reiterated the pride he holds for Badie, who leads the Tigers in rushing receptions (20) and rushing yards (417), with three touchdowns through the air and five on the ground — good for second in the league through four games.

“I’m proud of him,” Small said. “He’s having a great year so far. We talk every week, so he’s doing good.”

Have they continued the talking routine the week prior to facing each other? “We talked (Monday),” Small said with a grin, adding that the pair mainly discussed this weekend’s game.

Aside from Elijah Young and Small vs. Badie, there remains one more Tennessee tie in the Tigers’ locker room.

And, like almost every other tie mentioned in this article, he’s a running back.

Before Missouri freshman B.J. Harris made his way to Columbia, he represented McCallie, a Tennessee powerhouse out of Chattanooga, in several premier Division II-AAA matchups.

That means he played several times against Baron, Cade and Cooper Mays, and Jack Jancek — all Tennessee players who suited up for Knoxville Catholic.

Coach-player interaction

The final tie worth mentioning comes courtesy of Rocky Top Insider in a piece detailing Missouri coach Eliah Drinkwitz.

When Drinkwitz spoke to Columbia media earlier this week, he zeroed in on a specific part of the Vols’ offense: Hendon Hooker.

It’s still unclear whether Hooker, Joe Milton III or Harrison Bailey will take the snaps this weekend.

But if Hooker — who has “not been in concussion protocol,” per Heupel — does take the field, Drinkwitz knows what he can do.

“Hendon Hooker is a really dynamic quarterback,” Drinkwitz said. “Obviously he has experience at Virginia Tech, so he’s played a lot of football. Now he kind of fits that system. I remember Hendon really well recruiting him when I was at NC State. He was at Dudley and does a really nice job— won the state championship when he was in high school— I was at that game. I’m very impressed with him.”

As mentioned, Missouri’s offense totals almost 40 points a game.

The Tigers’ defense is a weaker link, though, giving up the second-most points per game of any team in the SEC.

Overview

Altogether, this matchup may be a tight one with familiarity for plenty of people on each sideline. To that end, there will likely be some hugs exchanged after the game.

Between the whistles, though, it’s about the people wearing the same colors.

Tennessee and Missouri will kick off at noon Eastern (11 a.m. Central) on Saturday in Columbia. The game can be seen on SEC Network.

Cover photo via L.G. Patterson/AP