The Tennessee Vols have to stop giving teams free motivation. 

There's a reason that coach speak and taking knees at the end of games are the standard in college football. And we saw a prime example of that in Tennessee's brutal 29-point loss the Missouri Tigers this past weekend. 

A year ago, Tennessee destroyed Missouri in Neyland Stadium. The final score ended up being 66-24 thanks to a late Dylan Sampson touchdown that was scored with less than a minute remaining in the game. 

Most teams would choose to take a knee in that situation to avoid any future bad blood. But Tennessee chose to run the score up a bit. 

After the game, Missouri head coach Eli Drinkwitz publicly said he had no issue with the late touchdown. 

“He (Heupel) coaches his team, I coach my team,” said Drinkwitz. “So, it is our job to defend what they do. He runs his offense the way they’ve always run it. I got no issues with their football team and what they do. That’s up to each individual head coach and he was just running his offense. I’m good. … It’s our job to flip the switch. It’s our job to not let that happen."

Privately, Drinkwitz used the way that game ended as motivation for his team in 2023. And by not decrying the late score during his media sessions, Drinkwtiz made sure that he didn't give Tennessee any added bulletin board material. 

Missouri running back Cody Schrader, who made the Vols' defense look lifeless while totaling over 300 yards in the Tigers' win this past weekend, confirmed after the game that the ending of last year's game was a huge source of motivation for the Tigers in this year's game. 

"We remember what last year felt like," said Schrader after the game. "And that was a huge thing for us in the offseason and into spring ball. Every game we play is personal because we lost a lot of these games last year. Tonight was definitely more personal just because of how the game ended last year — a lot of you guys (media) remember that. So we definitely had a chip on our shoulders and our mantra was four quarters of hell."

It wasn't just the end of last year's game that served as motivation for Missouri. All of the talk about Tennessee's rough run defense leading up to the game also served as motivation for the Tigers. 

"That's all we heard all week, about how great they are and their run defense," said Schrader. 

The loss to Missouri isn't some big red flag for Josh Heupel and the Vols. But it does reveal a few things that Tennessee needs to do better moving forward (like better utilizing the transfer portal). One of those things is to avoid giving teams bulletin board material, while doing a better job of making each game personal. 

We saw against UConn how Tennessee plays when they make it personal. But in other games this season — certainly the game against Missouri — it hasn't felt like that edge has been present for the Vols. That's a must in the SEC in every game. Every team has talent. And every team is capable of winning big if you don't have an edge and make it personal. Tennessee learned that the hard way last Saturday night in Columbia. 

Tennessee needs to alter one aspect of their offseason approach if they want to compete for a national championship in 2024

It’s a must if they’re going to compete for a national championship in 2024