COLUMBIA, Mo. — Jalen Hurd rumbled to a career-high 151 rushing yards and Aaron Medley made four field goals to lead Tennessee to a 19-8 win over Missouri on Saturday at Faurot Field.
The Vols (7-4, 4-3 SEC) benefited from another outstanding performance by their defense. UT limited Missouri (5-6, 1-6 SEC) to 223 total yards (88 rushing, 135 passing) and forced two turnovers in the win.
Tennessee quarterback Joshua Dobbs finished 16-of-24 for 89 passing yards and ran for 54 yards and a score on 10 carries. Alvin Kamara had seven rushes for 43 yards and four catches for 23 yards. Von Pearson caught a game-high seven passes for 28 yards.
Hurd’s 151 yards on 34 carries were the most rushing yards by a Vol since Dobbs ran for 166 against South Carolina on Nov. 1, 2014. Hurd also became the first Vol since Rajion Neal in 2013 to rush for 1,000 yards in a season. He has 1,038 on the year.
Missouri’s Drew Lock completed 13 of 30 for 135 yards and one pick. Russell Hansbrough ran for 41 yards on 12 carries.
After Medley made two field goals in the first quarter and a third early in the second quarter, Dobbs ran for an eight-yard score with 17 second remaining in the first half to give the Vols a 16-0 halftime lead.
Medley connected from 30 yards out in the third quarter to push UT’s lead to 19-0.
Missouri, which honored retiring head coach Gary Pinkel with videoboard tributes throughout the game, scored its lone touchdown on a one-yard run by Lock with 9:49 remaining and the Tigers converted the two-point try.
SHUTOUT QUARTERS: After shutting out the Tigers in the first half and the third quarter, the Vols have not allowed an opponent to score in their last eight quarters. It is UT’s longest shutout streak since back-to-back shutouts (eight quarters) against Vanderbilt and Kentucky in 2002.
Tennessee held opponents scoreless for a stretch of 110:59 over the last three games.
DELIVERING THE TURNOVERS: Tennessee head coach Butch Jones stressed the team’s need for turnovers entering Saturday’s game and the Vols’ defense delivered.
Cameron Sutton made his first interception of the season, picking off Lock along the sideline at the Tigers’ 42-yard line on MU’s opening drive.
On Missouri’s first drive of the second quarter, LaTroy Lewis stripped the ball from Ish Witter and Darrin Kirkland Jr. recovered it at the UT 37.
MEDLEY MAKES: Medley set a new career high with four made field goals, marking the third time he had three in a game. He has made his last eight field goal attempts.
He gave the Vols a 3-0 lead with 8:19 left in the first quarter when he made a 34-yard field goal from the left hash mark. He extended UT’s lead to 6-0 with a 22-yard field goal with 1:05 remaining in the opening quarter. Tennessee went up 9-0 early in the second quarter when Medley made a 44-yarder. Medley’s 30-yard attempt in the third quarter was good and gave the Vols a 19-0 lead.
FOURTH-COLDEST: Saturday’s game featured a kickoff temperature of 28 degrees, making it the fourth-coldest start to a game in Tennessee history and the Vols’ coldest since a 42-7 win over Vanderbilt on Nov. 26, 1977, in Knoxville when kickoff temperature was 25 degrees.
The coldest game in UT history was a 7-0 win over Kentucky in 10-degreee weather in Knoxville on Nov. 25, 1950.
UP NEXT: The Vols will celebrate Senior Day on Nov. 28 when Tennessee hosts Vanderbilt in its regular-season finale at Neyland Stadium. The game will feature a 4 p.m. ET kickoff on SEC Network.