The Tennessee vs Missouri football game comes down to many match-ups for each team. Here are the three keys for the Volunteers and Mizzou to win Saturday.

Nov 22, 2014; Knoxville, TN, USA; Tennessee Volunteers quarterback Joshua Dobbs (11) during the first half against the Missouri Tigers at Neyland Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports

The Tennessee Vols are 6-4 and looking to finish this football season as the hottest team in the NCAA, while the Missouri Tigers are 5-5 and have some newfound momentum after Gary Pinkel announced his resignation and given all the turmoil that has happened on campus.

That makes this game in Columbia a toss-up on Saturday. Seriously, the first thing we can say is bet against Tennessee as a 9-point favorite. There is no reason for the point spread to be that high.

The Tigers just got an elating win over the BYU Cougars, and the Vols looked hideous in the second half against the South Carolina Gamecocks and in a 24-0 victory over the North Texas Mean Green.

Since Missouri feeds off of ugly play, Butch Jones’s squad has to be as careful as possible to not make too many mistakes. The second they are dragged down to playing Missouri’s game, they are in trouble.

Meanwhile, Missouri wants to make sure they control the tempo with their spread offense and force the Vols into making a ton of mistakes on the day.

At the same time, Gary Pinkel’s team has to limit its own mistakes in order to be able to pull off the upset on Saturday to become bowl-eligible.

With Missouri playing for a bowl game and Tennessee playing for a Top 25 finish, both teams have a lot to lose Saturday. A loss by Missouri will force them to somehow upset a red-hot Arkansas team the final game of the year, which looks impossible now.

A loss by Tennessee gives them five losses on the year, making it surely impossible for them to even come close to a Top 25 finish. All the exterior factors appear to favor Missouri in this game, which will make it tough.

Here are the three keys for both the Vols and the Tigers to win when they play each other in Columbia on Saturday.