I never dreamt in five years this is where we would be

By the time Tennessee and Missouri begin play Saturday afternoon, the Volunteers will probably have a keen sense for how another SEC game of material importance, being played 565 miles away, might turn out.Florida and LSU are scheduled to kick off in Baton Rouge a good 2 1/2 hours before the Vols (7-3, 3-3 SEC) and Mizzou (3-7, 1-5 SEC) kick off at 3:30 p.m. ET at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville.The Vols have a vested interest in the outcome of the LSU-Florida redo -- shifted on the calendar and from Gainesville -- affair because they need the Gators to lose their conference finale to have a shot at gaining a share of the East Division title and a berth in the SEC Championship Game.But Vols coach Butch Jones said players wont be scoreboard watching when they take on Mizzou.In terms of scoreboard watching, we dont ever look up at the scoreboard, Jones said. Thats kind of our mindset. You just keep your head down and you keep playing.His players need to be concerned only with things they can control, he said.Thats out of our hands, he said of the Florida-LSU game. Were playing a very team thats coming in here with a lot of momentum, very, very explosive, and its going to take all of our focus and concentration on playing Missouri.With their win last week over Kentucky, the Vols got back to .500 in conference play and now need wins over Mizzou and Vanderbilt their next two games to finish 5-3 in the conference. If the Gators lose at LSU, they also would end up 5-3, and the Vols hold the tiebreaker to get to the title game, where they would face No. 1 Alabama. The unbeaten Crimson Tide already has clinched the West.The Vols go into their final home game unranked in the media and coaches polls after once reaching as high as No. 9 in the country. But consecutive losses to Texas A&M, Alabama, and South Carolina knocked them out of the Top 25. They are No. 19 in the latest College Football Playoff rankings but were among teams also receiving votes in this weeks media and coaches polls.Their unranked status doesnt bother Jones.Thats one of those things that we cant control, he said. The only way we can control it is to keep winning.I am proud of this football team and everything that it has accomplished. Weve played the most difficult schedule, No. 1 in the country, and were 7-3. Were playing meaningful games in November, and thats what its all about.Injuries have had a major impact on the Vols. Jones noted that the Vols have lost five defensive starters since the season began and have started eight different combinations in the secondary.Its pretty hard to be consistent when you have that and when you look at the number of players who have missed games, Jone said. I dont know if there as ever been a season like this in football.The game against Missouri will feature a matchup of two of the leagues most productive quarterbacks, at least when it comes to producing touchdowns.Tennessees Josh Dobbs and Missouris Drew Lock are tied for the most touchdown passes among SEC quarterbacks with 21 each. Dobbs, however, also has rushed for seven scores to no rushing touchdowns for Lock.Dobbs, in fact, is a major factor in Tennessees running game, especially since veteran running back Jalen Hurd left the Vols after seven games. Dobbs is the Vols leading rusher with 470 yards and is coming off a 147-yard rushing effort against Kentucky.Missouri, which snapped a five-game losing streak with its win over Vanderbilt last week, gets its ground yardage the usual way. Running backs Damarea Crockett and Ish Witter have rushed for 837 and 575 yards, respectively. Crockett is coming off a 150-yard effort against the Commodores.We blocked well from the point of attack and Damarea, for a freshman, hes gotten better every week, first-year coach Barry Odom said. He works that way in practice.Im excited to see him throughout the week the way that he practices, handles himself, and then prepares the right way. Hes got a bright future. Roberto Alomar Jersey . The Dane followed up his first European Tour title last weekend with eight birdies and just a single dropped shot on Thursday for a one-stroke advantage over South Africas Allan Versfeld and Portugals Ricardo Santos. Milt Pappas Jersey . 31, the CFL club announced Monday. The team also has yet to decide on the future of Doug Berry, who began the season as a consultant to the head coach but took over the offensive co-ordinators duties in July. https://www.cheaporioles.com/2118i-dave-philley-jersey-orioles.html . 1, meaning problems for the doping controls at both major international sports events next year. The World Anti-Doping Agency provisionally suspended the Moscow Antidoping Center on Sunday, saying its operations must improve or a six-month ban on the facilitys accreditation will be imposed. Brooks Robinson Jersey .R. Smith realized how easily basketball can be taken from him, and he wasnt going to take his place in the NBA for granted anymore. Richie Martin Jersey . Hamelin, who triumphed in the 500 on Saturday, edged out Victor An of Russia by 0.021 seconds to maintain his lead in the World Cup standings. Russias Vladimir Grigorev was third. In the relay, Canada took control six laps from the finish line to beat Russia and the Netherlands. LINCOLN, Neb. -- Tyrell Nelson knew what Sundays 70-62 win over Nebraska means for Gardner-Webb.This is huge, this one is huge, Nelson said. We somewhat struggled in the beginning (of the season) but this win is very big for us, going into the Christmas break and going into conference. Its very, very big for us.Nelson scored 15 of his 24 points in the second half to help Gardner-Webb beat Nebraska 70-62 on Sunday.Nebraska cut it to 62-60 on Tai Websters free throws with 2:21 left. But Gardner-Webb hit 3 of 4 free-throw attempts down the stretch and David Efianayi hit a game-clinching layup with 29 seconds left.Efianayi had 11 points for Gardner-Webb (7-5). The Bulldogs shot 44 percent from the field, 48 percent in the second half, and made 12 of 17 second-half free throws.Tai Webster led Nebraska (5-6) with 17 points. Glynn Watson Jr. had 14 points and Ed Morrow Jr. pulled down 15 rebounds.Nebraska coach Tim Miles was despondent with his teams listless performance in front of 8,144 fans in the usually-packed 14,000-seat Pinnacle Bank Arena..I never dreamt in five years this is where we would be, losing to Gardner-Webb, Miles said. Were not where we should be. The issue is us. Its us and our mindset.It was the smallest crowd Id ever seen at Pinnacle Bank Arena and we told our guys it was going to be. We had bad weather, youve got a lot of things going on, and were going to have to create our own energy. We talked about that, and we didnt.Nebraska led by as many as seven in the first half, but the cold-shooting Huskers saw that lead cut to just two at intermission.dddddddddddd Nebraska hit just 40 percent of its shots for the game, made 15 of 26 free throws and committed 20 turnovers.The Bulldogs opened up a four-point lead early in the second half, but a 5-0 spurt by Nebraska put the Huskers up 36-35. Gardner-Webb took the lead for good on Nelsons 3-pointer to make it 45-43 with 12:57 left and opened the advantage to seven on Efianayis free throws five minutes later.Beating a Big Ten team on the road was critical for Gardner-Webb going forward, said coach Tim Craft.I think what it does for our players is it validates some of the things that weve been talking to them as a coaching staff about and how good they can be if they can play in a stance all the time and defend with max effort all the time, Craft said. Its exciting to see them have success against a team in the Big Ten.BIG PICTUREGardner-Webb: The Bulldogs traveled from North Carolina to the heartland to wrap up their pre-conference season.Nebraska: The Huskers have played the toughest schedule in the country, according to the NCAA RPI. Five of Nebraskas first 10 opponents are in the top 50 of the RPI, tying for the national lead.UP NEXTGardner Webb is at Kansas State Tuesday.Nebraska hosts Southern on Tuesday. ' ' '