Is the Tennessee rivalry losing its luster?
Listen, I get it. Beating your rivals will never get old but has Florida’s dominance over Tennessee taken some of the luster away from what was one of the best rivalries in the SEC in the 1990s? Back when Steve Spurrier and Phil Fulmer were matching wits the winner of this game would typically wind up in Atlanta representing the East in the SEC Championship game. Now, Tennessee has become a coaching carousel and has just one win over the Gators in their last 17 tries. Florida has had a classic walk-off win and, of course, the crushing Grier to Callaway touchdown to take a late lead in a game they trailed for most of but, for the most part, the Gators have dominated a once
“I mean you know you’ve got Florida-Tennessee is a big, big— it still is a huge game for both teams with the rivalries. I think the one thing anytime you have a game that, you know, over a period of time, that, you know, over and over again it’s top 10 teams playing each other, you know, you’re like wow, I mean this is, this is crazy special because it’s not just a rivalry here,” Dan Mullen said. “You’re talking SEC and National Championship implications, year after year after year. I don’t think that rivalry is decreased any, I think it’s still a huge game, a huge game for both schools, huge game for both fan bases, you know, I want to get our program back and I’m sure Josh does the same where it is you know, I mean we’re a top 10 team battling in that game every single year.”
I could be way off base here. The crowd was, once again, electric. The announced attendance of more than 88,000 was into the game, once again doing their part to force several delay of game penalties and affect the Vols. It certainly matters, I just wonder if Tennessee’s near two-decade of not being a real threat. As a Florida fan, a win is a win and I’m sure nobody will be upset that Tennessee continues to toil away in the bottom half of the SEC East.
Emory Jones best game
The final stat line reads: 21-27, 209 yards, two touchdowns. 15 carries, 144 yards. That is above and beyond Jones’ best game in Orange and Blue, and in terms of running the ball, the best of his life.
“I don’t think I’ve ever done that,” Jones said when asked when the last time he rushed for 140 yards was. “I probably ran for 100 in high school probably a couple times but never 140 or whatever it was.”
More importantly, Jones had his first clean game from a turnover standpoint. The redshirt junior who has five interceptions on the season played a clean game. He made passes into tight windows. He tucked the ball down and ran when his receivers were covered or he felt pressure in the pocket. Jones, even as fans continue to ask for Anthony Richardson, Jones is coming into his own.
“I think you see him really settling down and understanding. I think he did a great job making his reads, managing the offense, getting us in the right checks, into the right plays. Decision-making was pretty good in the pass game and then obviously scrambling,” Mullen said of Jones after the game. “You look at what he had, 15 carries, that’s probably a little much but I think a bunch were like scrambles too and improvising, not… I don’t know if we called many direct quarterback runs in the game tonight. So I think he had some runs and scrambles and reads, some explosive plays.”
Gators have a kicker
When Jace Christmann graduated and announced that he would transfer from Mississippi State to Florida it was assumed that the over the starting job left vacant by Evan McPherson’s early departure.
At Mississippi State he converted 127 out of 128 of his extra points, while connecting on 32 out of 40 of his field goals, netting a field goal percentage of 80%, but seemingly had lost out to walk on Chris Howard. That was until Howard missed an extra point against Alabama, a miss that drastically changed the way that game was called and played the rest of the way. The following week Howard sat on a stationary bike while Christmann handled all of the field goal, extra point, and kickoff duties. Christmann drilled a 47-yard field goal, and was perfect on his extra points.
Florida has a kicker, something we thought they had accomplished back when Christmann announced his transfer in Janurary.
Missed tackles are still an issue
Mohamoud Diabate had a good game, the junior had eight tackles and continues to step up in the absence of the injured Ventrell Miller.
Still, he wasn’t happy after Florida’s 38-14 win over Tennessee.
“I was kind of pissed off. I missed a tackle on the second half so I was kind of pissed off about that. I don’t want that to happen again. I’m kind of a person when I mess something up I don’t like it to happen over and over again. So I was like yeah, I gotta get that cleaned up. Besides that I feel like I played clean, so yeah I gotta get that cleaned up and play better for Kentucky.”
Tennessee scored twice. One was a busted coverage that resulted in a 75-yard touchdown pass and another was handed to the Vols due to missed tackles. It’s been an issue for the Gators through four games, and really if we’re being honest, two-plus seasons.
Slow start but suffocating defense in the second half
I’m sure fans would love for Florida to come out and play a dominating fashion of football for 60 minutes but the Gators are at least showing the ability to be a dominant team. The Gators gave up 14 points and 261 yards in the first half. They went into the locker room, came back out, and pitched a shutout.
Florida showed its potential in the third and fourth quarters. The Vols scratched out 162 yards in the second half.
“I thought Todd did a great job with getting the guys ready to play. They’re an explosive offense, tough offense to play. You look in the first half, we had a couple of missed tackles, which allowed them to keep, keep the drive alive, and then that one touchdown was a missed tackle. And then, you know, we had a blown coverage – in your man coverage, cover your man,” Dan Mullen said. “You know, it’s not like we’re being real complex with at all. And just kind of had a missed assignment there, but I think you saw what Todd and his guys are able to do.”
