The Florida Gators made a statement on Rocky Top Saturday night with a 47-21 win over the Tennessee Volunteers. While the Vols won’t be vying for SEC prominence anytime soon, a rivalry win in that fashion was the confidence boost the Gators needed ahead of a trip to Mississippi State next weekend.
Some playmakers on both sides of the ball stepped up to push Florida to its first conference victory of the season. These are just a few of the biggest things we took away.
1. Gators capitalized on mistakes
Tennessee played one of the ugliest games by any team in college football this season on Saturday night. Mistake upon mistake buried the Vols in a hole that would’ve taken a miracle to come back from.
While Tennessee shot itself in the foot countless times throughout the night, Florida did something it may not have done a season ago, or even in the early going of 2018. It took advantage.
Time and time again, when the Gators get chances to put games away or take momentum from turnovers and other miscues, they fail to capitalize.
Tennessee’s struggles started on its very first possession of the night when Jachai Polite forced a sack-fumble on quarterback Jarrett Guarantano, which David Reese recovered to give Florida great field position near the red zone.
Feleipe Franks and the offense put it in the end zone a few plays later to take an early 7-0 lead.
Guarantano threw a pass right into the hands of Luke Ancrum deep in his own territory on the next possession, and the end result was no different. Two quick plays and the Gators were celebrating a 14-0 advantage in the first quarter.
Florida couldn’t score with good field position following an odd Tennessee onside kick early in the second quarter, but Tommy Townsend pinned the Volunteers back deep with a beautiful punt to the 2-yard line. Cece Jefferson and Adam Shuler met Tennessee running back Tim Jordan in the endzone for a safety, giving the offense the ball once again.
It took just one big play and 15 seconds to push the score all the way to 23-3 and keep the momentum securely on Florida’s side.
The Vols fumbled two more times before the end of the half, including once on a play that should have been a touchdown, but instead C.J. Henderson came in and knocked the ball loose just before the receiver reached the goal line, resulting in a touchback as the ball rolled through the back of the end zone.
The second half didn’t start any better for Tennessee, as it fumbled the opening kickoff. The Gators took over on the 19-yard line and Jordan Scarlett rushed it in on the first play to make it a 30-point lead and send a few more Vols fans home.
Tennessee finished the game with seven turnovers (plus the safety), typically from its own doing, but the most encouraging thing was to see Florida come away with something positive after most of those mistakes.
2. Reese is the heart of the defense
Junior linebacker David Reese was sorely missed for the first three weeks of the season, but his play at Tennessee proved just how much the Gators need him.
He is not flashy, but he does his job, plays his gaps and provides a leadership presence in the middle of the field. Florida desperately needs that with so little depth in its linebacker corps this season.
Reese made himself known from the very first defensive possession of the game as he picked up two tackles and a fumble recovery. Whether he made the tackle or not, he was almost always in on the play to some capacity.
He hadn’t played in a game since last November due to an ongoing ankle injury, but last season’s leading tackler continued to do what he does best as he led the team with 11 on the night.
Having such a sure tackler in there is huge for a team that has looked horrendous in that area at times this year.
Reese was not Florida’s only defender who showed out against the Volunteers, as guys like Adam Shuler and Brad Stewart made some big plays as well.
It is a group effort when it comes to defense, but that group is a lot better with Reese than it is without him.
3. Swain may be Florida’s best receiver
None of Florida’s receivers made a ton of noise on Saturday, and they didn’t need to, but Freddie Swain continued to show that he is one of the very best on the roster.
If he is not the best, he is by far the most improved. Swain did not do much in his first two years on campus, but he got bigger, faster and stronger over the offseason and he’s made plays essentially every time he’s touched the ball through four games this season.
He is now tied with Van Jefferson as Florida’s touchdown leader with three after tacking on a big one Saturday night.
Franks found him wide open and he outran several Tennessee defenders for a 66-yard touchdown on the one-play drive mentioned earlier that gave the Gators a 20-point lead in the second quarter.
That could have been Swain’s second of the game as he caught a 23-yard pass earlier in the half, but came up just short at the 1-yard line.
Those were his only two receptions of the night, but that was enough to lead the team by a wide margin at 88 yards.