KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The Florida Gators (3-1, 2-1 SEC) reminded Volunteer fans that you can’t spell Tennessee (2-3, 0-2 SEC) without “ten” as the orange and blue outlasted the Volunteers to win their tenth consecutive game in the rivalry. The win sets a school record for consecutive wins in the rivalry and ties the series record.
For 44:20 the Gators played an uninspiring, lackluster and, at times, embarrassing brand of football. The Gators had turned the ball over three times, had barely scrapped together 158 yards of offense and looked lost offensively.
The confidence and bravado that Florida had put forth all week leading up to this game seemed like a façade. Driskel’s talk of emptying stadiums and Jarrad Davis calling out freshman running back Jalen Hurd were looking like words that would come back to bite Florida.
Then, in the first start of his career, Jalen Tabor made a play. The freshman came off of the edge made a great tackle, forced a fumble and recovered it. It gave the Gators the ball at the Tennessee 30 and it was time for a change.
“We felt like early in the game what they had shown us in that personnel group, we could pick up pressure off the backside. It was a nice call by D.J [Durkin],” Muschamp said of the fumble recovery. “We get the strip, and we had already made the decision before that time that we wanted to go to Treon [Harris].”
The Gators inserted Treon Harris into the game down 9-0 and the freshman led back-to-back scoring drives that gave the Gators a victory. The quarterback that Gator fans have been aching for completed two-of-four passes for 17 yards while playing the majority of the fourth quarter.
Tabor and Harris may have provided the spark, the change of momentum that gave the Gators a chance to come away with the victory but it was old-fashioned Will Muschamp football that gave Florida a win today.
The Gators ran the football 48 times to just 27 passing attempts and the Florida Gators defense played lights out, holding the Vols to a trio of field goals following three Driskel interceptions.
Junior running back Matt Jones carried the load rushing 23 times for 114 yards and a touchdown. Coming into the game, the Vols had the SEC’s worst rushing defense and it was an area Florida wanted to exploit. “We felt good about the run game,” Muschamp said. “More than anything, because of them, not necessarily because of us.”
As the Gators pounded away on the ground, it was the defense — a unit that was gashed for more than 800 yards in their previous two games — that made a stand.
“We were kind of angry,” Keanu Neal said. “We knew that we had to step up because everybody was doubting us, you know? ‘Secondary this, secondary that.’ Saying we’re not good, this and that. But we are. We have a lot of talented players in the secondary and we today we just had to show people that we’re here for business.”
Message received. Florida held a Tennessee passing offense that was averaging 251 yards to just 205 and held the Volunteer rushing attack to just 28 yards. The two interceptions that Florida forced tied a season high for Tennessee and Justin Worley struggled to get into a rhythm.
So how about that?
The gameplan that drove Gators fans crazy for years under Muschamp is what saved Florida today. A hard fought, physical, defense-first gameplan with an emphasis on the running game.
Sure, this win begs more questions. Who will play quarterback for the Gator next week against LSU? Where in the world has Kelvin Taylor been (the sophomore had three carries on Saturday.)
There will be time to address those questions. Saturday is about one thing. Taking it all in. In an interview with SEC Network following the game, Will Muschamp looked up at the sea of orange and white clad fans, bleeding from their bleacher seats and into the exit rows.
Adrenaline rushed through the embattled head coach and he couldn’t hold in his emotion.
“And it’s great to see all these people out here getting disappointed,” he said with his hands motioning to the stands. “I love it.”