By Camden Gober
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The last time Tennessee went down to Gainesville and picked up a win in the Swamp was in 2003. To put that in perspective, I wasn’t even alive yet.
The Vols didn’t just end the agonizing losing streak at Florida. They dominated the Gators from start to finish en route to a 31-11 beatdown. All of the pain and agony that Tennessee has gone through over years in Ben Hill Griffin stadium made this performance even more impressive.
“A lot was made before we came down here about the streak. Proud of our guys’ preparation to give themselves a chance to come down here and win, so a good night for Tennessee,” said Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel. “This one mattered to them. It was a lot of fun inside of that locker room. It was important to them. They understood the history of this rivalry.”
This year’s version of the Vols never blinked. The Vols dominated every facet of the game including offense, defense, and special teams. The Gators simply seemed outmatched at every position.
For years, every time Tennessee traveled to The Swamp, there was one stat that rarely fell in the Vols’ favor: the turnover battle. Joey Aguilar and this Tennessee offense have been prone to turnovers at times this season, but aside from a fumble that Aguilar recovered, the Vols had a surprisingly clean night.
The scheme that Josh Heupel, Joey Halzle and the rest of the offensive staff put together for this game was brilliant. Tennessee never needed to attack downfield or chase the big play against this Florida defense. Instead, the Vols offense methodically sliced and diced the Gators defense while also leaning on some old-school bully ball in the run game.
“At the end of the day, running the football is our identity,” said Heupel. “Credit to the guys up front, tight ends, wide receivers out on the perimeter, and certainly our running backs running extremely hard in this football game.”
Aguilar had one of the cleanest games by a Tennessee quarterback in The Swamp to date. He completed 77% of his passes and opened the game a perfect nine-for-nine for more than 100 yards midway through the second quarter. He finished 17-for-24 for 204 yards, one touchdown and no turnovers.
To put it simply, Aguilar did not put the ball in harm’s way the way he has in past games, and that proved to be the difference for an offense that had been held back by mistakes in recent weeks.
Tennessee’s offense ended up with 452 total yards, compared to only 261 for Florida.
The main storyline of the game, however, was the Tennessee defense. Tim Banks and his staff saw something on film that allowed them to trust the secondary more than usual. In a position group that has been Tennessee’s Achilles’ heel all season, Banks chose to leave his defensive backs on islands so the Vols could stack the box against the Gators.
It proved to be the perfect game plan for defending this Florida offense. Tennessee forced three straight three-and-outs to open the game, and Florida did not pick up its first first down until early in the second quarter. In fact, the Gators did not even cross the 50-yard line until midway through the second quarter.
Defense has not been Tennessee’s calling card this season. However, the Vols defense showed up and showed out against a struggling Florida offense led by a turnover-prone quarterback in DJ Lagway.
What is even more head-scratching is that a defense like Tennessee’s, which typically forces a lot of turnovers, finished the game without a single takeaway against an offense that usually gives the ball away often. They simply did not need one to be successful tonight.
I am not surprised that Tennessee finally broke the streak in The Swamp, even though I had never seen it happen in my lifetime. What did shock me was the manner in which it happened. It was an absolute beatdown.
The Vols faced zero game pressure all night. After losing the coin toss, Tennessee’s offense trotted onto the field and scored to set the tone, and before you could blink it was 31-0 at halftime. This one felt like a mid-1990s Tennessee-Florida matchup, the kind where a team jumps ahead by 30 points before you even realize what happened. The only difference is that this time it was Tennessee doing the damage.
The playoff hopes may be out the window for the Vols, but Tennessee still has a major final regular-season test next week inside Neyland Stadium. The 9-2 Vanderbilt Commodores, who remain in the College Football Playoff hunt, roll into Knoxville next Saturday at 3:30 p.m. EST on ESPN.