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Tennessee at Florida: Full highlights, final score and more

By Nicholas Ian Allen

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For the 11th consecutive time, Tennessee lost to the Florida Gators. With the 28-27 win in The Swamp, the Gators are now an important 2-0 in SEC play. 

The 11th time is not the charm.

The game nearly ended on a clock management disaster – an illegal substitution penalty that would have ended the game had Tennessee not had one timeout left. But Tennessee kicker Aaron Medley – who had already connected on field goals from 34 and 37 yards on the day – lined up for a 55-yard field goal attempt with three seconds left on the clock and a chance to end a decade-long losing streak to the Florida Gators.

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Medley took an opportunity for a practice kick when Florida head coach Jim McElwain took a timeout, and missed wide right. His official game-winning try was strong enough, but also sailed wide of the goal posts and the Gators held on for a 28-27 victory, pushing their record to 4-0, and an important 2-0 in SEC play.

Florida held on at the very end, but spent nearly the entire day trailing Tennessee.

With 2:18 left in the fourth quarter, Florida took possession of the football on the Tennessee 41-yard line down 27-21. The Vols had just punted the ball away after failing to properly milk the clock with their strong rushing attack.

After a screen pass to Kelvin Taylor went nowhere, quarterback Will Grier hit Demarcus Robinson on a short pass that Robinson dropped. On 3rd-and-14, Derek Barnett – who spent a large part of the afternoon on the bench due to a banged up knee – nearly sacked Grier, who barely threw the ball away.

On 4th-and-15 – the fifth fourth down opportunity of the game – Grier found true freshman Antonio Calloway, who picked up a big block from Brandon Powell, and raced all the way to the end zone. The extra point gave Florida a 28-27 lead – their first of the day.

Florida converted two more fourth down opportunities on the previous 17-play drive that resulted in a five-yard touchdown pass from Grier to Powell with just over four minutes left on the clock.

Grier finished 23-for-42 passing for 283 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. However, he was 5-for-5 on fourth downs for 124 yards and that game-winning TD. Calloway finished with a team-high 112 receiving yards on five catches.

Florida took an early 7-0 lead in the first quarter with a touchdown run from Kelvin Taylor, who ran for 102 yards and two scores. However, the momentum shifted quickly when Tennessee executed a beautiful double pass trick play in which Jauan Jennings connected with Dobbs on a throwback screen that the QB ran 58 yards to the end zone.

Dobbs never found his rhythm in the passing game and finished 10-for-17 for 83 yards and was sacked three times, but he was a very effective runner. Florida allowed a grand total of 166 rushing yards in the first three games of the season (58 yards per game), but Dobbs had 107 rushing yards in the first half alone, and the Vols ran for 148 yards in the first 30 minutes.

Tennessee finished with 254 rushing yards on the ground, leaning heavily on the ground game in the second half. Dobbs had 136 rushing yards and Jalen Hurd added 102 and two touchdowns. But the Vols couldn’t move the sticks when it counted most.

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