The loss suffered by Tennessee football at the hands of the Florida Gators in Week 3 was a microcosm of two programs’ struggle for consistency.
The game between Tennessee and Florida used to be one of the best rivalry games in college football. That was a long time ago, however, today it is a reflection pool showing each team’s true identity, as ugly as it may be.
In both cases, they are teams with a ton of potential. The talent level on both teams is something that most coaches would give anything for but it’s what’s missing that can’t be found in recruiting.
After this game, overreactions are easy to find. Here are the five most glaring of those overreactions.
5. Florida’s offense
I said in my pregame predictions that Florida’s defense would get more trips to the end zone than its offense would. It looked like that was actually going to happen until the 4th quarter.
What does that say about the Gator offense? If the goal for Jim McElwaine and company is to get within field goal range, his offense is doing ok. If it’s touchdowns they’re after though, they have a lot of work to do.
Let me address what I said about identity earlier. Every coach has something they hang their hat on. Something that gives their team meaning. For some, it’s high-flying and high-scoring. For others, it’s ground and pound “grown men” football.
If I were to ask you after this game to identify what the Gators are all about, what would you say other than maybe “they run a pro-style offense”? As an Arkansas fan, I know what it’s like to watch a team lose the essence of who they are. The Gators have to establish their identity before they can ever find real success. They weren’t the only team on the field that has identity issues.