Florida Football: Gators build confidence by blasting Vols

Florida football absolutely crushed rival Tennessee to cure any remaining negative thoughts still lingering from the Kentucky loss the week prior.

Prior to last weekend, not a single player on the Florida team was alive the last time the Wildcats beat the Gators. That 31-year streak came to an end, making the mood in Gainesville rather sour entering Florida’s Week 4 game against Tennessee.

Dan Mullen is miles from the hot seat, but a loss to a Tennessee team with a first-year head coach would not have been easily forgiven. Any fears Florida fans had of dropping consecutive conferences games faded quickly; the Gators took a commanding 26-3 lead into halftime. They never looked back after that, continuing to pour on points in the second half.

The Gators did their part, but most of the game was spent watching the Volunteers fall apart on their own. Nothing Jeremy Pruitt’s team worked and the mistakes mounted quickly.

Tennessee committed five turnovers, allowed Florida to register a safety and were turned away on fourth down twice in two attempts. It was a miserable result for the Vols, who actually moved the ball well against the Gators. Tennessee converted a respectable 8-of-17 third downs, averaged 8.3 yards per pass and matched Florida in total yards 387 for the Gators to 363 for the Vols.

The Vols could have easily been in this game if they hadn’t repetitively shot themselves in the foot. Florida was the gracious benefactor and did their part, scoring 17 points off turnovers.

Although the Kentucky loss stung, the win over Tennessee proves that Florida is further along the rebuilding process than their SEC East counterparts. It also keeps the Gators alive in the SEC East, with a few weeks remaining to work through their issues against Mississippi State and LSU before their next divisional game against Vanderbilt on Oct. 13.