Tennessee football: 3 reasons the Volunteers will beat Florida in Week 3

1. Tennessee football defense will stuff the Gators’ ground game

As aforementioned, Florida was weak in the trenches against No. 12 Utah two weeks ago.

To paint a clearer picture as to just how feeble the Gators were along the offensive line, particularly in reference to the running game, here’s a stat for you: Florida rushed the ball for 13 yards against the Utes. Let me say that again, 13 rushing yards in total for the Gators — over four whole quarters. Yikes. Florida had 20 carries across five different rushers for an average of 0.65 yards per carry. In turn, this led Billy Napier’s offense to score a whopping 11 points.

Let’s face it, this production — or lack thereof — is simply not going to get the job done even against the meekest Power Five opponent, let alone the 11th-ranked Volunteers.

The Vols possess an experienced defensive line featuring a set of senior tackles, Omari Thomas and Elijah Simmons, who average 6-foot-3 and 330 pounds. In addition, Tyre West and Tyler Baron will bring a combination of size, strength, and speed to each end of the defensive line.

Therefore, I’m fully expecting the Tennessee defense to stuff the Gators’ ground game forcing Florida to rely on their highly touted transfer quarterback, the turnover susceptible talented choke artist, Graham Mertz.