For the third consecutive week, Florida is playing an inferior opponent that they will roll over.
Tennessee enters the matchup having lost five straight, and in those contests, the Volunteers were largely uncompetitive.
The following are our staff predictions for the Florida – Tennessee game:
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This is a game that features two teams on the opposite ends of the spectrum. Florida is an offensive juggernaut, while Tennessee is an offensive have-not. The Volunteers have a decent run game, led by Eric Gray (132 carries, 651 yards), but their offense is completely one dimensional. Quarterback Jarrett Guarantano has been horrific this year. The Tennessee defense isn’t good, either. The Vols have given up an average of 404.7 yards per game on defense, among the worst in the SEC. The Gators also have everything on the line. A win in Knoxville clinches an SEC Championship Game berth for the Gators. Florida should roll early and often for a big win. Gators, 52-10.
I think Florida easily wins this game. *cough* Have I said this the last 2 weeks? Has Grantham seen the light after the tongue lashing he got last week from Dan? Or does the defensive blunders continue? I think Grantham got an ear full last week and if Florida doesn’t show out on defense, I think Grantham may not see the field in Florida next year. So I expect the defense to tighten up, but may give up some plays in the running game. Tennessee has a good running back in Gray, but I don’t see them doing enough in the passing game unless they are throwing towards 13 or 3 on the defensive side of the ball. Tennessee’s best defensive player is also out with 16 others. This is Florida’s for the taking. But it doesn’t mean it’s going to be an easy win if the slow starts happen again in the first half. I believe Mullen will want to close this out early to clinch the SEC East and send his team home a winner in Knoxville. Florida wins 45 – 17.
Here we are with another matchup for Florida against a seemingly overmatched opponent. The last two times Florida got out of the gate slow and let teams be the aggressors. The Gators know what a win Saturday means: a punched ticket to Atlanta. That plus the new threads might get the players juiced up for a kind of cold day/night in Knoxville. Tennessee’s dealt with COVID issues just like Vandy and Kentucky. The Vols have some great playmakers at running back and wide receiver in Eric Gray, Ty Chandler and Josh Palmer. But the issue is at quarterback and the turnovers coming from it. I expect Florida to take advantage of that and Tennessee’s porous defense. The Gator defense played great in the second half of Kentucky but we all know how its been all year. Florida takes this one but I’m looking at a backdoor cover by the Vols. Florida 38-21.
Florida brings one of the nation’s most prolific passing attacks led by the Heisman front-runner, Kyle Trask, to Knoxville to face one of the worst passing defenses they’ve seen all year. I expect Trask to find his receivers early and often on the way to a blowout victory and an SEC East Championship. Tennessee has had 17 starters and/or key contributors in quarantine for the past two weeks and many of those who will return on Saturday will be doing so without the benefit of preparing to face the Gators. While Florida hasn’t been stellar at defending the pass this season, they won’t be facing much of an aerial threat in Tennessee, who ranks 106 in passing. They will still need to account for Eric Gray but in the end, this is a mismatch anyway you slice it. Florida wins, 45-14.
This game feels like a similar script to a lot of the games Florida has played this year. They are the heavy favorites, and they deserve to be. The Gators completely outmatch Tennessee in every area of the field. Yet every week, the Gators find a way to win in an uninspiring fashion. Other than maybe the Arkansas game, it feels as if this team hasn’t quite been firing on all cylinders for four quarters, as talented as it is. Kyle Trask will bury a hemorrhaging Tennessee secondary in another performance that keeps him in position as the Heisman pace car, and water will return to level throughout the course of the game as the Gators march forward to Atlanta. But there will be another point on Saturday, potentially in the first half, in which Gator fans throw their hands in the air and ask how this game is even close. Florida wins 35-17.
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Florida travels to Tennessee to face the Volunteers at Neyland Stadium on Saturday. The game will be the SEC’s featured game on CBS and will air live beginning at 3:30 PM (EST).
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