Tennessee snaps 11 year losing streak to Florida

After eleven long years, the Gators simply couldn’t hold up the winning streak over Tennessee.

The Florida Gators Football account tweeted immediately following the game.

The Gators started off the game aggressively with a touchdown in the first two minutes. Appleby’s long pass to start off the game established a baseline credibility with a weary fan base. With Redshirt Sophomore Luke Del Rio out due to an injury in last week’s game vs. North Texas, Appleby needed to step up to the plate.

Antonio Callaway went down after a reception but quickly got back on the field. It appeared to be a tweaked ankle and not a recurring pain from his quad injury.

With a little over 14 minutes left in the second quarter, Jordan Cronkrite ran in the end zone in the most effortless fashion possible. Tennessee suffered problems with wide receivers and defensive stops all throughout the first half of the game.

A pick from Quincy Wilson in the end zone led to a Jordan Scarlett touchdown before halftime. The Florida Gators looked like one of the most complete Gator teams in years, with two picks and three offensive touchdowns. UF went into halftime up 21-3, and it looked like the streak was on its way to twelve.

Tennessee came back a completely different team after halftime.

The fired up defense sparked a comeback to make things a little interesting. Two Volunteer touchdowns in the third quarter had fans on the edge of their seats.  Neyland Stadium came to life after being silenced much of the first half by multiple errors from offense and defense alike.

Tennessee finally took the lead with 12:45 to go in the fourth quarter with a 67 yard completion for a touchdown.

Florida defense looked exhausted for pretty much the entire second half. The offense didn’t get a single first down in the second half until there were about 7 minutes left in the game. They couldn’t stay on the field and the Vols got fired up at the opportunity to re-enter the field every time.

Appleby threw an interception that allowed Tennessee another chance to extend their lead. Florida defense looked anemic as Tennessee completed yet another touchdown to make it thirty unanswered points.

Florida WR Brandon Powell was ejected in the fourth quarter for punching a Vol player. Further video footage showed what seemed like a horrible flop on Rashaan Gaulden’s part. Powell will be out in the first half of the Vanderbilt game next week if the call is upheld.

Florida finally scored a touchdown with a little over four minutes left in the game, leaving the score at 38-28. The final nail in the coffin for the Gators was the attempted onside kick with four minutes left in the game. After that, blown tackles and a final pick ended it.

Tennessee left the game looking like a serious SEC contender. The Gators have a lot to work on, but they were also on the road in one of the toughest stadiums in the SEC. With a rough SEC stretch coming up, they need to play the full two halves from now on.