The Tennessee Volunteers (2-5) look for a massive upset to get some joy back into a disappointing season as they face the No. 6 Florida Gators (7-1) in Knoxville on Saturday. Here are the three keys to a Volunteers win.
By Steve Wright
How have the last two weeks been spent
The Vols were the better team in the 13 point defeat at the hands of Auburn two weeks ago. That is all well and good, but a loss is still a loss in the ultra-competitive world of SEC football. Tennessee was then given an unexpected week off when the Vandy game was rescheduled due to Covid-based logistics, so Jeremy Pruitt and his staff have had two full weeks to prepare for one of the hottest teams in the nation. The two bye weeks so far this year have been followed by losses to Arkansas and Auburn, so Pruitt needs to have put together something this week to slow down the Gators
Stop Kyle Trask
This is an interesting one. The Gators offense was ridiculous earlier in the season. Trask was throwing four touchdowns a game for fun – they put up 63 points on Arkansas – and nothing any other team did was slowing them down. The last two weeks, however, have looked a little different. Sure, the Gators beat Vanderbilt and Kentucky – the team with the best pass defense in the league – by three touchdowns each, but it’s not the monster blowout scores that were happening a month ago. Can the Tennessee defense find a way to slow down Trask and make Florida win in a different way?
Who is the QB
We know that one quarterback (unnamed) is out because of Covid-19. We know that over his last nine halves of football Jarrett Guarantano has accounted for more touchdowns for opponents (four) than for Tennessee (three). Freshman Harrison Bailey came in against Auburn and completed seven passes for 86 yards in a relief effort that has many calling for him to start against the Gators. Florida gives up 260 yards passing per game, so why not roll the dice and see what the kid can do.
Saturday‘s game kicks off at 2:30 PM CT (3:30 PM ET). You can watch this Tennessee football game on the CBS Network.
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