Photo credit: AP/Wade Payne
As a Florida fan, this game was a heartbreaker, but didn’t really upset me. We had beaten Tennessee 11 straight seasons mostly because we were better, but also because of some good fortune. We were on the other end of this last year thinking the game was over, only to come back and win. I was way more disappointed because I never thought a Jim McElwain coached team would lose a game like that. More on him later.
Prior to this game, I was really confident that Florida’s front 7 would be able to shut down Tennessee’s rushing attack and force Josh Dobbs to beat them by throwing it in the air. And I thought our running game and the experience of Austin Appleby would be able to do just enough to get the job done. And I was even more confident when they were up 21-3 at the half. No way could Josh Dobbs come back and win this game by having to throw it. And I was wrong. I have to give him props for stepping up and making the throws in the second half. If not for his terrible receivers dropping balls in the first half, it would’ve been even worse. I have no idea what was going on in Florida’s secondary, but that was totally embarrassing. Maybe it was Tabor being out briefly in the second half, but he got burned too when he was out there. The Gators definitely took advantage of three cupcakes early to inflate those defensive statistics and totally got exposed today.
I thought Austin Appleby was actually pretty good in this game, much better than I thought he would be. Florida’s offensive line just totally got whooped in the second half by Tennessee. It was just about as bad of a collapse as I’ve ever seen from any of my teams. Everyone mentioned the Choke at Doak against FSU from 1994, but I wasn’t old enough to remember that one. The one I remember more was the 2003 Miami game where Florida was up 33-10 with 6 minutes left in the 3rd quarter and Brock Berlin, who transferred to Miami from Florida, led the Hurricanes back to win 38-33. This had that same sickening feeling.
Now let’s talk about the coaches. Jim McElwain had a great game plan coming into this one by wanting throw it deep early and often, and it worked. Thanks to some very fortunate Tennessee drops and goal line stands, the Gators were able to take a comfortable 21-3 lead into the half. I actually thought Butch Jones made some good calls in the first half by going for the touchdown instead of kicking an early field goal and not punting on 4th and short. His players just didn’t execute.
The second half was just a complete and total meltdown by the Gators and the coaching staff. I put it on McElwain more than anything else, which really disappoints me. He went total Hugh Freeze on us with the conservative play calling. I never thought I would equate those two coaches in the same sentence. It was mostly runs and predictable short throws with no creativity like we saw in the first half. And you have to hand it to Butch Jones for making the necessary adjustments. I didn’t think he was capable. They went all out to put pressure on Appleby and just totally dominated Florida’s offensive line. Tennessee just beat us in every phase in the second half, and Florida wasn’t as dominant in the first half as the score would suggest. And good for Butch Jones and Josh Dobbs making the “duck pulling a truck” comment for the cameras after the game. Florida’s dumbass players talking trash before this game was just exactly that: dumb.
So where do both teams go from here? I said before the game that this was probably a de facto SEC East title game after the way Georgia looked against Ole Miss and the two previous weeks. Tennessee is certainly now in the driver’s seat but have three very difficult games coming up at Georgia, at Texas A&M, and home against Alabama. I still think they’ll probably lose two of those games. Florida is still not out of it however, but they probably have to win out in the SEC and Tennessee has to lose two more SEC games. Florida’s toughest remaining opponents include LSU at home, neutral game against Georgia, and at Arkansas. It’s certainly possible they could run the table, but I wouldn’t bet on it. There’s still a little hope left in the season, and I’m going to remain optimistic. While this loss hurt, we kind of deserved this after all the trash talk before the game and the giddiness we showed during the first half. But I’m not angry, I’m just really disappointed.
Tony and Bela 