The Tennessee vs. Florida Deja Vu Fluke Felt Familiar

It was a complete give-away by the Gators, who outplayed the Vols and seemed to clearly be the better team

by Carlton Reese

https://www.Gatorbaitmedia..com

Beyond what little was at stake Saturday night in Knoxville, the battle between Florida and Tennessee smelled an awful lot like 1998. The utter fluke that was the Volunteers’ victory 26 years ago came about much like the one the other night, only the hurt was much worse then.

For the Gators, about the only thing at stake was the fate of Billy Napier’s future as Florida head coach. Tennessee thinks its playoff hopes were at stake, a laughable notion – at least two more losses wait in the wings for a team the world now understands has been an overhyped boy band from the beginning.

Just like in 1998, Tennessee had zero business winning this game – it was a complete give-away by the Gators, who outplayed the Vols and seemed to clearly be the better team. The better of two quite mediocre teams, one of which falsely believes it belongs in the national conversation.

When the Gators went up 10-0 in the third quarter, it was the first real separation of what should have been something in the range of a 27-0 drubbing at that point. A turnover on downs (fourth-and-1-inch to be precise) deep in Tennessee territory, a fumble on first-and-goal at the 1, and a field goal negated by penalty for too many players on the field created situations for the Gators to be up a minimum 16-0 at half or as much as 20-0.

All the while, Tennessee’s vaunted offense, which every defensive coordinator from Little Rock to Buchholz High School is privy to the schemes at stopping it, churned out zip after a decent opening drive that ended with a fumble. Despite Florida’s domination, Tennessee was able to hang around and eventually take a lead. When the Gators tied it late to force overtime, the flashbacks coldly invaded the psyche.

Remember that nonsense? Tennessee gained just 235 yards offense with only seven first downs, but Florida fumbled four times in addition to an interception and there they went to overtime at, yep, 17-17. Even in the OT, Tennessee went backward, but Jeff Hall kicked a long field to take the lead. Florida marched deep on its possession, but was held to a short field goal attempt by Collins Cooper, who missed, and before the ball had landed it seemed the fans had already torn those goal posts down.

Steve Spurrier summed it up: “… and we couldn’t make a 10-yard field goal.”

Now, the Gators are 0-for-2 all time in overtime field goal attempts at Neyland Stadium. Perhaps Napier should have gone for two on the final PAT – that will be debated for the 50 minutes or so – and Gator fans everywhere would have appreciated the moxie exuded their soon-to-be former head coach. 

Despite the mistakes deep in the red zone, it was fun to watch the Gators play with an amount of fire that has not existed this year. In this game, you often must play as though you want to hurt someone, but most of this year the game of football has been taken more like chess, where urgency only happens when it’s too late.

Against Tennessee, the Gators played with the necessary fire and urgency that turns average teams into very good ones. It revealed how good this team could  be, only the score was not a reflection. All too often, the type of play has mirrored the personality of its coach: nice and accommodating, concerned mainly with proper timing and small details and less about simply pushing the damn wall over. In Knoxville, that seemed to change, only the result that should have been, turned into a gut-wrenching defeat.

A sentiment not felt a week ago: Florida is just as good, likely better than Tennessee. That gets you placed in a straitjacket in most precincts, but the evidence backs it up. The Vols are ranked in the top 10, which is not where they belong, and their record belies how truly average they are. The Gators possess talent and a defense that is improving every week, so things could actually get interesting moving forward if they play every week like they have nothing to lose, because they don’t have anything to lose.

Will Napier coach like there’s nothing to lose? He’s got no reason not to – he’s staring into the gaping maw of 4-8.

This is now D.J. Lagway’s team and for every jaw-dropping moment there is likely to be a freshman moment. Either way, it’s going to be fun to watch this kid pull off a magic act every now and then, and mature every week before our very eyes. This is officially a lost season, but one that shows some hope for perhaps pulling off an upset down the road, and that makes this team worth watching.

Lagway’s at the helm, Trey Wilson is back, the tight ends look good, the offensive line performed well against what many pundits believe may be one of the country’s best defensive front 7s, and the defense now seems pretty decent. Despite the loss to Tennessee, the Gators may be worth the effort, after all.

For some, the Napier death watch garners all the attention, but his fate may be a foregone conclusion, anyway, so why bother? This is not such a bad team, only a team with a bad record, but anyone who thinks there may not be a few exciting moments coming down the pike is likely too caught up in the peripherals to simply drink in some football for an interesting ride the next six weeks.

Kentucky can be beat as well as Florida State. All the other games, the Gators will be prohibitive underdogs. One upset and Florida could be bowling … whether you like it or not.