KYLE CURTIS: FLORIDA-TENNESSEE GAME NOTES

After last week’s emotional roller coaster of a USF game, the Gators find themselves with a road matchup in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Although it was a tighter game than most expected against USF compared to last season, USF head coach Jeff Scott summed up his assessment of the Gators this way: “Florida’s a better team this year than they were last year at this time.”

With that being said, the Gators have their work cut out for them this week with a Tennessee team undefeated and ranked No.11. Nonetheless, the Gators have dominated the Volunteers, holding a 31-20 all-time record in the series and have won 16 of the last 17 meetings including the current five-game win streak. Half of the Vols' wins in the series came in the first 10 meetings from 1916 to 1953. The last four matchups have not been particularly close as Florida has won each of the last four by 12 points or more.

This is the 25th meeting where both Florida and Tennessee come into the game ranked, the most recent coming in 2017. Florida is 16-8 in those matchups. Since 2003, Tennessee has been ranked just three times against the Gators, winning one of those games (2016) and losing twice (2012 and 2017).

The Gators have fared well in Knoxville, winning two straight at Tennessee including seven of the past eight. All-time, Florida is 14-12 in Knoxville.

This is quarterback Anthony Richardson’s first SEC road start, although he played most of the game in Baton Rouge last year against LSU.

“It’s not like we’re going to Canada and they’re going to change the rules. It’s going to be the same game,” Napier said regarding Richardson’s first SEC road start. “It’s going to be a little louder and played at a different location.”

The Gators rank dead last in the SEC in passing offense at 141 yards per game. They’re one of three teams in the country (Hawaii & USF) that don’t have a passing touchdown. As such, quarterback Anthony Richardson has more tackles (2), than touchdown passes.

“We need to improve the throw game,” Napier said. “Precision in the throw game.”

In last year’s matchup, Florida relied heavily on the ground game, gaining 283 of its 503 total yards via the rush in its 38-14 victory.

The last time Florida visited Tennessee, quarterback Kyle Trask lit up the Vols' secondary with 433 yards en route to a 31-19 win.

Florida has scored at least 31 points in each of the last four meetings with Tennessee. Over the last seven meetings, the Gators have scored at least 26 points. Only once since 2005 has Florida failed to score at least 21 points and that was a 10-9 win in 2014 in Knoxville.

This is the first matchup of head coaches Billy Napier and Josh Heupel. There was a previous matchup between the two coaches during the 2013 Sugar Bowl when Napier was the WR coach at Alabama and Heupel was the Co-OC/QB coach at Oklahoma.

While the Gators rank last in the SEC in passing, they rank second in rushing. The Gators' 6.4 yards per carrying is good enough for second in the SEC, fourth among Power 5 conference schools and fifth overall in the FBS.

Florida is one of two teams in the nation to face three opponents all ranked in the AP Top 25 through the first four weeks of the season, the other team being Texas Tech. UF is also the only team to face three top-20 opponents through the first four weeks.

ESPN’s College Gameday announced that it will be in Knoxville for the game Saturday. Gameday has been to the Florida-Tennessee game eight times, with the Gators holding a 6-2 record in those games (4-1 in Knoxville). Florida's next most prolific opponent for Gameday is Florida State, which it has also played eight times. Overall, this will be Florida's 42nd appearance on Gameday. The Gators are 26-15 in those games.