The Forgettable Tennessee Game

To hear all the all-to-excitable sports media tell it, Saturday’s game against Tennessee was a “game-changer”, or somehow “served notice” that Florida is vulnerable.

I even heard one commentator breathlessly exclaim that Tennessee held Florida to the “Fewest points scored against the Gators since 2007!”

Now that’s really digging back in time!

(The game being referenced was the 20-17 Florida loss to Auburn in ’07. An actual loss).

Last season 2 teams held Florida to nearly the same points as Tennessee did this year – Miami (26) and Oklahoma (24). (Oddly I don’t recall either Randy Shannon nor Bob Stoops claiming moral victories.)

In those two games Florida had 345 total yards offense (Miami) and 480 total yards (Oklahoma).

The best yardage any opponent held Florida to in 2008? Well that would be the Tennessee Vols, who held the Gator’s to only 243 yards in their 30-6 loss.

(Even in losing to Ole Miss the Gators gained 443 total yards).

This season coach Quittin’s defense –essentially the same group with Monte now in charge – surrendered 323 yards to Florida, or 80 more than ’08. They just managed to prevent 1 more TD (Tebow’s ill advised fumble). Somehow 323 yards total offense doesn't really meet the standard of "stopping" a team, to me.

So, despite the hype, here’s where we go from here –

Scenario One – Florida wins out. Under this scenario UT quickly becomes a distant memory.

Scenario Two – Florida loses. And under this scenario, whoever beats us becomes the story.

Either way, the UT game fades from relevance.

However the one thing the game will always remain as – a loss for Tennessee.