National media outlet names Tennessee Vols' 'defining game' in 2023
The Tennessee Vols are looking to take a step forward in Josh Heupel’s third season
The Tennessee Vols came up short of their goal last year — making it to Atlanta and ultimately the College Football Playoff — but they'll keep that same goal in place for the s 2023 season.
For the Vols to reach their goals in 2023, they'll need to win some extremely tough matchups.
Playing Alabama on the road, for example, will be a difficult game for Tennessee. A home matchup against Georgia looms large, too.
While those might be labeled as the Vols' biggest games in 2023, ESPN thinks another matchup will be Tennessee's "defining game" this upcoming season.
ESPN has the Vols' early-season matchup with Florida circled as a game that will define Tennessee's season. And they have pretty good reasoning, too.
From ESPN: What a second season it was under Josh Heupel at Tennessee. All the Vols did was win 11 games for the first time since 2001 and beat both Alabama and Florida, then defeat Clemson in the Capital One Orange Bowl. It's now Joe Milton III's time at quarterback with Hendon Hooker leaving for the NFL, and Milton's first SEC test will come on the road against Florida. That's the game to circle for the Vols, who haven't won two in a row over the Gators since 2003 and 2004. The SEC schedule gets a bit tougher for Tennessee this season with both the Alabama and Florida games coming on the road. But for that Alabama trip on Oct. 21 and Georgia home date on Nov. 18 to really mean something on a national level, the Vols need to beat the Gators in Gainesville and get to the month of October unbeaten.
ESPN is correct — if Tennessee doesn't beat Florida, they likely won't have a shot to win the SEC East. An early season loss to the Gators would mean that Tennessee would likely have to beat Alabama and Georgia and not lose any other games to win the division. And they'd definitely have to win both of those games to have a shot at the College Football Playoff.
Tennessee hasn't defeated the Gators in the Swamp since 2003. They've come close a few times — mostly notably in 2015 and 2017 — but they haven't been able to get a win in Gainesville since 50 Cent's "In Da Club" topped the charts.
For the first time in a long time, the Vols' September matchup against Florida is poised to have a major impact on college football's postseason. And if Tennessee wants to be on a big stage in the postseason, they have to beat the Gators.
