College football analyst points out issue that could cause Florida Gators to struggle against Tennessee Vols
Tennessee Vols fans probably aren't feeling quite as confident as they were a couple of weeks ago about this weekend's matchup against the Florida Gators in Knoxville after UT's surprising loss to the Arkansas Razorbacks this past weekend. The Vols' offense look lifeless in a 19-14 loss to the Razorbacks, leaving fans with very little […]
Tennessee Vols fans probably aren't feeling quite as confident as they were a couple of weeks ago about this weekend's matchup against the Florida Gators in Knoxville after UT's surprising loss to the Arkansas Razorbacks this past weekend.
The Vols' offense look lifeless in a 19-14 loss to the Razorbacks, leaving fans with very little confidence that Tennessee will have a breakout game against Florida, a program that's had the Vols' number for the last two decades.
On3's Andy Staples, however, pointed out an issue this week that Florida has struggled with this season that should lead to be a big advantage for Tennessee this weekend.
Staples noted that the Gators have had issues this season getting lined up on defense, which could be particularly disastrous for Florida if the Vols can get their tempo going on Saturday night in front of a raucous crowd.
"Against Mississippi State, which runs the same offense as Tennessee, Florida struggled to get defensive calls in," said Staples. "And allegedly they worked for two weeks on this at practice. But if you watched the UCF game (this past weekend), they were still struggling to get defensive calls in. UCF was lined up and Florida defenders were looking at the sideline waiting for the call.
"Now UCF, for whatever reason, like, Gus Malzahn (UCF's head coach) needs to explain this, just sat there. They were like no, by all means, take your time getting ready, we'll wait. Tennessee won't wait. They'll just hand it to Dylan Sampson and he'll go for eight or nine yards before anybody even notices. If Florida can't fix that, they will not stop Tennessee at all. And Tennessee might not throw. Tennessee might just run the whole time. So that's the part that worries me for Florida in this game. The fact that they worked on that for two weeks, they still didn't get it right, and then you get this false sense of security, because UCF didn't take advantage of it, that they can suddenly stop that style of offense….and then the other thing is UCF has no pass rush whatsoever and Tennessee has James Pearce."
Despite the ugly game against Arkansas, the Vols still have an incredibly talented offense that can put up points in a hurry. If Tennessee can establish the run early and avoid tempo-killing penalties, then we should see the Vols' offense finally come to life in an SEC game.
All it takes is one big performance against Florida and Tennessee can change the national narrative after that loss to the Razorbacks. And it sounds like a matchup against a shaky Gators defense should provide a massive opportunity for a big offensive game for the Volunteers.
Tennessee HC Josh Heupel makes honest admission about the end of the game in Vols’ loss to Arkansas
Can’t change it now, but at least he admits it
