It wasn't a good night for the Tennessee Vols in the Swamp. 

Pretty much everything that could go wrong for the Vols did on Saturday night in Tennessee's 29-16 loss to Florida. 

Tennessee played undisciplined football (10 penalties for 79 yards), the offense was once again sluggish, and the Vols' defense wasn't nearly as strong as it was the first two weeks of the season. 

While the night wasn't fun for Vols fans, there are a few things we learned about Tennessee's football team in the loss to the Gators. 

1. The secondary is still a big issue

Tennessee's defense only gave up three points in the second half, but that was mostly because Florida was conservative with their play calling as they did their best to bleed clock (basically what Georgia did to Tennessee last season). 

The bulk of the damage from Florida came in the second quarter when they scored 20 points. Tennessee's secondary play was particularly rough during that stretch. The secondary was out of position on several plays in the first half and the tackling left a lot to be desired. The Vols aren't going anywhere until the secondary play improves. Mental mistakes and execution issues were aplenty on Saturday night. 

2. Not having OL Cooper Mays and LB Keenan Pili is a much bigger deal than we realized

Tennessee's offensive line had some rough moments against Florida. There were far too many false starts to missed assignments. It was evident that not having Cooper Mays, who was hoping to play but was ruled out before game time, massively hurt the Vols in Gainesville on Saturday. Mays' knowledge of the offense and his ability to communicate is invaluable to Tennessee and his absence was a big reason why the Vols' offense didn't operate efficiently against Florida. 

And the same goes for the defense without Keenan Pili on the field. Pili, who isn't expected to return for a while due to injury, played extremely well in Tennessee's season-opening win against Virginia. Without Pili on the field, there were several times when the defense looked confused and in the wrong alignment. Pili's experience and football IQ was deeply missed on the field in the loss to Florida. 

3. It's not all on QB Joe Milton, but he's not Hendon Hooker

Joe Milton had some rough moments against the Gators, but it's not all on him. 

The interception that Milton threw, his first as Vol, was an incredibly bad decision. Milton should've taken the sack instead of blindly throwing the ball to the middle of the field (where it was intercepted). 

The truth with Milton, however, is that he's not Hendon Hooker. And that's not a slight against Milton — very few players will ever be Hendon Hooker. 

Milton just doesn't have the same escapability skills as Hooker. And as the ESPN broadcast noted on Saturday night, Milton has never thrown a touchdown on the run during his college career. He just doesn't have the mobility that Hooker brought to the offense last season. And that mobility from Hooker is why the Vols were able to get wins against Florida and Alabama in 2022.

The play calling, however, didn't do Milton any favors. The screen passes were predictable. And so were the runs (though Jaylen Wright did an admirable job of running the ball for the Vols). When Tennessee took shots down field, they had some success. But they didn't go downfield nearly enough. The vanilla play calling gave off the vibe that Tennessee's offensive coaches don't fully trust Milton. I don't know if that's the case, but what was evident is that Milton didn't get nearly as many chances to throw the ball down the field as we're used to seeing from a Tennessee offense (maybe that was because of Florida, or maybe the tape will show that Milton missed some chances that he should've taken…but on the first watch of the game, it felt like Milton didn't get enough chances for splash plays). 

Screen passes and runs up the middle aren't going to win big games in the SEC. Tennessee knows this as well as anyone considering the way they beat Alabama last season (with explosive plays). If the Vols are going to get their season back on track, they'll need to show more trust in Milton. Otherwise, it's going to be a long year. 

Story from former Heisman winner shows Josh Heupel is no pushover despite being labeled as a ‘players’ coach’

Story from a former Heisman winner shows that Tennessee Vols HC Josh Heupel is no pushover despite being labeled as a ‘players’ coach’

Featured image via Matt Pendleton-USA TODAY Sports