Florida Gators open as home underdog to Tennessee Volunteers
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The Florida Gators will be home underdogs in The Swamp this weekend. The visiting Tennessee Volunteers opened as an 8.5 point favorite, according to FanDuel.
This will be the Gators’ second game as underdogs according to bookmakers in Las Vegas. Florida was an underdog in the season opener, falling flat in Salt Lake City to No. 14 Utah. The Gators bounced back with a 49-7 win over McNeese. That being said, the Gators are 0-2 against the spread this season.
Tennessee came out of the gates hot with a convincing 49-13 win over Virginia at Nissan Stadium in Nashville. The Vols started slow last Saturday but beat Austin Peay 30-13 in the Neyland Stadium home-opener.
Tennessee has won just four of the last 20 meetings against the Gators and haven’t won in Gainesville since 2003.
The Gators are a young team still learning what it takes to win. They ended a four-game skid while playing 66 different players in the win over McNeese. They’ll face a much taller task this week against Tennessee.
“I think we try to map out Sunday to Saturday for the players. That was the point of emphasis inside the locker room there with the players,” Billy Napier said after the game. “Look, when we wake up tomorrow, let’s go execute your plan each day, and that’s every part of the organization, it’s not just players. Ultimately to get to a place where you can go play with confidence, I think you’ve got to prepare a certain way, and ultimately that’s what I think we’re learning how to do. Hopefully we’ll have our best week this week.”
A homecoming for Tennessee quarterback Joe Milton
The Orlando native out of Olympia High School will be back home this weekend when the Vols take on the Gators. Milton originally signed with Michigan and played three seasons for the Wolverines, including a redshirt season as a true freshman. Milton transferred to Tennessee where he emerged as the starter for the first two games and served as the backup for the final 11 contests of the 2021 season. He finished 32 of 61 for 375 yards and two touchdowns.
Milton played in Tennessee’s 2021 loss at Florida. He completed just 2-of-8 passes. Milton was asked about the emotion of going back to his home state to play the Florida Gators.
“The game is never bigger than it is. I feel like when you prepare the right way, I feel like everything else is gonna take care of itself,” Milton said after Tennessee’s win over Austin Peay. “Tomorrow you just reevaluate what happened. Monday and you go back to work. Nothing that happened tonight matters after Sunday. So go back home and you execute. No matter where we at, we’re just gonna execute.”
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