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Tennessee vs. Florida -- The Cheat Sheet

On3 imageby:Brent Hubbs•09/24/22•

Brent_Hubbs

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Josh Heupel is trying to get Tennessee to 4-0 for the first time since 2016 and only the second time since 2003. Standing in the way is the Vols old nemesis the Florida Gators.  

So what’s key for Tennessee to get to beat Florida for just the second time since 2004? Here are four in what we like to call the Saturday Cheat Sheet. 

Start fast

Former Vols and Gator conquerer Casey Clausen said it best Sunday night on the Rocky Top Rewind too many times, Tennessee has fallen behind and spent the afternoon playing catch up in this series. 

The big orange faithful will be out in forced. They will be revved up and ready to go. The noise level will be high. It’s Florida’s first road game of the year and the biggest road test to date in quarterback Anthony Richardson’s career. 

The crowd can be a factor in this game for the entire game. They can be a huge factor at the start of this game if the Vols can get out of the gates fast putting pressure on Florida early in the game. 

Contain Richardson

After playing well in the season opening win over Utah, Gator quarterback Anthony Richardson has struggled the last two games. Against the Utes, Richardson was 17 of 24 for 168 yards and he had 3 rushing touchdowns rushing for 106 yards. 

Since that performance, Richardson is 24 of 53 for 255 yards and 4 interceptions. On the ground, Richardson, who’s a little banged up, only has 28 yards on 13 carries. 

Richardson’s feet are his best weapon and a year ago a mobile quarterback was kryptonite. Ole Miss’ Matt Corral had 195 yards on the ground a year ago. Other quarterbacks ran enough to be effective. Can Tennessee contain Richardson and not let him get the best part of his game going? 

Clean it up

The scars of this series have in large part been about Tennessee’s sloppy play. Turnovers, penalties, dropped passes, defensive busts. You can go on and on about how many times Tennessee has lost this game through the years on their own mistakes. 

This is a different team and Florida is different so you can focus on the past. You focus on this match up and it’s imperative that the Vols play a cleaner brand of football. A year ago in the loss, Tennessee didn’t turn it over, but the Vols had 85 yards in penalties. The last two weeks this season, the penalties have been a killer. Against Akron, the Vols were flagged 11 times for 118 yards against Pitt the Vols were flagged 7 times for 70 yards. 

Tennessee can’t have those kind of self-inflicted wounds. Even though Tennessee is the favorite, Florida will come into this game with confidence because of their history of success in this series. Heupel’s Vols don’t need to help Florida gain anymore confidence by doing things to beat themselves. 

Finish

Again, I hate to dwell on the past, but Tennessee would have a few more wins in this series if they could finish. That’s finishing games (see two last minute losses in the Butch Jones era). That’s finishing drives (how many times did Steve Spurrier remind fans you don’t win this game by kicking field goals) and that’s finishing defensive possessions by getting off the the field on third down. 

Tim Banks’ third down defense has been much improved through three games this year compared to last. Can that trend continue? Tennessee has been good in the redzone and in short yardage plays to keep drives going? Can that continue? 

As much as everyone wants this to be a cruising victory for the Vols, the reality is that this game will likely be a dogfight which means Josh Heupel’s team has to finish. If they can, then this fanbase is going to be celebrating all weekend long. 

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