As It Should Be: Gators-Vols Meet Again With Much On Line

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — And now, the real fun begins.

Florida's first three games sort of felt like warm-up bands playing before the big show. This next one may not make or break the season, but the outcome will go a long way toward determining how successful the 2016 campaign ultimately turns out to be.

Now in its 27th season as an annual affair, the next installment of the Florida-Tennessee showdown will have a deep impact on the Southeastern Conference East Division. It did last year. It will next year. Both teams go in unbeaten, but the No. 19 Gators (3-0, 1-0) take with them to sold-out Neyland Stadium a confounding 11-game winning streak in a series that — again — will have the No. 14 Volunteers (3-0, 0-0) frothing another year's worth of frustration at this next opportunity.

Especially, given the developments under center late Saturday night.

"This is why you come to Florida," UF coach Jim McElwain said Monday. "When you look at these games that we play, that's fun, man. Go out and let loose and have fun with it. Enjoy the environment. Enjoy the atmosphere. Enjoy the attention."

The fans, meanwhile, will enjoy the pre-game hype and hysterics, especially the Florida fans who will spend the next six days in angst over the loss of starting quarterback Luke Del Rio, who suffered an injury to his left knee late in the third quarter of his team's 32-0 defeat of North Texas. McElwain provided no update on Del Rio's status, saying only that his QB "had a bum leg and would be back some time."

The QB job now falls to fifth-year senior Austin Appleby, the graduate transfer from Purdue, with 17 games, including 11 starts, worth of experience. As a Boilermaker, the 6-foot-4, 245-pound Appleby threw for 2,777 yards over his career, completing 55.3 percent of his passes for 19 touchdowns and 19 interceptions, while starting Big Ten games at Nebraska and Iowa along the way. He went 2-for-4 for 30 yards and engineered a pair of run-dominated touchdown drives Saturday in relief of Del Rio.

"The guy, he's played. He's been in games. He knows how to prepare," McElwain said. "He does some things differently, so we're going to have to highlight some of those things."

Whether explosive wide receiver Antonio Callaway, who missed the UNT game with a quad injury, is back to help ease the Appleby transition is something that will play itself out the next few days — and behind close doors. McElwain announced Monday he was shutting down the early portions of practice normally open to the media to help lock in his team and lock out some distractions as the big week unfolds.

A pair of freshmen backup QBs, Kyle Trask and Feleipe Franks, will get more snaps this week, also. Which one will get the call in an emergency, McElwain said, also will be determined this week.

Everyone knows who's getting the first call.

"I've just got to do my job. Just have to work the offense, trust Coach's plan, trust my teammates, go find the open guy and everything will take care of itself," Appleby said Monday. "We have the best defense in the country, I truly believe that. I play against them every day. These guys are suffocating and I'm really, really excited to watch them this Saturday."

A lot of people will be.

QB ROULETTE

Fifth-year senior Austin Appleby, the graduate transfer from Purdue, will start Saturday night at Tennessee and thus become the 10th player to start at quarterback for the Gators since they began the post-Tim Tebow era in 2010. Here's how the previous nine fared in their starting debuts.

Year	Quarterback	Opponent	Statistics	Outcome
2010	John Brantley	Miami-Ohio	17-25, 113 yds, 2 TDs, 0 INTs	W 34-12
	*Trey Burton	@Florida State	None passing; 9 carries, 31 yds	L 31-7
2011	Jacoby Brissett	@LSU	8-14, 94 yds, 1 TD, 2 INTs	L 41-11
2012	**Jeff Driskel	@Texas A&M	13-16, 162 yards, 0 TDs, 0 INTs; 14 carries, 8 yards	W 20-17
2013	Tyler Murphy	@Kentucky	15-18, 156 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT; 7 carries, 36 yds, 1 TD	W 24-7
	Skyler Mornhinweg	@South Carolina	10-13, 107 yds, 0 TDs, 1 INT	L 19-14
2014	Treon Harris	vs Georgia	3-6, 27 yards, 0 TDs, 0 INTs; 6 carries, 37 yards	W 38-20
2015	Will Grier	East Carolina	10-17, 151 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT; 3 carries, 10 yards	W 31-24
2016	Luke Del Rio	Massachusetts	22-44, 256 yards, 2 TDs, 0 INTs; 6 carries, 11 yards	W 24-7

* Burton opened as starter in Wildcat, but eventually gave way to both Brantley and Jordan Reed.
**Driskel lined up at WR to start the season opener vs Bowling Green, but Brissett was under center.

Indeed, the Gators have the best defense in the country. Statistics say so. Especially after setting a school record by allowing just 53 total yards against North Texas, the fewest ever gained against a Florida defense in 111 years of football. UF leads the nation in total defense (129.7 yards per game) and scoring defense (4.7 points per game), and ranks second nationally against the run (42.3 yards per game) and second against the pass (87.3).

Those are staggering numbers, regardless, yet they do need to be put in some context relative to the competition.

Florida's three wins have come against Massachusetts, Kentucky and North Texas. Those three teams rank in total offense a respective 128th (out of 128), 67th and 119th. To be fair to the Gators, of course, their defense helped bury them down in those stats.

Tennessee, though, will be a different animal. The Vols haven't been great offensively, sitting 11th among SEC teams at 351.0 yards per game (including ninth in rushing, 12th in passing), but the athlete factor will be taken up a couple notches compared to UF's previous foes.

Last year, UT cranked out 419 yards against UF in Gainesville, with 254 on the ground. Quarterback Josh Dobbs isn't known as a big-time passer, but he's capable of hitting some big plays and can kill a defense with his feet. Dobbs rushed for 136 yards against the Gators in 2015, plus caught a 58-yard pass on a trick play. Tailback Jalen Hurd had 102 yards on 28 carries and a pair of touchdowns.

So no single-game UF defensive records will be set this week.

"I think the jump in talent is going to be huge," senior linebacker Jarred Davis said. "This is a team that's highly talked about. They've been talked about all summer long. They were talked about all last year. It's always been, 'When is Tennessee going to do its thing?' And, 'It's Tennessee's time.' I wouldn't want it any other way. This is a game that's extremely hyped up."

Always has been, for sure, in great part because it has come so early in the season and with so much at stake right out of the box. The winner basically holds a two-game lead on the loser due to the head-to-head edge in case of a tie in the standings at season's end.

The Gators have owned the series bragging rights since 2005 and have never been shy about reminding fans of that — or responding to Tennessee fans about it — especially during the long, hot, football-starved offseason months.

Like July at SEC Media Days.

Like Jalen Tabor on the SEC Network.

Like players from both teams on — oh, and the fans — on social media.

And now?

"It's here," senior safety Marcus Maye said. "All the talk is pretty much over with now. You have go out and play the game."

That's what the Gators did in last year's epic 28-27 win. That's what they kept doing even after falling behind by double-digits in the second half at home. They kept playing the game and ultimately got a pulsating 63-yard catch-and-run touchdown from Callaway with 1:26 left — and on fourth-and-14, no less — to keep their streak against the Vols alive and catapult UF on the way to its first SEC East title in six years.

Here we are again.

"I think a year ago proved to that football team, meaning the Florida Gator team, just go win the next play. Don't worry about anything," McElwain said. "I thought they kept their head down and just played. I think we kind of proved to ourselves a little bit what we were trying to accomplish. Look, just do your job. Play this one, and then the next play, and don't get caught up in it."

Words to take to Tennessee, for sure.

Appleby and all.

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