Florida Gators

THE QUICK SLANT
FLORIDA 47, TENNESSEE 21 

WHAT HAPPENED: UF forced six turnovers, including five by the defense, and quarterback Feleipe Franks and friends took advantage of those home-team miscues to the tune of 24 points on the way to a lopsided Southeastern Conference win Saturday night in front of more than 100,000 at Neyland Stadium. Franks completed nine of 18 throws for 172 yards, including a 65-yard scoring strike to wideout Freddie "Big Gain" Swain, as the Gators handed the Vols their worst loss in the series since a 59-20 wipeout in 2007. Florida turned a pair of interceptions into scoring drives of 22 and seven yards in the first quarter, went on to lead 26-3 at halftime, then recovered a fumble to start the second half and scored on the first play of the third quarter on a 19-yard run by tailback Jordan Scarlett to officially make it a runaway. The Gators only outgained the Vols in total yards, 387-364, but it hardly mattered, given the inability by Tennessee to finish drives due to turnovers and UF's offense benefiting from short fields. Of Florida's six touchdown drives, five went four plays or less and three were one-play drives, the last coming on 47-yard, fourth-quarter scoring run by true freshman tailback Dameon Pierce, who had a 68-yard score in last week's win over Colorado State. The 47 points were the most ever scored by UF in Knoxville.
 
WHAT IT MEANS: Florida continued its mastery of the series by winning for the 13th time in the last 14 meetings, dating to 2005. Just where the Gators will eventually sit in the SEC East Division remains to be seen. They won't be in last place any time soon, though, because they now have a game-plus advantage on Tennessee, which has lost its 10th straight league game, dating to the last game of the 2016 season. Florida won for the second consecutive week, looked pretty good doing so, and will leave Knoxville with a jolt of confidence, thanks to such a lopsided outcome. 
 
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Junior linebacker David Reese, UF's leading tackler a season ago, made his season debut after missing the first three games with an ankle injury. Reese wasted no time announcing his return. He was in the backfield on a blitz when Jachai Polite sacked UT quarterback Jarrett Guarantano, with the ball popping in the air for a fumble recovery, which the Gators converted into the first touchdown of the game. Florida led 14-0 early in the second quarter when Tennessee faced a third-and-1 at the UF 14. A touchdown would have cut the Gators' margin in half. Reese, though, joined forces with defensive tackle Adam Shuler to bulldoze the UT front and blow up tailback Ty Chandler for a one-yard loss that forced the Vols to settle for a field goal. Reese finished with a team-high 11 tackles, with 0.5 for loss and the fumble recovery. 

STAGGERING STATISTIC: Obviously, the half-dozen turnovers, but the four in the first half were huge for the Gators (and brutal for the Vols), as they set the game's tone, especially when the visitors capitalized on them for 17 points through the first 30 minutes. Florida turned the first two takeaways into touchdowns to jump ahead 14-0 with nearly five minutes remaining in the first period. The third and fourth took the air out of the stadium (and the UT sidelines) by thwarted promising Tennessee drives, especially when cornerback C.J. Henderson chased down tight end A.J. Pope and forced a fumble at the goal line that rolled out of the end zone for a touchback at the end of a 51-yard completion. Surely, the UT coaches told their team at halftime the Vols would be in the game were it not for the turnovers, right? Tennessee fumbled the second-half kickoff, the Gators recovered and scored on the first play from scrimmage. So, technically, it was five turnovers in the first 30:08. Florida had 17 takeaways all last season. The Gators have 14 through four games in 2018.

UP NEXT: Florida (3-1, 1-1) is on the SEC road for a second straight week when Dan Mullen (and Athletic Director Scott Stricklin and strength coach Nick Savage and a handful of assistant coaches) go to Mississippi State (3-1, 0-1) next Saturday night. Mullen, of course, went 69-46 in nine seasons as head coach of the Bulldogs before leaving last November. Stricklin, an MSU alum, was AD there for six years before heading to Gainesville to replace Jeremy Foley in November 2016. Mullen and his staff left the Bulldogs program in far better shape than they found it, but they got thumped fairly soundly, 28-7, Saturday at unbeaten Kentucky.