Graphic: Scott MacCord/UAA Communications
Final: No. 11 Florida 38, Tennessee 14
Saturday, September 25, 2021 | Football, Chris Harry
THE QUICK SLANT
No. 11 FLORIDA 38, TENNESSEE 14
WHAT HAPPENED: Quarterback Emory Jones passed for 209 yards and a pair of touchdowns and also rushed for a career-high 144 yards, as the 11th-ranked Gators shook off a shaky first half and put away the visiting Volunteers in the second half for a 38-14 Southeastern Conference East Division win Saturday night at Spurrier/Florida Field. With backup sophomore quarterback and team rushing leader Anthony Richardson again held out of the game to further heal his hamstring injury, Jones completed 21 of his 27 throws with touchdown passes of four yards to Malik Davis on the game's opening drive and nine to Rick Wells late in the third quarter to open up a 17-point lead. On the way, Jones become the first Florida quarterback to throw for 200 yards and rush for 100 in a game since Tim Tebow did it against Florida International in 2009. UF racked up 505 yards of offense, including 283 on the ground, and converted nine of 14 third-down opportunities to beat its SEC East rival for the 16th time in 17 meetings. Tennessee totaled 423 yards, with 221 passing and two touchdowns from senior Hendon Hooker. The Volunteers twice fell behind in the first half, but both times got even or better, tying the game at 7-all on a 47-yard screen pass from Hooker to Tiyon Evans and then on a 75-yard touchdown bomb to JaVonta Payton that gave the visitors a 14-10 lead. UF went back up on the next possession behind Nay'Quan Wright's 23-yard scoring run for a 17-14 lead and had a chance for more late in the half, but wideout Jacob Copeland fumbled at the UT 15 after making a first-down catch. The Gators, though, took the second half kickoff and scored in five plays, with Trent Whittemore catching a lateral and pitching a 13-yard touchdown off the double pass to tight end Kemore Gamble to go up 24-14. After the UF defense turned a promising UT drive away on downs, Jones accounted for all but 16 yards on an eight-play, 70-yard drive that ended with him rolling right and finding Wells for the three-score cushion, at 31-14, with 2:04 to go in the third period. Davis's 9-yard run with 1:39 remaining capped the scoring and gave the home team 28 unanswered points. Tennessee came into the game leading the SEC in run defense (fifth nationally), having allowed just 158 yards (just 52.7 per game) through its first three games. The Vols also were averaging 42.7 points per game.
WHAT IT MEANS: Despite the loss to Alabama last week, all the Gators' preseason goals are still out there, as long as they take care of business in the SEC East. Beating the Vols (and further extending their mastery of UT in the series) was the first step. The next one comes next weekend (read on).
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Jones had the best game of his career in last week's 31-29 loss to No. 1-ranked Alabama. He was better this outing. Anytime you're doing things only Tebow did, well, you're doing something right.
STAGGERING STATISTIC: That's four straight games the Gators have surpassed 200 yards rushing. The last time UF did that was the final four games of the 2018 season against South Carolina (367), Idaho (201), at Florida State (282) and versus Michigan (257) in the Peach Bowl. The last time UF opened a season with at least 200 yards on the ground in the first four games was in 2009, Tebow's final season: Charleston Southern (369), Troy (291), Tennessee (208) and at Kentucky (362). UF's fewest rushing yards this season were the 246 they put up last week against Bama, which also the most surrendered by the Crimson Tide in seven years.
UP NEXT: Florida (3-1, 1-0) plays its first road SEC game when the Gators head to Kentucky (4-0, 2-0) OR (3-1, 1-1). The Wildcats opened their league slate last week with a home win over Missouri and Saturday night went on the road to defeat South Carolina 16-10 to grab a share of first place in the SEC East alongside Georgia. UK has played UF close in three of the last four (and five of the previous seven) meetings, along the way snapping the nation's longest series losing streak at 31 games in 2018.
No. 11 FLORIDA 38, TENNESSEE 14
WHAT HAPPENED: Quarterback Emory Jones passed for 209 yards and a pair of touchdowns and also rushed for a career-high 144 yards, as the 11th-ranked Gators shook off a shaky first half and put away the visiting Volunteers in the second half for a 38-14 Southeastern Conference East Division win Saturday night at Spurrier/Florida Field. With backup sophomore quarterback and team rushing leader Anthony Richardson again held out of the game to further heal his hamstring injury, Jones completed 21 of his 27 throws with touchdown passes of four yards to Malik Davis on the game's opening drive and nine to Rick Wells late in the third quarter to open up a 17-point lead. On the way, Jones become the first Florida quarterback to throw for 200 yards and rush for 100 in a game since Tim Tebow did it against Florida International in 2009. UF racked up 505 yards of offense, including 283 on the ground, and converted nine of 14 third-down opportunities to beat its SEC East rival for the 16th time in 17 meetings. Tennessee totaled 423 yards, with 221 passing and two touchdowns from senior Hendon Hooker. The Volunteers twice fell behind in the first half, but both times got even or better, tying the game at 7-all on a 47-yard screen pass from Hooker to Tiyon Evans and then on a 75-yard touchdown bomb to JaVonta Payton that gave the visitors a 14-10 lead. UF went back up on the next possession behind Nay'Quan Wright's 23-yard scoring run for a 17-14 lead and had a chance for more late in the half, but wideout Jacob Copeland fumbled at the UT 15 after making a first-down catch. The Gators, though, took the second half kickoff and scored in five plays, with Trent Whittemore catching a lateral and pitching a 13-yard touchdown off the double pass to tight end Kemore Gamble to go up 24-14. After the UF defense turned a promising UT drive away on downs, Jones accounted for all but 16 yards on an eight-play, 70-yard drive that ended with him rolling right and finding Wells for the three-score cushion, at 31-14, with 2:04 to go in the third period. Davis's 9-yard run with 1:39 remaining capped the scoring and gave the home team 28 unanswered points. Tennessee came into the game leading the SEC in run defense (fifth nationally), having allowed just 158 yards (just 52.7 per game) through its first three games. The Vols also were averaging 42.7 points per game.
— Gators Football (@GatorsFB) September 26, 2021
WHAT IT MEANS: Despite the loss to Alabama last week, all the Gators' preseason goals are still out there, as long as they take care of business in the SEC East. Beating the Vols (and further extending their mastery of UT in the series) was the first step. The next one comes next weekend (read on).
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Jones had the best game of his career in last week's 31-29 loss to No. 1-ranked Alabama. He was better this outing. Anytime you're doing things only Tebow did, well, you're doing something right.
STAGGERING STATISTIC: That's four straight games the Gators have surpassed 200 yards rushing. The last time UF did that was the final four games of the 2018 season against South Carolina (367), Idaho (201), at Florida State (282) and versus Michigan (257) in the Peach Bowl. The last time UF opened a season with at least 200 yards on the ground in the first four games was in 2009, Tebow's final season: Charleston Southern (369), Troy (291), Tennessee (208) and at Kentucky (362). UF's fewest rushing yards this season were the 246 they put up last week against Bama, which also the most surrendered by the Crimson Tide in seven years.
UP NEXT: Florida (3-1, 1-0) plays its first road SEC game when the Gators head to Kentucky (4-0, 2-0) OR (3-1, 1-1). The Wildcats opened their league slate last week with a home win over Missouri and Saturday night went on the road to defeat South Carolina 16-10 to grab a share of first place in the SEC East alongside Georgia. UK has played UF close in three of the last four (and five of the previous seven) meetings, along the way snapping the nation's longest series losing streak at 31 games in 2018.
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