Florida Gators

THE QUICK SLANT
No. 11 TENNESSEE 38, No. 20 FLORIDA 33 

WHAT HAPPENED: Quarterback Hendon Hooker accounted for 501 of his team's 576 yards of total offense and the 11th-ranked Volunteers went up and down the field on the way to rolling past the Gators in their Southeastern Conference showdown Saturday in front of more than 101,000 at Neyland Stadium. Hooker completed 22 of 28 passes for 349 yards and two touchdowns and rushed 13 times for 112 yards and another score, all the while bamboozling the Gators in operation of Coach Josh Heupel's breakneck-pace offense to near perfection. Hooker was great, but Florida's sophomore quarterback Anthony Richardson was really, really good on the way to the best game of his young career. Much maligned for his struggles the last two weeks, Richardson bounced back to complete 23 of 41 passes for a career-high 453 yards and his first two touchdowns of the season. Richardson, who became just the sixth QB in Florida history to throw for at least 400 yards in an SEC game, also rushed 17 times for 62 yards and two touchdowns, but the Gators' high-powered running game was held to just 141 yards as they basically were forced to play catch-up all day against a Tennessee offense that never punted and only stopped itself via two fumbles and a late giveaway on downs while trying to run out the clock. The Vols scored touchdowns on four consecutive drives bridging the two halves, the first coming on a 99-yard march that culminated with a 2-yard Hooker-to-Bru McCoy go-ahead touchdown pass with seven seconds to go in the period that completely flipped the game's tenor and momentum in the home team's favor. The score made it 17-14, Vols, who got the second-half kickoff and drove 73 yards to a touchdown and 24-14 lead. Then came drives of 62 and 87 yards drive (the latter after a killer Richardson fumble deep in UT territory), all in succession, to surge in front 38-21. A 5-yard scoring run by Florida's Montrell Johnson Jr. closed the margin to 11 (a 2-point attempt pass was incomplete), but after a failed onsides kick the Vols ran clock before turning the ball over on downs with just 1:11 left. Richardson took UF 71 yards in seven plays, hitting Ricky Pearsall for a 3-yard score to make it 38-33 with 17 seconds to go. The Gators, who actually outgained the Vols in total yards with 594, then recovered the ensuing onsides kick and Richardson got the offense to the UT 39 for one last play. Under duress in the pocket, Richardson had a Vols defender grab his ankles, taking any zip he had to heave the ball into the end zone. Instead, the pass is well under-thrown and intercepted by defensive back Kamal Hadden as time expired. 
 
WHAT IT MEANS: The Gators have to feel better about what Richardson was able to do in a wickedly hostile environment. That will be the positive takeaway. On the other side, the defense has a lot of work to do. Meanwhile, UF is winless through two games in SEC play and, for now, is tied with South Carolina at the bottom of the East Division standings. Tennessee snapped Florida's five-game winning streak in the series and won for just the second time since 2005 and just the ninth time dating to their 37 meetings since 1976. So, for at least the next 12 months, the Gators' mastery of the Vols will be paused. 

IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Hooker certainly will surge into the Heisman Trophy conversation, as the Volunteers remained unbeaten, with an open date ahead to soak in all the feels before an Oct. 8 trip to LSU, followed by what likely will be the most hotly anticipated meeting with rival Alabama since Peyton Manning wore a Big Orange No. 16 jersey. 

STAGGERING STATISTIC: UF is 0-2 in SEC play for the first time since 1986 when the on-probation Gators started their conference schedule with a 21-7 home loss against Alabama and a 16-10 road defeat at Mississippi State. 

UP NEXT: Florida (2-2) steps back out of conference with a home game against Eastern Washington (1-2) for a Saturday noon game. The Eagles lost 38-35 at home against Montana State on Saturday and were obliterated 70-14 two weeks ago at Oregon in their only crack against an FBS opponent this season.