KNOXVILLE - Florida coach Urban Meyer - he of the six straight wins in this series - probably best summed up the Gators' 31-17 victory over Tennessee at Neyland Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Said Meyer: "I think you saw two young football teams trying to figure it out out there."
Of course, his No. 10 Gators are now 3-0 overall and 1-0 in the Southeastern Conference as they seek to find themselves. The Volunteers haven't been quite so fortunate and are 1-2 and 0-1.
But almost everybody in pale orange from UT coach Derek Dooley on down seemed to find a silver lining in this one after last week's 48-13 debacle against visiting Oregon.
"We kept swinging," Dooley said. "We were sitting there in the fourth quarter and it was a seven-point game."
Added senior linebacker Nick Reveiz, who endured a Friday night mohawk haircut from teammate Jake Storey in hopes of firing up his teammates for their SEC opener: "I didn't feel like we competed all 60 minutes last week. This week we really went out there and put it all on the line."
Even defensive end Chris Walker, rarely one to dismiss a defeat, said, "Later in the downs we got a little tired, but other than that I think we handled it really well."
Cynics would argue that when your spirits are uplifted by a 14-point loss to your most bitter SEC rival you are far much closer to the mindset of perennial league also-rans Kentucky, Vanderbilt and Mississippi State than a program with a 100,000-seat stadium and college football's highest win total since 1926 should be.
Yes, this effort was better than a week ago. Then again, other than completely bypassing the second half and calling it quits at intermission, it almost had to be better.
Last week was a total embarrassment against the Ducks, the kind of collapse that divides teammates, frustrates coaches and leaves fan bases wondering whether the athletic director, football coach or school president should be fired first.
This was the kind of effort that begs a tougher question: If this is as well as they can play (at least at this time), how many years are the Vols from again being able to compete with the Gators, Crimson Tide and Bayou Bengals for SEC titles?
Consider, for instance, that each Big Orange score was swiftly countered by Florida. Not once did the Gators punt on their first possession after a UT score. Instead they scored touchdowns. Not field goals. Touchdowns.
It was if Meyer let out a big yawn, opened up his playbook and said, "Well, if you insist, we'll score another one."
Still, the Vols also staged rallies. Holding the Gators to a field goal on their first possession of the second half, UT quarterback Matt Simms threw a wonderful 49-yard scoring strike to Denarius Moore to tie the game at 10.
When Florida went up 24-10, the Vols struck again, this time from 35 yards out, Simms hitting pure freshman wideout Justin Hunter for the score.
But the Gators always answered. The Gators always looked clearly better, even if they looked worse than any Meyer-coached Florida team since his first one.
And there's where this respectable loss must bear a warning. This is still a 14-point defeat at home against a Florida squad that looks anything but unbeatable.
Dooley's improved mood notwithstanding, he also said of the improved effort, "That's kind of a bottom-line standard. All that does is give you a chance."
An effort to match the one they turned in Saturday should give them a chance in every contest the rest of the way except, perhaps, against Alabama.
Yet there should also be great concern about feeling too good about a loss.
"You've got to be careful about moral victories," Reveiz said.
Especially when it comes against another young football team still trying to figure it out out there.