KNOXVILLE - Tennessee's decade-long losing streak to Florida may dominate the headlines and the presentation of today's SEC East clash in Gainesville.
But the loss the Volunteers suffered two weeks ago to a nonconference opponent will have more of an impact on this game than any of the previous 10 defeats to the Gators.
In the first of what could be a handful of toss-up games this season, Tennessee couldn't close the deal in the second half of an eventual double-overtime loss to Oklahoma on Sept. 12 in Knoxville. The Vols, who fell out of the rankings the next day, vowed they would learn from that defeat.
Today's potential streak-snapper may be their first opportunity to put those lessons into action.
"It definitely is something that we preach each and every day, just playing all four quarters and 60 minutes, and even if it takes more than 60 minutes and going into overtime, giving your all for Tennessee," safety Todd Kelly Jr. said. "That's what really we preach and what Coach (Butch) Jones preaches all the time, just giving your all.
"We can always work on something, and finishing is probably one of those. Every team wants to finish strong, but sometimes you're not able to. I think that Coach Jones does a good job of throwing things into practice, whether it's an extra period or an overtime period, just to get our mindset ready for finishing games."
Against Oklahoma, Tennessee had multiple chances - on both sides of the ball - and failed to make any of a few plays that would have clinched only the second win over a ranked opponent since Jones took over the program in 2013.
The story was similar against Florida last season, when Tennessee failed to capitalize on multiple chances to bury the Gators, who rallied from a 9-0 deficit to win 10-9 and add another year of frustration for the Vols.
"Those close losses, those are the toughest losses to take," linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin said. "One play could have changed the game, and you always feel like you could have made that one play, or just did something a little bit better to get that close win. Now we all know the pain of it, though, so we're just trying to do our best to not let that happen again."
Florida (3-0, 1-0) isn't ranked like Oklahoma was, but the Gators might have a better defense than the Sooners, who shut down the Vols (2-1, 0-0) in the second half.
Tennessee center Coleman Thomas says he can't tell a difference in the talent level between the two. Tight end Ethan Wolf echoed that sentiment. Florida is disruptive and active up front and better in the secondary.
"It's very motivating," said Zach Azzanni, Tennessee's receivers coach and passing game coordinator. "Any time you want to see how you stack up, you want to go against the best, and in this conference that's pretty much every week. This week's no different. These guys are special, and we've known that."
Tennessee couldn't handle Oklahoma's blitzes in the second half, and Florida wouldn't be going too far out of its comfort zone to mimic the Sooners' game plan. But Vols offensive coordinator Mike DeBord believes his line is better equipped to handle a top-tier defensive line.
"They're a lot more ready for this than they would have been a couple of weeks ago, and I think that's just the process you go through in the season," he said. "We expect them to continue to improve as we go through this season.
"An example would be in the second game, we had some problems with protection and picking people up when we were trying to throw the ball deep. In this past game (a 55-10 win over Western Carolina), we picked them up twice in a blitz and hit the ball deep. They're continuing to get better with a lot of things."
Many of Florida's wins during its current streak against the Vols have been comfortable ones. Prior to last season, the smallest margin of victory for Florida since 2006 was 10 points. Half of the Gators' wins in the streak are by 14 or more points.
Tennessee's recruiting efforts under Jones and his staff have produced a higher talent level that has closed the gap on the upper-echelon teams in the conference and elsewhere. The Vols go into games expecting to win as opposed to hoping to keep them competitive.
In tighter games, a few plays can make all the difference. The Vols could be in another one of those this afternoon.
Will they get over the hump?
"(It's) having individuals in your football program that are just stone-cold competitors and will do whatever it takes to win the football game. We have that," Jones said. "Obviously we didn't finish an opponent off like we would have liked to, but I think you also come away and you learn many valuable lessons.
"Now it's being able to apply those lessons in a positive way next time that situations occurs."
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com