Fourth-and-Florida: Vols cough up another lead in loss to Gators

Florida running back Kelvin Taylor, left, runs for a 47-yard gain past Tennessee defensive back Brian Randolph (37) during the first half of an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Sept. 26, 2015, in Gainesville, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
Florida running back Kelvin Taylor, left, runs for a 47-yard gain past Tennessee defensive back Brian Randolph (37) during the first half of an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Sept. 26, 2015, in Gainesville, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

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Fourth-and-Florida: Vols cough up another lead in loss to GatorsWiedmer: Will Vols ever again beat Gators?Improved Vols rushing game not enough to top GatorsJones explains decision to kick extra point

GAINESVILLE, Fla. - Tennessee athletic director Dave Hart sat by himself Saturday night on a wooden table along the walls of one tunnel in the corner of Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.

The dejection was clear on the face of the Tennessee athletic director.

A second gut-wrenching loss in three weeks will have that effect on anybody.

The Volunteers found another way to give away a big win. They coughed up a 13-point fourth-quarter lead and, after Aaron Medley's game-winning 55-yard field-goal attempt sailed barely wide right as time expired, lost 28-27 at rival Florida in their Southeastern Conference opener.

"It's kind of the same feeling as last year," linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin said, referring to Florida's 10-9 win in Knoxville. "Losing by a point, especially to these guys, it's a game you don't want to give up. We've just got to find a way to bounce back, and we'll get the job done."

The Gators pushed their winning streak against the Vols to 11 games, matching Alabama (1971-81) for the longest losing streak to a single opponent in Tennessee's football history.

"I don't know if it's part of the maturation process, but we have to start learning how to close games out," third-year Vols coach Butch Jones said. "We're one play away. And we come up short."

Prior to Medley's miss, Tennessee had multiple chances to close the game on defense.

Florida converted three fourth downs on its two fourth-quarter touchdown drives. The Gators had 7 yards to go for one and 8 yards for the other on the penultimate drive. On the decisive drive, it was a fourth-and-14 that turned into the deciding touchdown pass with 86 seconds left.

"I think the whole glaring thing is fourth down," Jones said. "Three critical fourth-down conversions that (if) we get off the field we win the football game. Particularly when it's fourth-and-long we've got to close the game out. You get off the field and we're in victory formation (or) milking the clock and it's over with."

Tennessee's opponents are now 9-of-10 on fourth-down conversions this season. Many have come in crunch time.

"Everyone's just got to expect to make the big play," Reeves-Maybin said. "We're one play away from putting teams away, and we haven't did it. That's what we've got to do."

Tennessee led Oklahoma by 17 in the second quarter and 14 heading into the fourth quarter two weeks earlier and lost that game in double overtime.

According to SEC Network analyst Dari Nowkhah, teams with leads of at least 13 points in the fourth quarter were 188-3 this season at one point Saturday night. The Vols are responsible for two of the three defeats.

"We all have each other's backs," running back Alvin Kamara said. "There's no finger-pointing or nothing like that. We know we've got to keep working and everybody has each other's back."

Jones claimed that losses like Saturday's don't "define who we are," but the results speak for themselves.

"Some of those fourth downs we wish we could have back, but we've just got to keep playing ball," safety LaDarrell McNeil said. "You've got to keep digging, and that's what you learn. You've got to keep digging, and you've got to finish and close out games like this, especially big ones like this."

One by one, Tennessee's players exited the locker room and headed toward the team bus. The lifeless expressions on their faces said it all.

"We don't have time to feel sorry for ourselves," quarterback Josh Dobbs said. "Arkansas is going to come in and they're not going to care what happened this week, whether we won or lost or how we lost. They're going to come in and try to beat us, so we have to be ready to go next week."

Two heartbreakers will make that difficult.

"We ain't got no quitters in that locker room," Reeves-Maybin said. "Nobody's going to give up; nobody's going to point fingers. That's not who we are.

"We're just going to keep working, and if we find a way to finish games out, we'll end up with a great season."

Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com.

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