KNOXVILLE — Tennessee has spent many ill-fated Saturday afternoons or nights at Florida’s Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.
The Volunteers haven’t left the venue better known as The Swamp with a win since 2003, the year before they last vanquished the Gators.
Vols’ opponent scouting report: Florida
* Season rewind: The Jim McElwain Era at Florida is 3-0 so far. The Gators waxed New Mexico State 61-13 in their opener and came up with defensive stops on the final drive in a 31-24 win against East Carolina and the 14-9 win last Saturday night at Kentucky – Florida’s 29th straight defeat of the Wildcats. It is Florida’s first 3-0 start since 2012. * Coaching capsule: Florida tabbed McElwain, a former offensive coordinator at Alabama and Fresno State, after he directed Colorado State to a 10-2 record last season, and he has big shoes to fill as the Gators look to get back to the winning ways established by Steve Spurrier and Urban Meyer, who both won nine games in their first seasons. * One to watch: How big a difference does cornerback Vernon Hargreaves make? East Carolina threw for 333 yards against Florida with him out of the lineup due to an injury. With the future NFL first-round pick back, Kentucky’s Patrick Towles completed just eight passes for 126 yards, and Hargreaves set up a Florida touchdown with an early interception. By the numbers * 258: Yards per game being allowed by Florida, the second-fewest in the SEC at this early stage of the season. * 50.2: Tennessee’s average rushing yards in its 10-game losing streak to the Gators. The Vols currently are third in the SEC (246 ypg) in rushing. * 10: Combined career starts for Florida’s offensive linemen entering the season, the third-fewest in the country. Quotable “They’re obviously strong up front. And in the back end, they have really good DBs that are able to play a lot of man (coverage) well. Historically they’ve had a good defense. They’ve been very productive on the defensive end. Obviously we’ll have our game plan, and we’ll have to come out, win our one-on-one matchups and execute to play well.” – Tennessee QB Josh Dobbs on Florida’s defense
UT’s Todd Kelly Jr. (6) approaches as Oklahoma’s Sterling Shepard (3) is tackled by UT’s Colton Jumper (53) during the first half of play Saturday. The Volunteers played the Sooner’s at home on September 12, 2015 at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee. None of its recent history in the series, as unkind as it is, should make a difference when Tennessee goes to Florida looking to end a 10-year losing streak against the Gators on Saturday.
“There’s no mental edge to it,” linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin said Monday. “Every season is a new season. Every week is a new week. We’ve just got to work through our preparation in practice. The team that has the best week of practice and shows up the best on Saturday, that’s who’s going to win the game.