KNOXVILLE — The Tennessee Volunteers prevented an October stumble from becoming an October swoon.
And in most dramatic fashion.
Looking to bounce back from last weekend’s lethargic 19-14 loss at Arkansas with their first appearance inside Neyland Stadium in nearly a month, the No. 8 Vols provided more of the same for much of Saturday night’s contest against Florida before awakening late in the third quarter and outlasting the Gators 23-17 in overtime.
Tennessee won in the extra period on Dylan Sampson’s 1-yard touchdown run, giving the Vols their first overtime triumph over Florida since their 1998 national championship season.
“I love this win,” Tennessee fourth-year coach Josh Heupel said. “I love the resiliency of this group being down 10 with seven minutes left in the third quarter and with the offense not playing good at all. We continued to play and compete and found some ways to get back in the game.
“We reset in overtime, and we finished the way that we’re capable of and wanted to.”
Heupel described his defense as “elite,” as the Vols have now held their first six opponents under 20 points for the first time since 1969.
Sampson’s winning score was set up by Nico Iamaleava’s 11-yard pass to Dont’e Thornton that reached the Florida 3, which followed an 8-yard run by Sampson. The Gators had the first possession of overtime but backtracked due to a penalty and stellar defensive play by the Vols, and Trey Smack then pushed his 47-yard field-goal attempt wide right.
“You don’t want to center a kick right away,” Heupel said of his decision to punch it into the end zone after Florida had missed. “It depends on the down and distance and where you’re at when that becomes a thought a little bit later as it goes on. I think running the football and being sound — for me, that’s the way I wanted it to go.”
Florida sent the game into overtime on DJ Lagway’s 27-yard touchdown toss to Chimire Dike with 29 seconds left in regulation. The scoring strike from Lagway — who played from the midpoint of the third quarter on due to a knee injury to starter Graham Mertz — to Dike occurred on a third-and-19.
Tennessee took its first lead with 9:42 left in regulation, when Sampson broke free for a 23-yard touchdown run and a 17-10 lead. Sampson’s score capped a two-play, 29-yard drive that was set up by a 17-yard punt return by cornerback Jermod McCoy, who had broken up a fourth-and-2 pass by the Gators in the first minute of the fourth quarter at Tennessee’s 35-yard line.
Sampson finished with 27 carries for 112 yards and three touchdowns.
“We knew the defense was going to have our back,” Sampson said. “We made them kick a field goal, and I had a feeling they were going to miss it. At that point, I knew the game was over. When we get in that red zone, I think it’s really hard to stop us. It’s just a matter of us getting into that flow to get there.”
The Vols, who entered as 15-point favorites, defeated Florida for just the third time in the last 20 seasons and improved to 5-1 overall and 2-1 in Southeastern Conference play heading into next Saturday’s test against visiting Alabama. The Gators fell to 3-3 and to 1-2 within the league.
Florida had chances to break things open in the first half but finally scored a touchdown at the 7:17 mark of the third quarter, when a 13-yard pass from Mertz to tight end Arlis Boardingham culminated a nine-play, 92-yard drive that provided the Gators a 10-0 lead.
The Vols answered with a first touchdown of their own, covering 75 yards in 11 plays and pulling within 10-7 on a 6-yard run by Sampson. Lagway was intercepted by Vols linebacker Arion Carter on the next play from scrimmage, but his 15-yard return to the Florida 12 led to only a 35-yard field goal by Max Gilbert that knotted the game at 10.
“I have a ton of respect for the young men in that locker room and the way they competed in the game,” Gators coach Billy Napier said. “They were prepared and in the right frame of mind, and they attacked it. The tale of the tape were the missed opportunities in the first half on offense.
“We left a ton of points out there.”
Tennessee moved 51 yards in its first six plays to open the game, but Iamaleava fumbled on third-and-1 at the Florida 24, and the Gators recovered. Florida took its first possession to the 44 of the Vols before having to punt.
The Gators struck first at the 3:15 mark of the first quarter on Smack’s 42-yard field goal that capped a 10-play, 27-yard drive.
Florida drove to Tennessee’s 18-yard line midway through the second quarter, but Eugene Wilson was stuffed for no gain by Rickey Gibson III on fourth-and-1. The Gators took their next possession 79 yards in seven plays yet came away empty when Vols edge rusher James Pearce Jr. stripped the ball from Mertz on a first-and-goal carry from the 1.
The Vols on the ensuing possession moved out to their 10 and went for it on fourth-and-1, with DeSean Bishop picking up 6 to the 16.
“With the flow of the game and everything that had transpired and the distance, I just felt like we had to do something to try to keep them off the field and to get something going, too,” Heupel said.
Any momentum for the Vols on that gamble was short-lived, as Iamaleava was intercepted by Sharif Denson, whose 18-yard return to Tennessee’s 22 had the Gators in business once again. Florida appeared to take a 6-0 lead on the final play of the half on a Smack 43-yard attempt, but the Gators were flagged for illegal substitution, leaving it 3-0 at the break.
The Vols had never been held scoreless in the first half under Heupel until venturing to Arkansas, and now that has transpired two straight weeks.
“We can play a lot better than we did tonight,” Heupel said, “but I do love the way we continued to compete throughout the course of the game.”
Pili’s departure
Vols seventh-year senior linebacker Keenan Pili, who entered Saturday with a team-high 28 tackles, suffered a lower-body injury less than five minutes into the game and was unable to return.
“We’ll know more tomorrow, but I’m not sure there is a better representative of what a Volunteer is than Keenan Pili,” Heupel said. “You’re talking about a selfless guy who cares about the people around him way more than he cares about himself, and he’s an elite competitor. He’s tough as nails and is everything you want.
“He’s a dude, man, a special dude.”
Odds and ends
Tennessee has gone seven consecutive games dating to last season without allowing a first-half touchdown. … The Vols won for the first time under Heupel in a game they trailed by double digits in the second half. … Pearce’s fumble recovery was the first of his career. … Junior linebacker Kalib Perry and sophomore linebacker Jeremiah Telander made their first career starts. … Tennessee’s 2024 SEC championship softball team was honored during a break in the first quarter. … At the end of the third quarter, Morgan Wallen’s “The Way I Talk” replaced “Friends in Low Places” by Garth Brooks as the song played over the loudspeakers.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com.