KNOXVILLE - Tennessee's preparation for Florida's offense got a little simpler Wednesday.
The Volunteers spent the first part of the week preparing to defend both Will Grier and Treon Harris, the two quarterbacks the Gators have been rotating in the opening weeks of the season, but Harris is now out of the picture.
First-year Florida coach Jim McElwain announced after practice Wednesday that Harris and cornerback Jalen Tabor won't play against Tennessee, so the redshirt freshman Grier, who started and played the entire game at Kentucky last week, will be the one to face the Vols.
"We're preparing for both of them really. The offense doesn't change a whole lot," Tennessee defensive coordinator John Jancek said after Tuesday's practice. "The only thing they do with Harris is have some designed quarterback runs.
"They hadn't had that in the first two games. The offense looks like it didn't change much when either of them were in the game, but certainly that could change this week. We just do our diligence and be prepared for it."
The 6-foot-2, 203-pound Grier was a four-star prospect and the No. 4 pro-style quarterback in the 2014 recruiting class according to 247Sports.com, and the North Carolinian redshirted his first season in Gainesville after enrolling in January 2014.
Harris, who came off the bench to guide Florida to two fourth-quarter touchdowns in the 10-9 win at Tennessee last season, started the opener against New Mexico State, but Grier started against East Carolina and Kentucky.
Though Grier went the distance against the Wildcats, McElwain said Monday "don't read anything into" that and seemed to suggest both quarterbacks would continue to play.
Tennessee coach Butch Jones said during his radio show Wednesday night that Tennessee's coaches felt Grier had played his way into being the guy at quarterback for Florida.
Grier has completed 39 of 57 passes for 442 yards with four touchdowns and two interceptions, and he's actually Florida's second-leading rusher. He has run for a team-high 61 yards on 12 carries with a touchdown run on fourth-and-goal at the 1-yard line in the first quarter against Kentucky.
"He's just taking off when he drops back to pass," Jancek said. "The (Kentucky) guys lost some points in their rush lanes on the quarterback, and he was able to get some pretty long runs on scrambles. That's huge. We talk about that all the time."
Keeping Grier from hurting them with his running ability has been a point of emphasis this week for the Vols, who too often let Oklahoma's Baker Mayfield shake free from potential sacks and extend plays.
"Really our defense as a whole, we've got to work together," freshman linebacker Darrin Kirkland Jr. said, "and make sure we're all owning our points and make sure we play our role in the defense and make sure we're controlling the pocket."
Jancek said the Gators are using tight ends more - Florida's tight ends combined for more than 100 receiving yards in back-to-back games for the first time since 2009 against NMSU and East Carolina - and using more motion and unbalanced formations in their first year under former Michigan and Alabama offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier.
Given Florida's inexperienced offensive line and the fact its quarterback is making his third career start, Tennessee may try to disguise and mix up its coverages and blitz package to confuse the Gators in hopes of getting them into favorable down-and-distances and causing turnovers.
"You're looking at all those things, as long as it's not confusing your own players," Jancek said. "For me, putting the package together starts with us first. What are we able to handle, based off the formations and the motions and the shifts? We don't want any confusion on our end.
"Now, are the things that you're able to do, does that affect the offensive line? Or do you have to go into another direction. Are you looking at possibly getting (specific) matchups? Things of that nature. All those things come into play when you're putting together a game plan."
Cornerback Cameron Sutton believes a simpler approach may work just fine for Tennessee.
"It goes back to our big three on defense: Execute, effort and force turnovers," he said. "We do those three things, we feel like we can win any game, or put ourselves in a situation to win any game.
"Obviously executing is a big part of the game. Everybody's got to do their job and do their assignment. Give great effort each and every play and force turnovers, get the ball back to our offense and give them more opportunities to score points."
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com