KNOXVILLE - When Tennessee ended a five-game losing streak against Florida in 1998, the Volunteers forced five turnovers and committed just one to secure a monumental overtime victory on their way to a national championship.
With more than 70 members of that historic team back at Neyland Stadium on Saturday night, the 2018 team offered a pitiful tribute.
Tennessee turned the ball over twice in the game's first nine minutes, leading to a pair of early scores for Florida, which never trailed as the Vols gifted their SEC East rival a 47-21 victory.
The bad start was only the beginning of a nightmare for the Vols (2-2, 0-1), who play at undefeated, second-ranked Georgia next weekend.
Boos rained down from a crowd of 100,027 as Tennessee quarterback Jarrett Guarantano took a knee to run the final 15 seconds off the first-half clock. At the time, Tennessee's drive chart looked like this: fumble, interception, turnover on downs, field goal, safety, fumble, fumble, halftime.
Most fans stayed through the halftime show, though the Vols trailed 26-3. Tennessee's Shawn Shamburger rewarded their patience by fumbling as he returned the opening kick of the second half.
An ESPN prime-time television viewing audience and what almost assuredly will be the largest home crowd of Tennessee's season watched the Vols turn the football over six times in the game. That total did not include the safety or turnover on downs in the first half.
"Lots of lessons," Tennessee coach Jeremy Pruitt said. "Not to take anything away from Florida, because they had an excellent game plan and they executed better than we did. And that's on me. I've got to do a better job. Our coaches have got to do a better job. We've all got to do a better job. But we've just got to give Florida credit for outplaying us 60 minutes tonight."
The woes began on Tennessee's first series. Florida defensive lineman Jachai Polite pursued Guarantano uncontested from the quarterback's blind side and blasted him, causing a fumble that linebacker David Reese caught and advanced to Tennessee's 21-yard line.
"When you continue to let people run and hit the quarterback in the back when he's not looking, eventually he's going to drop the ball," Pruitt said.
Four plays later, the Gators had a touchdown and the game's first lead.
Florida (3-1, 1-1) looked unspectacular despite its wide margin of victory. Tennessee kept pace with the Gators in total yardage but managed to commit error after error to end its opportunity at what appeared to be its best chance for a Southeastern Conference victory before November.
A personal foul on offensive lineman Trey Smith hurt Tennessee's second series, leading to a third-and-23 when Florida defensive lineman Luke Ancrum intercepted a Guarantano screen pass.
The Gators committed a turnover of their own late in the first quarter when cornerback Alontae Taylor hit Florida running back Lamical Perine at the line of scrimmage, popping the football lose. Defensive lineman Kyle Phillips dived on the ball, and the Vols managed to pick up 19 yards as the quarter flipped, leading to a 32-yard Brent Cimaglia field goal to cut the deficit to 14-3.
Paxton Brooks bounced a beautifully executed onside kick into the air on the ensuing kickoff, but Perine leaped amid a crowd of Tennessee players and snagged the ball.
Tennessee forced a punt, but it was downed on the 2, which set up a safety that increased Florida's lead to 16-3 and returned possession to the Gators.
Florida scored to lead 23-3. Then came turnover number three when tight end Austin Pope fumbled through the end zone for a touchback.
— David Cobb (@DavidWCobb) September 23, 2018
Tennessee forced another punt. But with backup quarterback Keller Chryst in the game after Guarantano took a hit, Tennessee turned the ball over again with a botched snap. Guarantano re-entered to kneel the ball down at the end of the first half, and he played for most of the third quarter until leaving the game for good with an injury.
Florida linebacker Cece Jefferson rolled directly into Guarantano's left knee a few seconds after he released a pass, causing Guarantano to crumple to the ground. He wore a knee brace on the sideline for the rest of the game.
After playing at Georgia, Tennessee has an open date before hosting Alabama and traveling to Auburn and South Carolina in October.
"I want us to fix the team in that locker room," Pruitt said, motioning toward Tennessee's. "That's what I want to do. I want us to play the right way. I want us to learn how to execute. I want us to do it all the time. Take care of the ball. Just fundamental details. Tackle better. Clean up tackle, finish on the quarterback. Quarterback pulls the ball down, stay in coverage. Just little things, just details.
"Lots of things people take for granted. People take it for granted, but if you're going to have success and you're going to have success in this league, you've got to do it right and you've got to do it right all the time."
Contact David Cobb at dcobb@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @DavidWCobb and on Facebook at facebook.com/volsupdate.