GAINESVILLE, Fla. - Tennessee keeps finding new ways to lose games in heart-breaking fashion.
The Volunteers again let a two-score fourth-quarter lead disintegrate as Florida rallied from 27-14 to win its 11th straight in the series on Saturday evening at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.
Tennessee's Aaron Medley saw a 55-yard field goal fly inches wide of the right upright as time expired.
The Gators grabbed the lead with a 63-yard touchdown pass from Will Grier to Antonio Calloway with 1:26 left on fourth-and-14.
Florida twice converted on fourth down on its previous scoring drive and finished 5-of-5 on fourth down for the game.
The Vols extended an uncomfortable lead to two scores early in the fourth quarter when Jalen Hurd scored a 10-yard touchdown that capped a 16-play drive that took off seven minutes and 29 seconds.
Tennessee quarterback Joshua Dobbs (11) runs past Florida defensive lineman Bryan Cox (94) and defensive lineman Jonathan Bullard, lower right, during his game, Saturday, Sept. 26, 2015, in Gainesville, Fla. Twice on its final desperation drive, the Vols had to burn timeouts to avoid a 10-second run-off for penalties while the clock was moving.
The Vols also should have gone for a two-point conversion following Hurd's touchdown, but elected to kick the extra point.
Florida struck first in the opening quarter and running back Kelvin Taylor broke free for a 47-yard run that set up the first of his two touchdown runs of the day.
Tennessee took a 17-7 lead into halftime because of effective defense, Dobbs and some trick plays.
The first was a double pass that saw receiver Jauan Jennings, a converted quarterback, catch a lateral from Dobbs and look downfield before throwing it back to Dobbs, who used his line of blockers and speed to score from 58 yards.
The second trick play was even gutsier.
Facing a fourth-and-short near midfield, running back Alvin Kamara took a handoff on what appeared to be a run up the middle, but he instead stopped and lobbed a pass to Ethan Wolf.
Dobbs added another 17-yard run -- his fumble on the play narrowly avoided going out of bounds in the end zone for a touchback -- before Hurd powered in from the 1-yard-line to complete the drive.
Tennessee looked in control after Aaron Medley's second field goal made it 20-7 in the third quarter, but Florida turned a Dobbs fumble into a Taylor touchdown to pull to within six at 20-14.
The Vols got a defensive stop when Florida had the ball down 20-14 to set up the long touchdown drive.
It was the kind of drive that deserved to win a game, but the Vols again faltered late.
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com.
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