Vols facing first hostile atmosphere since 2019 loss at Alabama

Florida Athletics photo by Chris Kim / Florida football fans cheer on their Gators during last Saturday's 31-29 loss to top-ranked Alabama.
Florida Athletics photo by Chris Kim / Florida football fans cheer on their Gators during last Saturday's 31-29 loss to top-ranked Alabama.

Remember when former Tennessee quarterback Jarrett Guarantano went rogue inside Bryant-Denny Stadium, changing the play at Alabama's goal line and fumbling away any hopes the Volunteers had of upsetting the Crimson Tide?

That evening in October 2019 also serves as the last time the Vols played a road game before more than 60,000 spectators - until now, that is.

Tennessee's first journey of the Josh Heupel era takes the rebuilding Vols to No. 11 Florida for a Saturday night encounter in the imposing Swamp. A frenzied crowd of 90,887 witnessed No. 1 Alabama's 31-29 escape of Dan Mullen's Gators last weekend in Gainesville, and a similar audience is expected for this matchup of longtime Southeastern Conference Eastern Division rivals. ESPN will televise the 7 p.m. game.

This hasn't been much of a rivalry in recent years, with Florida (2-1, 0-1) claiming 15 of the past 16 series meetings, and the location of this season's game isn't expected to aid the chances of a win for Tennessee (2-1, 0-0).

"You try to create and simulate the issues that it causes as far as communication, in particular on offense, because of the crowd," Heupel said Thursday. "For us, we have to do a great job as a team of communicating and being clean as far as pre-snap penalties. It's been a big emphasis for us all week long."

The Vols played before 70,372 total fans in five road ventures last season due to COVID-19 capacity restrictions, with Georgia (20,524) and Auburn (17,490) providing the largest away crowds. Tennessee demolished Vanderbilt last December in Nashville before an announced audience of 849.

Tennessee last won in the Swamp on Sept. 20, 2003, when Phillip Fulmer's Vols overpowered Ron Zook's Gators 24-10. There have been eight Tennessee losses since in the Swamp, with the 2015 and 2017 games ending in heartbreak but with the 2019 clash resulting in Florida's 34-3 rout.

The Vols have won in every other league venue since their last triumph in Gainesville, with the exception of Arkansas (losing in 2006, 2011 and 2020) and Texas A&M (losing in 2016). Their last victory at Alabama transpired a month after their last win at Florida.

This will be Tennessee's first night game at Florida since 2005, when the Gators prevailed 16-7 in Urban Meyer's first season.

"The Swamp is real, and a lot of guys come here to play top teams in the Swamp," Florida quarterback Emory Jones said. "The fans definitely help us out a lot, and that's something we always love and feed off. The fans cause a lot of penalties and confusion and a lot of miscommunication.

"They play a part in every game we play. We love that environment."

Heupel hopes Tennessee can somehow tame Florida's crowd to the greatest extent possible.

"It will be important to stay out of third-and-longs in this football game and absolutely being extremely efficient in the run game," Heupel said.

Odds and ends

Heupel is 30-9 in his fourth season as a head coach, while Mullen is a similar 31-10 in his fourth year at Florida. ... Vols senior safety Theo Jackson's six tackles for loss leads all defensive backs in the Football Bowl Subdivision.

Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524. Follow him on Twitter @DavidSPaschall.

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