I don't get the confidence in Tennessee beating Florida

#26
#26
I am mightily disappointed in our last outing especially but think OK was a bit of a special circumstance. I think the team and CJH got caught flat footed with the piggies. That wont happen again. I have a real concern that the weaknesses we saw and vanilla play calling were because of real issues that are there but think CJH has the capability to adjust at least for where Florida is now. Until proven otherwise, Bama and Gawja still are serious concerns though.

Ultimately, I am confident that we will pull off a strong win tomorrow (but I am not betting on it this week lol)
 
  • Like
Reactions: feathersax
#27
#27
Had we boat raced Arkansas I still wouldn't feel good about this game. Why? Because it's UF. and over the last 20 years we have not played them well. It doesn't matter how good we are or how bad they are. I will be surprised if we win this game. And I will keep saying this until we reel off 3 or 4 in a row against them. Just the way it is.
We are 6-24 the last 30 games against Florida....That's hard to wrap a person's mind around....unless you're Vandy.
 
#28
#28
Even the Sports Animal people are confident Tennessee beats Florida and most of them are notorious negavols. And my question is why? The lead-up to this game feels very much like most of the Florida games the last 20 years. We are reeling from a bad loss and our o-line is looking very suspect. The sugar on top is our young QB appears to be going through growing pains and is dealing with shaky confidence from some mistakes and getting hit a lot in SEC play.so far. I don't feel good about this game at all.. I hope I'm wrong.
We always focus on the relative strengths and weaknesses of our opponent, and to some degree rightly so. But this Tennessee team's strength is rushing the football. We got a banged up WR room so just come out in 12 personnel and run it down the Gators throat. Wanna load the box and run blitz us, fine dump it off to the TE's or Sampson and let's see if your DB's can tackle them in space. All we have to do to beat the Gators is NOT BEAT OURSELVES!! Get a hat on a hat and don't get stupid pre-snap and dead ball penalties. Our OL are much better at run blocking than pass blocking and frankly our RB room sucks at picking up stunts and blitzers. Lean on that TE room and line up and out physical a not particularly good Florida run defense. JMHO which probably means nothing. GBO
 
#30
#30
We are 6-24 the last 30 games against Florida....That's hard to wrap a person's mind around....unless you're Vandy.
Yup. After we beat them in 2022, I thought maybe, just maybe JH finally reverses this trend for us. That the majority of the reason we lost to them as much as we did all those years was because we had garbage head coaches. Then...last year happened. So, just can't have confidence in this game especially with how the offense is playing. And this will be the game where someone UF figures out a way to run for 150 yards on us.
 
#31
#31
You being optimistic is natural. It's called being a Vols fan. We've been bitten by reality more times than not after buying into false hope. Truth is, our Oline hasn't played like that and our QB hasn't been that bad. It's one game and not an indicator of what this team can do. Plus, night time Neyland is another animal and quite frankly, Florida sucks.
Agree with the point, but the Oline has been very worrying in my eyes

- Signed, not an Oline Coach
 
#32
#32
I’ve seen enough “bad” Florida teams suddenly hit their stride against Tennessee to know better; last year was a great example. Florida hasn’t been a gimme in 30 years, and they won’t be for the foreseeable future.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Rocky Top T
#33
#33
I think it will be a very close game until the end. Even our best team in recent history only beat a 6 win Florida team by less than a touchdown and almost lost on the last play of the game.

This upcoming Florida game is a real toss-up game. I don't see how we're favored by 15 points to be honest.
 
Last edited:
#34
#34
2-17 over last 19 years. Easiest $ in all of sports dating back beyond that to Spurrier’s days.

They own us until they don’t. Confidence in this one is fraught with disappointment. Know we all want to see that change, hope to see it starting tomorrow.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Rocky Top T
#35
#35
I remember the week before we played Arkansas and a few threads on this site saying " are we looking past Arkansas" ? were met with " Don't sweat it, Ark is a middle of the pack SEC game--we'll be fine " I won't feel good about beating Florida until the clock runs out with us leading.
 
#36
#36
I agree with the OP. I understand the matchup of our offensive line versus their defensive line, but this overwhelming ridiculous pointspread has me confused.
 
#37
#37
The reality is that Tennessee must play a better game than it had against Arkansas if it is going to beat Florida. Our players must stop their drive killing penalties. O-line players have to beat their man so Niko can go through reads, set his feet, and throw accurately down field. WRs need to do their jobs. Our RBs need to see holes and creases. The punter needs to punt short when the field is short and long when it is long, instead of long when the field is short and short when the field is long. Duh. We could go on and on about the poor performances last week. They need to play smarter and with more energy. They looked fuzzed and tired, not smart and strong. Tennessee will beat Florida if our guys bring their best game. Question is, will they?
 
#38
#38
I’ve seen enough “bad” Florida teams suddenly hit their stride against Tennessee to know better; last year was a great example. Florida hasn’t been a gimme in 30 years, and they won’t be for the foreseeable future.

That game was on the road. Road games in the SEC are tough no matter whose playing. Georgia only beat Kentucky by 1 point while Alabama just lost at Vandy.

In the last 25 years Tennessee has not lost AT HOME to Florida as the clear cut better team. Almost all of our losses at home have been when we suck or Florida is just better. Now all that should tell you is we've been terrible for a long time cause we've rarely been clearly better than Florida. The only 2 years I can think of are 2016 and 2022. In 2016 Florida was also good which makes that win more impressive than 2022 when we let a not so good Florida team hang around.

This year is probably the most superior Tennessee has been to Florida since before Spurrier. Plus the game is at home. We've never been in such a situation. That's why people feel it's a gimme. You're just clouded by the fact the circumstances of this matchup have either been toss-ups or decidedly in Florida's favor. We've rarely had the edge this dedecisively. It's why Vegas has us as 15 point favorites. We're the clear cut better team AT HOME for the first time in forever.
 

VN Store



Back
Top