The Vols head back to the friendly confines of Neyland Stadium this week after a tough loss on the road to Georgia. The Vols played a solid game against the Bulldogs, but came up on the short-end of the stick again, but it is obvious they are improving.
Personally, I want the Florida game more than any other, every year. Sure, Bama is huge, and for most fans, that may be the "big one", but growing up during the Spurrier era, and seeing Florida being the constant roadblock for those incredible Tennessee teams, this one still is the "money game" for me. Florida has won 22 of the last 28 games. I can't stand them.
How do the Vols stack up against the once mighty Florida Gators?
The Gators sit at 2-1 right now, and are coming fresh off of a bye-week. Normally, I crunch numbers from all of the games, but I don't think what they did against Eastern Michigan is going to have much relevance to us (66-0), so the stats this week will only take into account games vs. Alabama and Kentucky.
Here are the keys to the game:
1. Keep on rollin': Worley played some good football against UGA. Good enough to probably win the game, if he didn't get injured. On the season, he is completing 60% of his passes. I can't recall what I said at the beginning of the season, but I think I said 65 or 70% would put us in a really good place. Aside from the Oklahoma game, he has been right around that mark. Worley should be able to pick apart the Florida secondary, 7 yards at a time. Florida has given up an incredible average of 407 yards passing to KY and AL. Worley should have silly grin on his face.
If the Vols return Pearson and/or Smith, it will get even better. Worley played some of his best football against Georgia. Give him 4 quarters in Knoxville against the Gators, and he should notch 300+ yards. Wolf should eat often.
2. Turnovers: One of the things that killed us against UGA was the inability to capitalize on turnovers. When the breaks go your way, you must turn them into points. Driskel has 3 INT on the year, and Tennessee would do well to force him into another multiple turnover game. Demarcus Robinson (WR) went absolutely nuts against East Mich and KY, but disappeared vs. AL. Limit his effectiveness, and we are doing well.
Our secondary has been playing hit or miss football. Sometimes looking bad, sometimes looking really Cam Sutton. Overall, the secondary should be up to the task and have a couple of picks. Brian Randolph is due to pick off a deep post.
3. Establish the Running Game: Florida will likely look to grind it out on the ground with Matt Jones (4.7 ypc) and Kelvin Taylor (3.94 ypc). They gave up on the run vs Bama, but whoever runs the ball the best in this series wins. Our defense has to be stout up the middle, and contain the edge. For the love of Todd... when you play Florida, contain the edge.
The TN OL needs to continue to grow, and I look for Hurd to break off a couple of big runs. Worley's effectiveness will cause the defense to play honest, and Hurd should gallop through for some big gains. Don't be surprised to see his line look like, (2, 2, -1, 4, 0, 6, 23, 4...) The truth is, Gurley was held in check fairly well, but it's those big runs that raise that average up and makes it look like he was dominating all night. Marlin Lane needs to contribute and take some of the hits off of Hurd, and maybe we finally see Scott this week.
4. Fast Track: Tennessee jumped out to a 10-0 lead in Athens, and if that game was in Knoxville, it may have become a blowout. Tennessee fans are ravenously craving a win over our big 3 opponents, and if the Vols can jump out to a quick lead, the fans will be nuts... 12:00 kick-off or not. It will be interesting to see if the checkerboard idea works out. I think Butch has a few more things in store for this game as well. Hitting the gators quick will be key in making this a hellish afternoon from the 102,455.
5. Kick the monkey's a** off of our backs: It's time. We've been close. We've had "moral victories". It's time for a big win. A win over Florida would not be a bigger win than the win over USCe last year, but the perception of it is. Fans want this one, and the team wants this one. The seniors will want to have this notch in their belt, and the team continues to grown and mature as the season goes on. On Saturday afternoon, the team puts it all together.
TN 37
FL 24
