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This Saturday at noon, Butch Jones and the Tennessee Volunteers look to end a nine-game losing streak against the Florida Gators in front of a sold out Neyland Stadium crowd.
Florida (2-1) travels to Knoxville this year with little acclaim. The Gators are unranked. They are fresh off of a 4-8 season, have a coach on the hot seat (according to some), and recently allowed a school-record 645 yards of total offense to Alabama. And while this isn’t your Steve Spurrier or Urban Meyer variety Gator squad, make no mistake, this is still a very talented and dangerous Florida team.
This week we caught up with Andy Hutchins, the editor of AlligatorArmy.com, who was generous enough to answer a few questions about the upcoming game from the Florida perspective. You can find Andy’s work at the link above or on Twitter @AndyHutchins.
What’s the deal with Jeff Driskel and his struggles? From the stats I’ve seen, he’s only been sacked twice so it doesn’t appear to be a protection issues. The last time he visited Neyland, he combined for 300 yards rushing/passing. Can he duplicate that performance this year?
I think Driskel’s struggles this season have a lot to do with inaccuracy. He’s been bad in the aggregate, and on deeper throws, especially, but not terrible on any given throw: The only really terrible one I think he’s made this year was an awful cross-body attempt at a throwaway that Kentucky rightfully picked. But being fractionally off on 10 throws a game is really painful, especially when Florida’s wide receivers have been contributing their own drops, too.
Could Driskel repeat that 2012 performance, which actually got him honest-to-God Heisman hype? Maybe. A lot of his success in that game was premised on the smart use of his legs, though, and he’s seemed more tentative as a runner in 2014, despite putting up 59 rushing yards against Alabama. If he can make better decisions in the read option and hit even half of the passes he’s been missing, he could improve his results significantly without really improving his performance all that much.
What are the chances we might see Florida’s backup quarterback, Treon Harris, at some point Saturday?
I’d put them at scant. We’ll probably see him in an SEC Network package, but his only work on the field seems likely to be in event of a disaster or an injury, and I don’t think either one is particularly likely.
Historically, the team that rushes for more yards in this game is likely to win. Do you believe that applies to this year’s matchup?
I think this series used to be “run to win”; now, it feels more like it’s “win, then run.” Florida’s running game would appear to have a significant edge on Tennessee, given how the Vols have been pretty shoddy on the ground to date — even adjusting for Todd Gurley being excellent last Saturday, Tennessee’s been no better than about average against the run, and that’s despite playing some overmatched teams.
And though Jalen Hurd looks like a bellcow to be for the Vols, the one thing that’s been consistently good for Florida’s defense through three games is its run-stuffing. The Gators have been miserly on the ground for about 10.5 of the 12 quarters they’ve played, with Alabama running over a tired team late in that game. If Tennessee can lean on Florida like Alabama did, I’d be a little surprised.
For those who aren’t familiar with Florida this year, how would you describe this year’s team and who are some players Vol fans should watch for?
Raw is one word that comes to mind, and unproven is another. The Gators were thought to be a pretty talented bunch with some questions to answer this offseason, and that characterization rings true through three games: There are good players on this roster, to be sure, but whether they form a good team in sum is yet to be seen.
Obviously, Driskel’s the player to watch, but Vernon Hargreaves III is the best player Florida’s got on a pound-for-pound basis, and his play against Marquez North is going to be important on Saturday, as will the play of Dante Fowler, Jr. against the inexperienced Tennessee offensive line.
Is this a must-win game for Will Muschamp? There’s been a lot of speculation that it would be hard for him to survive if he loses to Tennessee this year.
I wrote about this earlier this week: They’re all must-wins for Muschamp at this point. The path to a season that saves his job looks nigh impassable if he loses to Tennessee, but Florida fans really need Florida to win a bunch of games, and soon, for their sanity’s sake, and this is a football game the Gators can win, sooo…
What impact has former UT coach Kurt Roper had on UF’s offense this year? Was his hiring viewed generally as favorable or unfavorable?
Roper’s transitioned Florida to a spread attack from the pro-style offense the Gators ran under Charlie Weis and Brent Pease, and he’s installed some uptempo offense, too, but it’s unclear whether, apart from seemingly helping fix a lot of the basic protection issues that plagued Florida over the last three seasons, he’s really been able to improve the offense. His hiring was definitely welcomed, and I don’t think many people thought it wasn’t a good hire on the merits, but the offense to date, despite some showy numbers against Eastern Michigan and Kentucky, isn’t up to most Florida fans’ standards.
Tennessee wins if… ? Florida wins if… ?
Tennessee wins if… Justin Worley outplays Driskel dramatically, and lights up Florida’s troubled secondary.
Florida wins if… the Gators establish themselves on the ground, and shore up some of their defensive deficiencies.
If you were a betting man, who would you pick to win?
Florida. While this looks like a closer game than virtually any one between these two teams during the course of Florida’s recent success, I think Tennessee’s going to struggle to run or stop the run, and that the Gators can give Driskel chances to make smart decisions with a strong running game.[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]