From a field goal at the 2:39 mark of the second quarter to a final touchdown with 8:27 left in the fourth quarter, Tennessee reeled off all 38 of its points unanswered.
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And in the process, the Volunteers took out 11 years’ worth of frustration on Florida.
Tennessee’s agonizingly long 11-game losing streak to Florida finally ended on Saturday in Neyland Stadium, as the Volunteers stormed back with an onslaught of points in the second half to claim a 38-28 win over their longtime SEC East rivals.
Despite giving up three first-half touchdowns and going into the locker room down 18 points, Tennessee head coach Butch Jones knew the outcome of the game was less clear than it looked to be at halftime.
Florida was so confident it would continue the streak that Gators cornerback Quincy Wilson boldly said this week that “nobody has ever seen a duck pull a truck”.
The Gators offense rolled into the game with a swagger in its step and got the passing game going from the get-go. Meanwhile the Gator defense was keeping Tennessee at bay.
“I feel like we play better when we’re down”, defensive end Derek Barnett said.
Although Florida fought a good fight, Tennessee showed how bad they wanted it and did not give up despite being down by 21.
Instead of taking a sack and playing the next play, he chose to scramble backwards and threw a pass right into the hands of Tennessee safety Todd Kelly Jr.
For the game: It was quite the collapse in the second half and Florida, to be honest, benefitted from five dropped passes by Tennessee in the first half, two which could have been touchdowns.
After UF drove down the field at will with a flawless deep ball from backup quarterback Austin Appleby to Antonio Callaway to set up a game-opening touchdown, Callaway fumbled a UT punt at his 2-yard line to set up the Vols. Once you get a bunch a guys out there trying to do their own thing, that’s when it fails – especially in a team game. These are life lessons. Unfortunately, one team went a bit over the line and isn’t the side you think it would be. But a 23-yard touchdown pass to a wide-open Jalen Hurd on Tennessee’s next possession ignited the comeback. The Gators then went on an 80-yard drive, making it 21-0.
“We came into the locker room and we said, ‘Don’t panic, ‘” Dobbs said.
The loss still stings, and Florida will need to get past it quickly, but this game just mattered more to the Vols. Gavin Bryant got in for a couple of plays and affected the ball game. With their normally effective defense, Florida expects to win games when they put 28 points on the board. The defense did not allow a single first down in the second half until 7:34 left in the 4th quarter.
But the second half was littered with miscues on defense and inefficiency on offense for the Gators, while Dobbs put a rough start behind him and caught fire.
After going 7 of 20 for 84 yards with an interception in the first half, Dobbs was 9 of 12 for 235 yards and four touchdowns and an interception the rest of the way.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Benny Snell Jr. scored the go-ahead touchdown from 1 yard midway through the fourth quarter, Boom Williams broke a 43-yard TD and Kentucky held off SC 17-10 on Saturday night for their third straight series victory over the Gamecocks. Florida went for a stretch in the second half where five of six drives ended in punts, and much of that had to do with the Florida’s rushing attack being unable to spark much.
Tennessee, which was ninth in the preseason poll, should move back into the top-10 this week.
It was an important win for Auburn (2-2, 1-1) and coach Gus Malzahn, who faced increased criticism following losses to Top 25 opponents Clemson and Texas A&M.
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The Volunteers’ next three weeks will define their season, not the first four. This matched the third-biggest comeback in Tennessee history. He found Wilson, who had lined up at fullback, for a 1-yard third-quarter score. The Vols have won 10 straight games since.
