A bit of historical perspective, which may help explain why these last two losses have registered beyond a 10 on the pain scale.
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For Jones, getting past Saturday’s game will not be that simple. And in at least half of these cases, the quality of the opponent should be considered.
Both teams’ defenses have found their midseason form.
Grier and McElwain have miles to go to before being mentioned in the same breath as Spurrier as a Gators’ quarterback or coach. Tennessee has been on the losing end of two of them. While they still lost, they can learn a lot from that game, especially the first three quarters.
So before Butch, if Fulmer never did it, how far back do we have to go to find the last time the Vols blew a two possession lead in the fourth quarter?
Quarterback Josh Dobbs #11 completed three of his eight last throws during the game against the Western Carolina Catamounts at Neyland Stadium last week. Reeves-Maybin was asked if the two late-game collapses make the team start to expect bad things to happen.
At halftime, Tennessee went into the locker room with a 17-7 advantage.
So, here I am at the end of the week feeling Florida again. So for me and many of us, this is a new experience.
Jones may be a fine coach, but yesterday proved he is certainly not exempt from the trend of coaches out-thinking themselves in critical situations. The Gators lost three games at the Swamp in each of the past two years.
Fans were showing their spirit before Tebow headed out to the crowds by doing the “2 Bits” chant and other school songs. You’re the quarterback for a reason.’ He did.
“I don’t know if we deserved it or not, but I prefer it this way”, McElwain said. Defensive back LaDarrell McNeil intercepted it at the Tennessee 11 to end a potential scoring drive. Jones chose to burn one of his timeouts, fearing the Gators had a trick play in the works. The Volunteers offense needs to perform much better than that if they are want to have any chance of coming out of the game victorious. Butch Jones appears to have Tennessee headed in the right direction, but the Vols must learn to close out games. They would like to avoid making a change Saturday. More than enough to win this game.
That is good and bad for the Vols. But in this case we will accentuate the good as Vol fans need to look for some silver linings. He doesn’t have a lifetime history of blowing games, but he absolutely has a trend right now.
Running back Kelvin Taylor ripped off 47-yard rush on the Gators’ second drive of the game to set up his fourth touchdown of the season four plays later. The Vols will put up more than nine points and their defense doesn’t face the same challenge they did against Bowling Green or Oklahoma. It was conservative, but it worked.
When Florida’s winning streak over Tennessee began, the Gators were in their first year under Urban Meyer. After a solid kickoff return past the 30-yard line and a 10-yard pass on first down, left tackle Kyler Kerbyson cost the Vols 5 yards and one of their final two timeouts with a false start. The Gators have been very strong on the ground this year, so Grier will have options. Collins is known for coaching blitzing, attacking defense, and the Gators will bring the heat on Dobbs or Dormady. “I think that the results speak for themselves”.
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The surprise statistic might be that Florida had a higher percentage of fourth-down conversions under Muschamp (.581, 32 of 55) than Meyer (.563, 67 of 119) – who had one of the best short-yardage runners ever in Tebow. You grow or you lose.
