Butch Jones summed it up with just a handful of words.
“Defensively, I thought we played well enough to win the football game,” Tennessee’s head coach Butch Jones said. “But at the end of the day, you have to score touchdowns in the red zone and you can’t turn the football over.
“That’s pretty much the storyline.”
In total, Tennessee had four trips in the red zone, but couldn’t convert any into touchdowns, settling for three field goals.
Freshman kicker Aaron Medley’s nine points, however, wasn’t enough, as Florida (3-1, 2-1 SEC) overcame a fourth quarter deficit to hand the Volunteers (2-3, 0-2) a heartbreaking 10-9 loss to push their winless streak against the Gators to 10 games.
But even with their offense struggling to find the end zone, the Vols controlled the momentum for the majority of the contest thanks in large part to their defense, who limited the Gators to just 232 yards and forced them to punt a season-high eight times.
That is until the Gators defense finally left their mark.
With eight seconds remaining in the third quarter, Florida cornerback Jalen Tabor came off the edge, sacked senior quarterback Justin Worley and jarred the ball loose, with the fumble eventually being recovered by Tabor.
“Usually I do a good job of feeling pressure,” Worley said. “But with him coming from so far out there, I just didn’t know he was coming and I should have.”
From there, it was all Gators.
On the ensuing drive, junior running back Matt Jones punched in the only touchdown of the game from two yards out. And after forcing the Vols to punt on the following drive, the Gators proceeded to drive the ball 49 yards to set up what would be Austin Hardin’s game-winning 49-yard field goal.
The Vols, however, had one last opportunity to get past the Gators with 2:39 remaining in the game.
And after Worley was able to find Alton “Pig” Howard to convert on fourth-and-10 – the second late down conversion to Howard on the drive – it seemed like the Vols had all the momentum.
Then, Worley’s next pass found the hands of Florida defensive back Keanu Neal and just like that, UT’s fate was sealed.
“It was a tight window and I was trying to fit it in,” Worley said. “I might’ve thrown it a little bit early and overshot him a bit.”
But if the Gators’ fourth quarter resurgence was fueled by that late fumble, it was sustained because of freshman quarterback Treon Harris.
After starting quarterback Jeff Driskel couldn’t manage to put any points on the board in 11 drives for the Gators, Florida head coach Will Muschamp decided a change was needed.
Harris provided the spark for the Gators, despite only rushing for 24 yards on four carries while throwing for an additional 17 yards on 2-of-4 passing in his three drives under center.
“Having a mobile quarterback created more gaps with the running back lead blocking,” redshirt linebacker Curt Maggitt said. “Guys had to get off the blocks, making plays. It was a change of pace for us, definitely.”
Driskel finished the day with 59 yards and three interceptions on 11-of-23 passing.
Ultimately, the offensive line’s inability to contain Florida’s front seven was the reason for the Vols’ offensive ineptitude. Worley was sacked six times in the contest – the same amount that the Gators defense had coming into the contest – and wasn’t given enough time against a stingy UF secondary.
Running backs Marlin Lane and Jalen Hurd – who suffered a shoulder injury in the game – also weren’t given any holes to run through, as the duo combined for only 51 yards rushing on 20 carries.
“I’m going to get hit and I’m going to bounce back from it,” Worley said. ” … We’ve got to do a better job up front at times, but those guys fought hard and did a great job at other times. We just have to develop some consistency.”
The loss extends the Vols’ current losing streak versus the Gators to 10 games, and the response to falling just short against their biggest rival was as expected.
“Everyone hurts,” sophomore linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin said. “Our young guys hurt, our old guys hurt. It’s a rivalry game, we don’t like Florida. So everyone is hurting in the locker room right now.”
Tennessee will be looking to end their current three-game losing streak when they host the Chattanooga Mocs for their Homecoming game Oct. 11 at 4 p.m.
