The Tennessee Volunteers defeated the Florida Gators 38-28 in dramatic, come-from-behind fashion on Saturday night. That victory, as all Vol fans know, marked the first time since 2004 that Tennessee beat the Gators.
But that wasn’t the only streak the Vols ended on Saturday night.
Tennessee outscored Florida 35-7 in the second half, marking the first time since 2004 that the Vols outscored the Gators in the second half. The Gators had outscored Tennessee 187-92 in the second half during their 11-game winning streak over the Vols. Tennessee scored 16 points to Florida’s 7 back in 2004 to help complete a 30-28 victory for the Vols.
The Vols’ 38 points were the most they had scored against the Gators since a 45-3 shellacking in 1990. Tennessee has now scored 30 or more points against Florida only seven times in the past 27 meetings, and it was their first time scoring 30 or more points against the Gators since, you guessed it, 2004.
Tennessee’s win against Florida was also the first time the Vols got a victory in front of a Checker Neyland crowd. They had previously lost 10-9 to Florida in 2014 and 31-24 in double overtime to Oklahoma in 2015.
Jauan Jennings caught three passes for 111 yards and a touchdown in Tennessee’s 38-28 win over Florida. He became the first Vol to record a 100-yard receiving game against the Gators since Kelley Washington hauled in seven catches for 102 yards against them in 2002. Jennings also became the first Vol with a 100-yard receiving game since Von Pearson caught eight balls for 121 yards and a score against South Carolina on November 7th, 2015.
Josh Dobbs’ 319 passing yards in Tennessee’s win over Florida marked the first time a Vols’ quarterback had thrown for over 300 yards against the Gators since Peyton Manning threw for 492 yards against them in 1996. Several others had gotten close, such as Casey Clausen and Tyler Bray, but no Vol quarterback had eclipsed the 300-yard mark till Dobbs did on Saturday.
Tennessee has performed badly whenever College GameDay has come to Knoxville before a game. But the Vols found a way to win with ESPN’s premier college football show in town, and it was the first time the Vols had done that in almost two decades. The last time the Vols won with College GameDay in Knoxville was in 1999 when the GameDay crew came to preview the Vols clash with Notre Dame. Tennessee won that game 38-14.
The win over Florida pushed Tennessee to 4-0 on the season. That marks the first time since 2003 that Tennessee has started a season 4-0.
Everyone will point to Tennessee ending the 11-game losing streak to Florida, and rightfully so. But that wasn’t the only streak the Vols halted on Saturday.
