Tennessee football heads to Gainesville Saturday, looking for a major rivalry win and to end its 11-game losing streak at Florida’s Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. The Vols are looking to close their regular season strong with a pair of rivalry games while Florida is looks to add something substantial to a disappointing season.
The Vols are 3.5-point favorites with kickoff a day away. Here’s three keys on the Tennessee to earn a rivalry victory in Gainesville.
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Don’t Dig Yourself A Hole
Despite its 3-7 (2-6 SEC) record, Florida has been a decent first half team this season. The Gators have a strong defense that has worn down as games have gone on while their offense has had a handful of solid first halves including last week against Ole Miss and three weeks ago against Georgia.
But Florida’s offense has been dreadful in the second half this season. The Gators have only scored 37 points in the third quarter of games this season and 27 points in the fourth quarter. Break those numbers down a bit further and Florida is averaging less than seven points in the second half of games this season.
Two years ago, Tennessee dug itself a hole in the first half at Florida and was never able to climb out of it. The Vols need to avoid digging themselves a hole in this game. If they can jump on Florida early, all the better. But the main key is to stay in the game and give themselves a chance to win in the second half against a bad second half team.
Limit Turnovers
A key to not digging yourself a first half hole? Limit turnovers. Florida’s offense has struggled all season. While Tennessee’s defense has had its issues, the Vols need to make Florida’s offense beat them. Don’t allow Florida to score on defense or special teams. Don’t let them set their offense up with short fields off of turnovers.
That’s largely why Tennessee lost against Oklahoma two weeks ago. The Vols turned it over three times in the first half including a scoop-and-score. Those turnovers allowed Oklahoma to take a 16-7 halftime lead despite totaling just 99 yards of offense.
Joey Aguilar has turned the ball over five times in the last two games with his turnover issues rearing their ugly head. Tennessee needs him to play clean football and not hand Florida easy points.
Find A Consistent Running Game
One way for Tennessee to turn the ball over less is to run the ball better. If they can take some pressure off Aguilar’s shoulders and stay in third-and-manageable, that minimizes the chances of turnovers.
Tennessee’s rushing offense has struggled this season and was particularly bad two weeks ago when they totaled just 63 yards on the group against Oklahoma.
The good news for the Vols is that Florida’s defense has been susceptible to opponents rushing attack’s the last few week. Ole Miss rushed for 237 yards a week ago while Kentucky rushed for 233 yards two weeks ago. If Tennessee can follow that lead, they have a great chance to leave Gainesville with a victory.
