Tennessee football conquered over two decades worth of demons at Florida’s Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on Saturday night. The Vols did it in emphatic fashion, jumping out to a 31-0 halftime lead and coasting to a 31-11 victory after a low possession second half.
It was a phenomenal first 17 minutes of game time for Tennessee with the Vols jumping out to a 21-0 lead while out-gaining Florida 190 yards to one yard. But the history of the rivalry led many Tennessee fans to remain wary despite the fast start.
What happened on the next two drives in a four play sequence is what proved this time would be different for Tennessee.
Florida was facing fourth-and-one at its own 46-yard line early in the second quarter. The Gators kept it simple and ran a quarterback sneak. Tennessee blew it up, getting strong push from its defensive line up the middle while Arion Carter, Jeremiah Telander, Andre Turrentine and a host of other defenders pushed and pulled Lagway back.
Two plays later, Josh Heupel drew up a deep shot. Only Jayden Woods rushed right past Lance Heard and strip sacked Joey Aguilar. It looked like Florida would easily recover the fumble but one Gator whiffed attempting to pick it up and Aguilar dove on it.
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Tennessee then went to the surrender run on third-and-17, ready to punt. Only Star Thomas ran around the right end and rumbled 52 yards to the one yard line. He nearly fumbled it into the end zone for a touchback but was just down in time.
What could have been a momentum altering turnover and great field position for Florida was somehow not a turnover as Joey Aguilar dove on the football. Then the near Thomas fumble at the goal line. The Florida defender jarred the ball loose before Thomas hit the ground but the Tennessee running back did just enough to regain control of the ball before he hit the ground and the ball rolled through the end zone.
One play after Thomas’ 52-yard run, DeSean Bishop punched it into the end zone from one-yard out to give Tennessee a 28-0 lead. The game was over from there with the Vols’ cruising to their first victory in The Swamp since 2003.
