Florida 28, Tennessee 27

The first half consisted of fairly ugly football.

Look, I’m as big of a supporter of Jones as the next guy, but blame is due in this scenario.

The Gators had problems with Tennessee quarterback Joshua Dobbs (18 rushes for 135 yards) and the Vols’ physical running game for much of the day.

LEONARD FOURNETTE runs for a career-high 244 yards, and two touchdowns, to key LSU’s 34-24 victory at Syracuse. “They played their tails off”, McElwain said. Florida answered that with a Will Grier interception. You always feel like they can get you the ball back.

At halftime, Tennessee went into the locker room with a 17-7 advantage. Taylor ran for more yards in the first two series (59) than he has any complete game since November.

Vols Still Special: Tennessee placekicker Aaron Medley missed a potential game-winning, 55-yard field goal by a foot in the final seconds. The drive started at Tennessee’s 29 after a fumble recovery by Bryan Cox Jr. UT recovered well on the ensuing three plays, but Grier hit Powell for a 21-yard gain on 4th-and-6.

“You don’t want to end it now, especially on our home turf”, said UF wide receiver Brandon Powell, who committed to Tennessee before signing with the Gators.

Who to pick? I’ve been going back and forth on this one all week.

No one saw what would happen next coming. He went into the last frame of last year’s Florida game with a 9-0 lead. To find a loss, you have to go all the way back to 1986. A third down throw to Robinson also failed.

Indeed, again, coach. And this new version of Florida has yet to do so.

UF freshman Antonio Callaway had a feeling. On that same drive, Florida rushed in for a touchdown.

Another Tennessee-Florida game is in the books and we’re now somewhere in the middle of that endless stretch of North Florida and South Georgia that will inevitably turn into Atlanta traffic before finally making it back to the Volunteer State several hours from now. Dobbs then made up for the penalty with a 19-yard pass to Kamara.

With only six seconds remaining, the Vols were penalized for a false start.

The Vols tried to run out the clock from there, but Dobbs rolling out and running on a third-down play seemed like an odd decision.

Here’s where things really broke down.

Two critical mistakes on the sidelines cost Tennessee this game. Medley missed and the game was over. Florida escaped. The way they unfolded made it all the worse – blowing two-score leads in the fourth quarter both times with a nightmarish combination of bad game management, poor execution and so many opportunities to finish that were squandered. Losing to Florida again would not usher in the Apocalypse and the Vols could still technically somehow get to Atlanta, but let’s be honest here.

The win is a massive one for McElwain. In rivalries such as this, you usually throw out the records, but the Vols haven’t defeated Florida since 2004 and this year they have as good as a chance as ever to beat the Gators. Going into Saturday’s matchup, the Vols had lost 10 straight games to the Gators. It won’t contend for the East and may not score an offensive point next week against Ole Miss. The Gators scored on drives of 86 and 59 in the fourth quarter. It would be a huge confidence boost for this team.

For Tennessee, it’s a crushing loss.

UT’s loss to the Gators previous year was one of the most painful during the streak. Butch Jones, like most coaches would, has sought to downplay the importance of this game as just any other, but it clearly is not.

Individually, Tennessee has many impressive players.