On Saturday afternoon, the Tennessee Volunteers traveled to Gainesville, Florida to meet the undefeated, ninth-ranked Florida Gators at the Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.
In the last 33 years, Florida has won this matchup 27 times and added to the win column with their commanding 34-3 victory over Tennessee on Saturday.
The Volunteers came into Week 4 with a 1-2 record after losing their first two games against Georgia State and BYU. Tennessee’s first victory came when they shutout Chattanooga last week 45-0.
This is the second SEC win for Florida after beating Kentucky last week –– and the Gators shutout UT Martin in Week 2 and were victorious against Miami in the season kick-off game. Starting quarterback Felipe Franks was injured in the Kentucky game, dislocating and fracturing his ankle, ending his season. This put Junior quarterback Kyle Trask in the starting position for the first time since his freshman year of high school.
Trask was able to avoid a fumble because the catcher was out of bounds when he caught the ball, but two plays later Trask was sacked and Henry To’o To’o recovered the ball. The following Volunteers possession started at the Florida 19-yard line, and on the third down and goal, Tennessee quarterback Jarrett Guarantano was unable to connect in the endzone and Florida defensive back Trey Dean III intercepted what was intended to be a touchdown pass.
The Gators were unable to convert the interception into points in the next possession and the first quarter ended with Florida on top 7-0. Tennessee started the second quarter with possession and Guarantano threw for another pass interception on the seventh play of the possession, this time by Florida’s Marco Wilson. Florida converted the interception into three more points on the board when Evan McPherson kicked a 22-yard field goal giving the Gators a ten-point lead over the Volunteers 10-0. In the next Florida possession, the Gators gave Emory Jones a rotation in the quarterback spot, in which the play was a quick, less than two minutes, three and out. Tennessee was unable to put any points on the board in their last possession of the first half, and following four yards and goal plays, and each team calling a time out with two seconds left in the quarter, Florida’s Kyle Trash was able to get the ball to Lamical Perine for a touchdown as the clock expired.
The Gators’ lead was extended to 17 points as they shut out Tennessee is the first half.
In the first half, Tennessee’s Jarrett Guarantano posted 8-of-15 completions for 74 yards and one interception in the first half and also led for rushing yards with three carries for seven yards. Senior Jauan Jennings led the Volunteers with six receptions for 66 yards. On the other side of the field, Kyle Trask led his team with 12-of-14 completed passes for 204 yards and one touchdown. Lamical Perine recorded nine carries for 30 yards and one touchdown, and Kyle Pitts led the Gators with three receptions for 51 yards and a touchdown.
The second half of the game began with Tennessee possession and true freshman Brian Maurer was in the quarterback spot for the Volunteers. Maurer ran his first two plays for eleven yards and recorded a 17-yard pass completion to Josh Palmer before being sacked by Jeremiah Moon. Tennessee finished their first possession by putting their first points on the board with a 40-yard field goal kicked by Brad Cunningham, the score was 17-3 with slightly over 12 minutes left in the third quarter.
Florida responded by putting another seven points on the board when Trask completed a pass to Freddie Swain for 29 yards with 9:11 left on the clock to make it 24-3. Tennessee followed the touchdown with its third turnover of the game when Amari Burney intercepted a throw, but they turned around in the next Gators’ possession and intercepted a pass themselves. Unfortunately, Tenness wasn’t able to convert the interception into any points and were called for a kick catching interference penalty on the punt but were successful in ending Florida’s possession when Alontae Taylor intercepted a pass in the endzone.
Guarantano was back in the quarterback position for the Volunteers when Florida’s Amari Burney forced a fumble on Eric Gray and recovered the fumbled ball, just seconds into the fourth quarter. Emery Jones again came out onto the field in the quarterback spot for the Gators in their next possession and Daemon Pierce rushed a 10-yard touch town with eleven and a half minutes left in the game, bringing the Florida lead to 28 points, 3-31. Tennessee wasn’t able to put any points on the board to close the gap any in their next possession due to Guarantano being sacked on the third down by Khris Bogle and Marion Dunlap Jr, and Florida finished it up by adding another three points to their lead with a 37-yard field goal by McPherson.
The game ended with Florida dominating Tennessee in a resounding 3-34 victory. Kyle Trask ended his first game as a starter with 20 of 28 completed passes for 293 yards, two touchdowns, and two interceptions. A solid performance for Trask, but definitely still has room for improvement.
Teammates Lamical Perine and Freddie Swain had impressive showings in the game as well, with 14 carries and 62 yards, and 3 receptions for 67 yards respectively. The Gators look to extend their win streak when the Towson Tigers come to town on Sept. 28, and their next conference play will be the following week when the Auburn Tigers come to The Swamp.
Domination. 😤
3⃣3⃣1⃣ passing yards
4⃣ Takeaways
3⃣ Points Allowed#GoGators 🐊 #RelentlessEffort pic.twitter.com/RcINxp1JEs
— Florida Gators Football (@GatorsFB) September 21, 2019
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