1st Quarter:
14:54: For everybody clamoring all weekend about a fullback, Tennessee uses Ethan Wolf as and H/Fullback on the very first play of the game. Jashon Robertson pulls from his right guard position and doesn’t do a good job of sealing Dante Fowler. The gap for Hurd is there between Wolf and Robertson if Robertson has a better block…instead, Hurd cuts to the inside away from Fowler and a big run turns into a one yard gain.
13:53: Perfect play call to go with the slant to Josh Malone. The ball is on time and the pass is catchable, but Florida’s defender gets away with hooking and is able to bat the ball down. The defender clearly grabs Malone by the waist to leverage himself to be in position to make a play. No call, and the Vols are forced to punt.
13:13: Sort of surprised that Florida didn’t try to run more draws with Driskel. His first carry of the day goes for 16 yards.
11:08: This was a great first stand by the Vol defense and an outstanding individual play by Justin Coleman to push the blocking receiver back into the player who caught the ball. Coleman’s effort disrupted the play and allowed the defense time to swarm to the football to force the punt.
10:18: Zero push from the offensive line…zero. Tennessee had six players at the point of attack to Florida’s three and got beat at every spot.
9:39: Kerbyson completely whiffs on Fowler and the play is over before Worley has even reached is dropping point. No one was open on the play at the time of the sack, but to not even touch Fowler on this play is unacceptable. Kerbyson does well not to let Fowler beat him inside, but he has to do a better job of making Fowler take the long way around to get to the quarterback.
8:45: Nice play by Maggitt to beat the block and trip up Jones.
8:24: Derek Barnett giving chase across the field to make the play.
7:10: This is a play that A.J. Johnson doesn’t make last year. Outstanding pursuit.
6:13: Very strong running by Jalen Hurd on this play. The play was blocked for nothing and he turns it into a seven-yard pickup.
5:15: This one looks like Mack Crowder was the only one who either didn’t hear, or didn’t know the snap count. Clearly there are six other people who thought the ball should have been snapped on this play, but Crowder holds the ball. Without being in the huddle, there is no way of knowing who’s fault this is, but it certainly looks like this one is on Crowder. This is a tough break that really put Tennessee in a tough spot.
4:50: Freshman mistake by Josh Malone on this one. Helm is clearly past the first-down line and Malone’s block – besides being illegal – wasn’t necessary. Credit Worley for escaping the pocket after nobody blocked the defensive tackle, but this is another example of him getting no help from his offensive line.
3:31: Florida has 12 men on the field and Tennessee, once again, can’t get the ball snapped in time. Brendan Downs jumps early and the Vols are penalized while Florida never even realizes that they have an extra defender on the field.
2:33: Incredible discipline by Derek Barnett and Cam Sutton to stay at home and not get fooled on this play. You can tell that these guys are well coached. Sutton actually ends up missing the tackle in the backfield but Barnett is right there to finish the job. It’s incredible how far this defense has com in only one year.
2:08: Outstanding play by Corey Vereen to read the run and shoot the gap to make a play.
1:30: This was actually a nice back-shoulder throw by Driskel, but when it’s thrown to Cam Sutton’s side, bad things tend to happen for the offense. Great awareness by Sutton to find the ball and snatch it out of the air for a big play that really flipped the field in Tennessee’s favor.
:30: Great Job by Worley to step up in the pocket and find North over the middle. Tennessee would have done this more if Worley could have had more time in the pocket, but Florida would ultimately adjust and take away the middle of the field.
2nd Quarter:
15:00: This was Worley’s best throw of the day and a great route by Josh Malone.
14:28: Again, no push by the offensive line and the Vols are immediately behind the sticks.
14:00: I’m surprised that Tennessee didn’t run more quick-passes like this one to Pearson. This was his only catch, but other receivers can make this play as well.
13:32: Malone HAS to make this catch. There is a good chance that he scores if he is able to haul this one in. Hargreaves is out of position and is caught off balance when the ball arrives. Plays like this are the difference between winning and losing. When you hear Jones talk about a lack of consistency, this is exactly what he is talking about. Malone catches a huge slant for a first down in traffic, but then follows it up with a wide open drop.
-Seeing Butch Jones go out on the field every time a Vol player gets hurt is pretty cool. Most coaches just stand on the sideline.
12:21: Huge hit by LaDarrell McNeil. I don’t really blame the ref for throwing the flag here, but I do credit them for going back and getting it right. It was a clean play by McNeil that saved the first down, and he did a great job of lifting up at the last second to avoid any helmet to helmet contact.
-Also, good for Jesse Palmer to avoid being a blatant homer.
10:50: Again, absolutely zero push by the offensive line.
9:30: You can see now that Florida’s defense knows that Tennessee can’t block the defensive line, so the Gators move their cornerbacks up closer to the line of scrimmage to take away the quick passes that Tennessee was having some success with.
8:34: Hindsight is 20/20, but I don’t think Jones could have made a bad decision here. He elects to play field position, which is the safe call, instead of going for the first down. Personally, I think that if he had this one to do over he would probably elect to go for it and infuse some confidence and energy into his offense. They were struggling up until this point, so it would have been risky, but I think I would have liked to see him play to win right here. Jones elects to punt and the coverage team is inches away from downing this ball at the one. Game of inches.
7:00: Matt Jones ran hard all day. He doesn’t have elite speed, but he has a nasty attitude.
6:01: Florida tried to go back to the draw here and John Jancek was ready for it. He sends Justin Coleman on a corner blitz and completely outsmarts Kurt Roper on this one.
5:20: Don’t throw to Cam Sutton’s side.
4:18: Another tough penalty that really hurt this drive. Not sure if the mistake was Wolf’s or the receiver’s, but it put the Vols in 2nd and long again.
3:41: Annnd another penalty, this time on freshman Coleman Thomas.
3:23: Great play by Pig Howard, but with a better throw by Worley this could have been a huge play.
2:15: It looks like Worley expected Hurd to break out to the right for a pass, but Hurd thought he was supposed to stay in and block the whole time. Another miscommunication that leads to a penalty.
1:20: LaDarrell McNeil is a head-hunter.
:58: A.J. Johnson get absolutely undressed on a hold that goes uncalled. At this point in the season, I think officials are just intentionally refusing to call holds when Tennessee is the team being held. It’s been too common this season.
3rd Quarter:
14:54: Great coverage drop here by Jalen Reeves-Maybin. He takes about two steps forward on the play-action fake, but does a great job getting into his drop quickly to get into Driskel’s throwing lane. JRM tips the ball, shows great concentration, makes the catch and gets what he can in terms of return yardage. No idea what Driskel was thinking here. Even if JRM wasn’t in the passing lane, his receiver was double covered.
14:43: Speaking of bad throws, Justin Worley serves it right back up to Florida on the next play. The Vols were trying to hit Marquez North on a crossing route, but Worley throws it off his back foot and the ball flutters on him. North slips as he goes for the ball (perhaps a little contact earlier in the route) and UF’s best cornerback, Vernon Hargreaves III, comes away with a big play.
12:51: After giving up a couple runs, Tennessee gets a sack to end Florida’s threat. This looks like a screen pass gone awry for the Gators. A few of the linemen leave their men unblocked, but the Florida back doesn’t get his head around quickly enough and Barnett gets to Driskel before he can realize what’s coming.
11:02: Great example of why returners have to come up and make the catch on punts. Florida’s Andre Debose lets this Matt Darr punt go and turns a 35-yarder into a 61-yarder (a career long for Darr) thanks to a nice bounce.
10:48: This a rare time where Cam Sutton bites on an early move in a route. But, thankfully for Tennessee, Driskel underthrows his receiver again and Sutton has great recovery time to get back to the ball and knock it away.
10:12: A.J. Johnson comes free on a blitz and forces Driskel to rush the throw. He actually throws a catchable ball to tight end Tevin Westbrook, but he lets it go off his fingertips and Todd Kelly Jr. is there to make the alert interception and return to set UT up in the red zone again.
8:55: Nice strip by Brian Randolph. Florida comes up with it, but John Jancek has to be happy to see his veteran safety ripping at the ball like that.
7:06: Curt Maggitt gets in for the sack here. Florida pulls a guard from the opposite side to help out in protection but he never sees Maggitt, and the junior slips in there for another sack for the Vols.
5:30: This might’ve been the best couple plays from a running back all day. Devrin Young comes in and takes a run to the outside for seven yards and then catches the next pass for 18 yards out of the backfield. I’m a little surprised the Vols didn’t go back to Young again – that was one of the few glimmers of hope for the offense.
4:17: This might’ve been Tennessee’s best-executed play of the day. They stack three receivers and use Von Pearson as a decoy here on the fake quick screen, allowing Johnathon Johnson – who runs great routes – to slip behind the Florida defender and Worley makes a great throw to set the Vols up in the red zone yet again.
3:29: Not a huge fan of the screen pass to the short side of the field in the red zone against an athletic Florida defense.
3:06: Another sack. Put this one on both Mack Crowder and the left side of the offensive line. This leads to another field goal and a very costly missed opportunity at a touchdown.
1:45: Tennessee liked the 3-3-5 look against the Gators in passing situations and it works again here. The Vols do some twists and stunts up front, Jalen Reeves-Maybin gets to Driskel, he escapes, but Chris Weatherd is there to clean it up. Can’t say enough about the job UT’s defense did.
:23: Here’s the play that changed the game. Justin Worley is looking left the entire time and never sees Jalen Tabor coming off the right edge on a corner blitz. Tabor gets the clean hit, knocks the ball out and the game will never be the same for Tennessee.
4th Quarter:
13:45: Florida capitalizes on the short field with a 2-yard touchdown run by Matt Jones. Backup quarterback Treon Harris made a nice throw and run on the drive to set it up. Tennessee’s defense did so much all day – it’s tough to fault them for finally giving one score up on the short field.
12:26: One of the best runs of the year by Marlin Lane here. The Vols need two yards and Lane gets low and up the field to get about three yards to keep the Vols from going three-and-out after the touchdown. The Vols need more of that.
11:12: Brian Cox Jr was everywhere for Florida. Coleman Thomas just didn’t have much of a chance on this play – the Vols needed to help Thomas here – he can’t block him one-on-one.
9:22: Cam Sutton almost got himself a street named after him here. He was one step from an interception, two from grabbing it for a pick-6 and likely ending Florida’s chances.
9:15: Big third-and-five conversion for Florida here. Emmanuel Moseley is in at cornerback for the injured Michael Williams and it looks like Moseley vacates his flat, allowing the easy catch for the Gators.
8:52: Moseley misses a tackle on a 32-yard run by Matt Jones that helps setup Florida’s go-ahead field goal later in this drive.
6:25: We’ve been over this already. Austin Hardin’s go-ahead field goal should not have counted because the play clock expired before the snap. None the less, great kick and Florida takes its first lead. He clearly had 5+ extra yards on it, so he might could’ve hit a 54-yarder as well, though he had missed his previous six kicks leading up to that one.
6:04: Another sack for Florida. The line problems are everywhere – not just on the right side. This time Kyler Kerbyson gets beat by Dante Fowler Jr. around the left end.
3:00: Big TFL by A.J. Johnson here to put Florida in 3rd and long and help give UT one more chance. Also, bad clock management by Will Muschamp. The Gators snap the ball with about eight seconds left on the play clock while trying to milk the clock.
2:52: Good coverage from Moseley here, who forces the incompletion, stops the clock and makes Florida punt – giving the offense one more chance.
2:20: Nice catch by Pig Howard on the post route to extend the drive on third down.
2:07: This has to be so frustrating for Mike Bajakian. Florida is playing two deep safeties, Tennessee has time and two timeouts, so the run here actually makes a lot of sense against the front Florida is showing, But again, the Vols can’t win their one-on-one matchups in the trenches and Hurd is stuffed.
1:20: Coleman Thomas gets beat, Worley has to rush his throw to Josh Malone on the sideline and Malone can’t get possession of it in bounds.
1:13: This play will ultimately be forgotten, but gutsy play by Worley here. Coleman Thomas gets beat again, but Worley gets outside the pocket just long enough to extend the play. He throws on the run to Pig Howard, who make a nice sliding grab to move the Vols past midfield and about 15-20 yards from field-goal range.
:57: Here’s the pick that essentially ends it. Worley forced it. The Vols had plenty of time and just needed one or two completions to give Aaron Medley a shot. Worley tries to hit Howard on the deep post. Howard had a step on the cornerback, but Worley is a touch inaccurate and safety help was there for the interception.
:46: Don’t blame Jordan Williams for trying here. He literally grabs the center’s arm before he can snap it, forces the fumble and Tennessee recovers it. That’s obviously a penalty on Tennessee, but good try.
