Dooley’s Dozen: 12 things to know ahead of Florida-Tennessee rivalry game
As soon as the Florida schedule was released, Florida fans began looking at Sept. 16 the way they used to.
You know, back in the day when Florida-Tennessee was for the East even though it was played three weeks into the season.
It’s different now. The winner gets a shot at Georgia. The loser is in trouble.
But the intensity is still at a different level. This year, there is the combination of Florida coming off a loss to the Vols last year and the Gators winning nine in a row at home.
Which is why Gators fans circled it.
The Dooley’s Dozen takes a look at 12 things you need to know about Tennessee and this series.
Urban started the streak
Florida last lost to Tennessee in 2003 when Ron Zook was the coach (Hail Mary at the end of the half was a dagger). When Meyer got to UF, he placed a huge emphasis on rivalry games. He even had orange “T’s” on the urinal cakes in the locker room. Meyer never lost to Tennessee and won that first game 16-7 in Gainesville.
Florida has found different ways
The Heave to Cleve. All the way with Callaway. The Gators have dominated (59-20 in 2007) and escaped by the skin of their teeth (28-27 in 2015). The nine-game home winning streak includes three wins for Meyer and two each for Will Muschamp, Jim McElwain and Dan Mullen. Mullen averaged 37.5 points per game in his four total appearances against the Vols.
We’ve seen Joe Milton before
The Michigan transfer was the starter for Tennessee when the 2021 season began but was injured in the second game and lost it to Hendon Hooker. Hooker was injured against Florida on a fourth-quarter sack by Princely Umanmielen and was replaced by Milton.
Milton was 2-for-8 and ran once for six yards. The game was already over (38-14) by the time he started playing.
And then he was starting again
Hooker was injured last year against South Carolina and Milton ended up starting the last two. He was the MVP in Tennessee’s Orange Bowl win. So far this year, Milton is completing 66.7 percent of his passes for 429 yards and four touchdowns.
He also told the media in Atlanta that “I don’t lose in Florida.”
Josh Heupel’s big adventure
It’s pretty amazing how a quarterback who started his career at Weber State before going to Snow College in Ephraim, Utah (nickname – the Badgers) ended up being the runner-up for the Heisman Trophy. That’s what Heupel did at Oklahoma, where he was the quarterback for the 2000 national champs.
And he has been around
For a lot of fans of college football, Heupel kind of burst onto the scene last year. But he has been a coach at Arizona, Oklahoma, Utah State and, of course, was the head coach at UCF before taking the Tennessee job. He is in his third year with the Vols (7-6 his first year) and his overall record is 48-16.
The Vols so far
Tennessee opened the season in Nashville and handled a bad Virginia team 49-13. Tennessee fans were a little alarmed when the Vols struggled to put away FCS team Austin Peay.
UT won 30-13 but led by a score of just 23-13 with nine minutes to play before Milton hit McCallan Castles with a 43-yard touchdown pass. The Governors held the ball for 39:01 of the game.
They have the receivers
That catch by Castles was only his second of the season. That’s how deep this team is at that position. Squirrel White, who received his nickname from his grandmother because of the way as a child he would mimic a squirrel, has 10 catches in two games for 75 yards.
Ramel Keyton has eight for 118 and Bru McCoy 7 for 72. The last two had eight catches against Florida last year for 171 yards.
Like Florida, a two-headed backfield
Jaylen Wright leads the Vols in rushing with 233 yards on 25 carries in two games while Jabari Small has 162 yards on 26 carries. Small last year had 90 yards rushing on 19 carries against the Gators in the 38-33 Tennessee win in Knoxville.
The two stats that matter
You know what they are – turnovers and penalties. The Vols have lost two fumbles, but Milton has yet to throw an interception. Tennessee’s turnover margin is zero. As far as penalties go, it has been a problem for the Vols, who have 14 in two games for 123 yards. They rank 95th in penalty yards per game.
Graham Mertz might want to duck
Tennessee likes to get after the quarterback and in the first two games, they got the quarterback a lot. The Vols already have 11 sacks on the season with James Pearce Jr. and Tyler Baron each having three sacks.
Trey Burton is a perfect choice
For Mr. Two Bits. The Super Bowl champion had one of the best moments in the history of the series for the Gators in 2012. Burton had been struggling to find his role in the Brent Pease offense but scored twice that night. One of them was a clinching 80-yard touchdown run.
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