It was a game Florida wanted to win, but a game Tennessee needed to win. And as with most hard-fought games, a bit of manufactured luck played a big part in the outcome. Each of Tennessee ‘s laudable wins was becoming more tarnished by the week. After dropping a damaging, heartbreaking loss to Arkansas, quality wins over NC State and Oklahoma were looking worse as each of those teams lost earlier in the day. In order to maintain a play-off resume, UT needed a dominating win over their rival.
Instead of dominating, the game between Tennessee and Florida required overtime to decide a winner. Not only did the Volunteers not dominate, despite being at home against. What should have been an overwhelmed opponent, but Coach Josh Heupel’s team was held scoreless in the first half for the second time in a row. It required a second half surge to take the lead, but Florida fought back to force extra time. Tennessee’s defense, with strong play through most of the day, clamped down in th end, and running back Dylan Sampson generated enough of a spark to tough out a 23-17 win.
It isn’t always easy to pinpoint the play that won or lost a game, and during Saturday’s contest between the Volunteers and the Gators, picking just one play was a challenge, but one play stands out above the rest. Nursing a 3-0 lead, and having just forced the seconds turnover of Tennessee’s heralded quarterback, Florida was in field goals position to start a drive with just over a minute to play. While trying to milk the clock to run out the half, UF’s Graham Mertz dropped back to pass looking to either put the ball in the end zone or throw an incompletion. But a pair of UT defenders chased him down and sacked him. As the clock ticked down, Florida rushed out their field goal team, and snapped the ball with a second remaining, and covered the kick. However, the Gators had been in too much of a rush, and still had 12 men in the field at the snap. The team was penalized, and was also assessed a 10-second runoff, ending the half still tired 3-0
Aside from the Florida’s lost points, there were many instances which appeared to alter the momentum.
On Tennessee’s opening drive, quarterback Nico Iamaleava had driven his team 50 yards downfield, and set the team up in field goal range. Facing a 3rd-and-1 from Florida’s 24-yard line, Nico was hit, fumbled, and the Gators recovered. That play seemed to set the drive for the Volunteers moving forward. The offense couldn’t put together a drive netting more than 25 yards for the rest of the half.
Nico’s next promising drive was ruined when he was sacked on 1st, 2nd, and 3rd down. The lost yardage pushed Tennessee out of scoring range, and forced a punt. Then, on UT’s last drive before half, Nico was picked off trying to push his team into scoring range. A season which started with Heisman hype for the redshirt Freshman passer has signed quickly over the previous two games, and was now extinguished.
The Volunteer’s defense did their part in trying to swing momentum for the home team. Facing a 4th-and-1 inside their own 20-yard line, the defense held strong, stopping Florida’s Eugene Wilson for no gain, and giving the offense the ball back. But a quick three-and-out out the ball back in the Gators’ hands, and they started driving. With four plays of over 10 yards, Florida quickly got back inside the red zone, with a fresh set of downs at the Tennessee 1-yard marker. But James Pearce Jr. knocked the ball loose from Mertz’s hands, and scooped it up, preventing a rout from starting.
In the second half, it was sophomore linebacker Arion Carter who sparked a revival. The first play after Tennessee got in the board, Carter dropped in coverage, read the QBs eyes, and undercut the receiver, leaping high to snag the ball out of the air. His great play set UT up for a field goal, which tied up the game. The defense stepped up again, forcing a failed 4th down attempt on UF’s next drive to preserve hope for victory.
Most importantly, after allowing a touchdown to tie the game, the defense didn’t let the Gators net positive yardage in the first frame of overtime. It was specifically a brilliant play by down lineman Bryson Eason on a screen play which forced the issue. Demonstrating the athletic ability of a former linebacker, he defeated his blocker, cut to the receiver, and blew the play up in the backfield. Florida settled for a field goal attempt, but while the aim was true, the lost yardage made the difference, and the kick fell short.
But it was Dylan Sampson who was the workhorse on offense. It took a team effort to generate the yardage and put Sampson in position to score, but Dylan fought hard for over 100 yards on the ground and three scores, including one in the first period of overtime to win the game. He has been the only Tennessee player to make it into the end zone this month, with all five of the Vols scores.
As good as the defense is playing, Tennessee needs to figure out the offensive struggles with Alabama being their next opponent. While the Tide struggled against South Carolina, they also have a dynamic and nigh unstoppable receiver phenom, and a great mobile quarterback. If Bama can put up points, which it likely will, the offense needs to generate far more than they have so far in conference play.