Tennessee is on the verge of becoming an afterthought on Florida’s schedule.
The Gators have had control of the series for eight years and can stretch it to nine when the teams meet at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on Saturday (3:30 p.m., CBS). Lately, their attention has been consumed far more by Georgia, South Carolina and LSU.
Florida, which fell one spot to No. 19 in Sunday’s AP Top 25 poll, beat the Volunteers by double digits in each of the past six seasons. Even in their worst years, 2010 and 2011, the Gators toppled Tennessee by 10 and 14 points, respectively.
The once great rivalry feels dormant. The Gators’ only longer active winning streaks are against Vanderbilt (22 games) and Kentucky (25). They opened as a two-touchdown favorite to make it nine in a row over the Volunteers.
“Those eight victories have nothing to do with what’s going to happen Saturday,” Florida coach Will Muschamp said. “It’s starting our SEC season, and it’s a team that we have a lot of respect for.”
Even with Tennessee appearing to pose little threat in the SEC Eastern Division, Muschamp should not have trouble getting his players’ attention this week. The Gators’ last time on the field was nightmarish: a 21-16 loss at Miami in which they committed five turnovers.
UF (1-1) was off last week, which allowed quarterback Jeff Driskel time to study his mistakes and nurse a sprained knee. He was on crutches but is expected to practice and play this week.
The Gators have a list of injury concerns beyond Driskel. At least 10 starters were not at full strength coming off the Miami game, including three offensive linemen.
The bye week also provided a substantial head start on game planning for the Volunteers. The Gators hardly crossed Tennessee’s mind, most likely, because it was preparing for one of the toughest tasks in the country: a visit to No. 2 Oregon.
“Unfortunately, that’s the way the schedule is,” Vols coach Butch Jones said last week. “There’s nothing we can do about it.”
Tennessee (2-1) might have been better off working on Florida anyway. The Volunteers gave up 59 straight points to the Ducks in a 59-14 defeat Saturday. It was the program’s worst loss in more than a century.
That debacle was merely the latest in a long string of them for Tennessee. The Volunteers have not been a legitimate factor in the SEC East since winning it in 2007, and they are 29-35 over the past six years under four head coaches. They are 0 for their last 17 against ranked opponents.
Derek Dooley steered them to 5-19 in the SEC from 2010 through ’12 before he was fired and replaced by Jones. The only conference teams UT beat during that span were Ole Miss, Vanderbilt and Kentucky.
This year started positively but had the potential to sour quickly. Early road trips to Oregon and Florida are a tough way to start the season, and the Volunteers get No. 9 Georgia, No. 12 South Carolina and No. 1 Alabama next month.
“It’s a great challenge, to say the least,” Jones said of the Oregon-Florida back-to-back. “We’re gonna find out about our team very quickly here. We’ll really be tested. We’re playing in some of the most difficult venues in college football.”
Jones came in from Cincinnati and inherited a light supply of proven talent. The Volunteers lost starting quarterback Tyler Bray and top two receivers Cordarrelle Patterson and Justin Hunter — all juniors — to the NFL. They returned five offensive starters this year.
Tennessee brought back eight starters on defense, though that unit gave up more yardage and points than any team in the SEC last year. They also suffered a setback when linebacker Curt Maggitt, from Dwyer High School, suffered a torn ACL late last season. Maggitt has been practicing but did not play in the first three games.
With all of those issues and coming off an embarrassing weekend, Tennessee heads into a hostile stadium where it has not won since 2003.
“Nobody’s going to feel sorry for us,” Jones said after the loss to Oregon. “We just have to keep going to work every day.”
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