Pride takes a beating along with defense : govolsxtra.com

GAINESVILLE, Fla. - Demonte Bolden wasn't alone in his frustration.

He was just the most vocal.

"It hurts your pride," the University of Tennessee defensive tackle said after the Vols' humbling 59-20 loss Saturday night in the Swamp. "Our pride was left out on that field.

"My pride is hurting - period. I came to Tennessee to win. I hate (expletive) losing."

And this was a big loss.

The Vols (1-2, 0-1 SEC) were chewed up and spit out by a Florida offense that rushed for 255 yards and passed for 299.

For the non-math majors out there, that's 554 yards of total offense for the defending national champions.

"It's a pride check for us all," UT defensive coordinator John Chavis said. "I know it is for me.

"I'll tell you, I don't feel very good right now."

The Vols were burned for plays of 20-or-more yards seven times.

Sophomore quarterback Tim Tebow, the man ESPN hyped as Superman reincarnated coming into the game, lived up to the billing.

He had 18 carries for 61 yards and two touchdowns. He also hit on 14 of 19 passes for 299 yards and two more scores.

The Gators ended up scoring 31 unanswered points after the Vols had trimmed the lead to 28-20 on a 96-yard interception return from true freshman cornerback Eric Berry.

It looked like the momentum had shifted.

"We were in a position to win the game right there," UT linebacker Ryan Karl said. "We had come back and I just don't know what happened."

First, an offensive fumble was recovered for a TD on UT's ensuing possession,

Then the Gators' offense slammed the door shut by scoring on its final four possessions of the game.

Included was a nine-play, 99-yard drive to make it 42-20 with 14:50 remaining in the game.

"We didn't play the deep ball very well and we didn't rush the passer as well as we need to," Chavis said. "We just didn't make plays.

"We're a growing football team and we're not polished by any stretch of the imagination. We're going to look at what we've done coaching wise and see if we can get better, look at players and see if we can get better.

"You just can't give up that kind of yardage."

Against California in the season opener, UT surrendered 471 yards in a 45-31 loss.

In a 39-19 victory against Southern Miss last week, the Golden Eagles still managed 354 yards, including 264 through the air.

That's an average of 459.7 yards a game.

"We put our defense in some tough situations and we didn't respond the way a good defense should," Chavis said. "That tells you we've got a lot of work to do."

Berry was a bright spot with the long interception return, but he also got burned for a 30-yard TD from Tebow to Riley Cooper late in the first quarter.

"We're excited about (the return), but we're not excited about the big plays," defensive backs' coach Larry Slade said. "It's not an even trade off to be honest with you.

"Their athletes made plays and we didn't."

Florida receiver Percy Harvin burned the Vols for 75 yards rushing and a score, plus 120 yards receiving on four catches.

To Karl, it looked like Cal's DeSean Jackson all over again.

"They're one in the same," he said. "They're fast, have all the moves in the world and they're big-play guys."

Jonathan Hefney, Jarod Parrish, Rico McCoy and Karl finished with seven tackles apiece to lead the Vols.

Jerod Mayo added six and Xavier Mitchell had four, including the Vols' only tackle for a loss.

"It's all mental," Mitchell said. "We were all recruited here to play in these types of games and we have the ability. We just have to come to work on Monday and look at the mistakes we made.

"Nobody wants to lose and definitely nobody wants to lose like we did. We just have to be strong and put it behind us."