Must-see Matchups
The Vols vs. the clock
Florida leads the SEC in time of possession (34:08), but ranks 11th in first downs (35). What does this mean? The Gators take their good ol' time. As N.C. State and Georgia State learned, the best defense against the Vols' offense is keeping it off the field. UT strikes quickly with a hurry-up, big-play aerial attack. Knowing as much, Florida may look to dawdle offensively as much as possible.
The Vols' front seven vs. Florida's offensive line
Gators quarterback Jeff Driskel was sacked eight times last weekend by Texas A&M. The Vols have notched four sacks in two games with one coming from the defensive line and three from the linebacking corps. Shuffling various blitz packages out of multiple defensive sets, including the newly installed 3-4 defense, UT has pressured opposing quarterbacks, but will look to have a field day against Driskel.
Stock Up
UT QB Tyler Bray: Two 300-yard passing games, six touchdowns and no interceptions bolster a statline that puts Bray's quarterback rating as the fifth best in the country. The junior enters the Florida game having completed 13 consecutive passes. The streak is tied for third longest in Vols history with Casey Clausen (2000) and Jeff Francis (1988). Two more completions will tie him with Erik Ainge (2006) for second, while it will take 12 straight to catch Tee Martin's record of 25 in 1998.
Florida RB Mike Gillislee: Averaging just 155.0 yards per game through the air after two games, the Gators' offense uses Gillislee's feet to keep moving forward. The junior has carried the ball 38 times for an SEC-best 231 yards. He scored two touchdowns against both Bowling Green and Texas A&M. Against the Aggies, Gillislee's 12-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter stood as the game-winning score.
Stock Down
UT K Mike Palardy: Boos from the Neyland Stadium crowd accompanied Palardy as he trotted off the field last Saturday after botching an extra-point against Georgia State. Earlier in the game, a 39-yard field-goal sailed wide. Walk-on Derrick Brodus will take over UT's field goals and extra points this week, while Palardy's duties are cut down to kickoffs. Brodus, a junior from Maryville, made a 25-yard field goal and a PAT after replacing Palardy in the fourth quarter last weekend.
Florida's offensive line: Surrendering eight sacks on the road is one thing. Surrendering eight sacks to a team that finished the entire 2011 season with nine sacks, is entirely different. The Gators' paper mache offensive line lost control of last week's game at Texas A&M and left Driskel running for his life.
Tweets of the Week
ESPN College Football account
Tennessee hasn't been the epicenter of cfb in a while. That will change Saturday vs. Florida.
UT QB Tyler Bray
After practice got to meet
Official page for City of Knoxville government
KPD Warns Fans to Not Storm the Field at UT/Florida Football Game at Neyland
Tennessee reserve QB Patrick Ashford
Goal post coming down #feelslike98
Prediction
Tennessee 30, Florida 27
Vols win on game-winning field goal by Brodus. Heeding the warnings from Knoxville Police Department, fans leave Neyland, head to Blount County and rip down the goalposts at Aloca High School, Brodus' alma mater.
Rocky Top League opening night
Old school: Archived photos of UT…
Scripps Interactive Newspapers Group
Comments » 7
SewaneeVolFan writes:
I hope this is some form of negative psychology. Otherwise, I'm not sure why anyone spent the time or effort on it.
TheVolSnake writes:
You can tell Covered in (you know what) doesn't know whats going on He has Palardy kicking the FG's and he didn't read the article because it was in the article.
Vol's by 14
tennesseetyler writes:
Snake I don't know your opinion but covered in sh!!T's post might be the dumbest troll post ever.. other trolls are embarrassed its so bad
Troll_Here writes:
Maybe I read it wrong, but the author seemed to imply that Texas A&M only had 9 sacks last year. Which is strange because all we heard last week during the game was that Texas A&M lead the nation in sacks last year.
Looking forward to a good game. Pay no attention to the douche that keeps posting garbage on here. I'm positive he never attended UF. Hoping for the best, but prepared for the worst. Go Gators!
GerryOP writes:
Geeze, TAM sacked Driskel 8 times last Saturday? The Gatas ought to put him in protective custody before tommorrow night. Eight sacks? Wow! Better keep that other QB fellow warmed up.
realitycheck33 writes:
The writer either mis-understood a stat line or took something out of context. Texas A&M led the entire country in sacks in 2011 averaging around 4 a game. And the sacks last week weren't breakdowns on the o-line, most of them were just Driskell playing cautious and not getting rid of the ball. He had open receivers half the time, he's just still young and hasn't matured enough to look at his 3rd and 4th option. There was a play last week that I remember that the line held and Patton was wide open 15 yards down field but JD never looked that way, ends up trying to run outside tackle box and gets run out of bounds for a loss/sack of 4 yards. It was a young QB mistake. Even if he didn't find Patton he could have thrown the ball away and avoided the sack. He did that a few different times where he ran out of bounds behind the line. They'll coach him on that.
realitycheck33 writes:
And actually what I think we'll see this week is an entirely different mindset from Driskell and the coaches. Where as last week indecision caused most of the sacks, I think this week they'll coach him to take off running upfield this time instead of holding onto the ball or running to sideline. He did a great job of not making mistakes. Very, very cautious but that's what we needed. They may get to him a few times today but I think we'll see a lot more of him taking off upfield for positive yardage. Kid is 6-4, 240lbs with quick feet. He's a nightmare in the open field for LB's and DB's to contain. Even on broken plays he should be able to pick up 5-6 yards. That breaks your back as a defense if you're able to blow up a play and the QB still rumbles for 6 yards on you.
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