Most project the Vols, a 10.5-point favorite at Neyland Stadium, to actually win. That’s newsworthy, considering Florida’s dominance of this once-fierce rivalry.
The Gators have pummeled Tennessee for the better part of the last two decades. Florida has won 16 of the previous 17 meetings and won by an average of 13.5 points.
But if you listen to social media or the oddsmakers or all those wound-up callers to Knoxville sports-talk radio stations, the Gators probably should stay home and go fishing or something.
They say this is Tennessee’s year, that the Vols are back and ready to finally challenge the big boys of the Southeastern Conference the way they used to. They say quarterback Hendon Hooker will be dancing on Rocky Top late Saturday night, and that second-year UT coach Josh Heupel is an offensive genius. The Vols set a school record for points last season.
Maybe they’re right. Perhaps the Vols will get their first win in the series in six years on Saturday. Maybe Heupel does what Derek Dooley and Butch Jones and Jeremy Pruitt could not: beat the Gators more than once a decade.
Tennessee enters ranked 11th, nine spots ahead of the No. 20 Gators. The Vols are 3-0 and are coming off a 63-3 win over Akron last week. Neyland Stadium is sold out for Saturday’s game, and the crowd will be rocking.
“Everybody inside of our program is extremely excited about this game,” Heupel said Wednesday. “Our fan base is, too. It’ll be a great day here in Knoxville. We’ll have an opportunity to showcase just everything that’s good about UT and this campus and this university with ‘College GameDay’ being here.”
The Vols do have a bit of history on their side. The last time “College GameDay” set up shop on the banks of the Tennessee River in this rivalry, the Vols overcame a 21-3 halftime deficit to win 38-28. It’s their only win in the series of the Twitter era – and was their second (by a few months) of the Facebook era.
The most considerable disparity in the teams on paper is the quarterback matchup. Hooker is a sixth-year senior and one of the most experienced quarterbacks in the country. Hooker is 24 and a grisly veteran compared to third-year sophomore Anthony Richardson, who will be making his first career SEC road start.
In 16 games for the Vols (14…
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