Game Day: No. 20 Florida at No. 11 Tennessee (CBS, 3:30 pm)

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Because the game traditionally has fallen so early in the season, the Rocky Top faithful have allowed their imaginations annually to run wild relative to the possibilities for their beloved Tennessee Volunteers. 

And all too often their Big Orange dreams have met Orange & Blue reality, courtesy of the Florida Gators. 

Here are are again. 

No. 20 Florida (2-1, 0-1) and No. 11 Tennessee (3-0, 0-0) are set to renew their bitter Southeastern Conference East Division rivalry Saturday in front of a sold-out and salivating Neyland Stadium house of 106,000-plus. UF has won five straight in the series, as well as a whopping 16 of the past 17, dating to the 2005 season. And yet this — 2022 — is the year the Gators get their comeuppance and the balance of power shifts. It has to be, right? At least that’s what the Vols have thinking. 

If not this year — with UF reeling and rebuilding, while UT appears to be in a second season of ascension — then when? 

[Read senior writer Scott Carter‘s comprehensive “Opening Kickoff” setup here]

Last year, while Florida was crashing and burning to a 6-7 record and midseason coaching change, Tennessee was going 7-6 in the first season under Josh Heupel and finishing second in the SEC East (including an exciting home win over 18th-ranked Kentucky), behind only eventual national-champion Georgia. 

Yet, the Vols were bombed 38-14 in their September visit to Gainesville. 

But after averaging 42.4 points and over 500 yards during its final five games of the ’21 season (with a 671-yard eruption in a 45-42 shootout loss to Purdue in the Music City Bowl), Tennessee was pegged to finish second again in the division race (with Florida fourth) and has answered the optimism with more high-octane offense over the first three games of 2022, including a huge road upset of No. 17 Pittsburgh. 

The Vols redshirt senior quarterback Hendon Hooker, in his second season as a starter after transferring from Virginia Tech, has completed nearly 70 percent of his passes for 844 yards, six touchdowns and no interceptions. UT is averaging 52.0 points and 553.7 yards per game (both 1st in the SEC, 3rd in the country), with 182.3 of it coming on the ground, courtesy of tailbacks Jaylen Wright (231 yards, 3 TD), Jabari…