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Tennessee football vs. Florida: Vols and Gators both desperately need win

By Caleb Calhoun

GAINESVILLE, FL - SEPTEMBER 16: Ty Chandler #3 of the Tennessee Volunteers runs away from Marco Wilson #3 of the Florida Gators during the second half of their game at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on September 16, 2017 in Gainesville, Florida. (Photo by Scott Halleran/Getty Images)
GAINESVILLE, FL - SEPTEMBER 16: Ty Chandler #3 of the Tennessee Volunteers runs away from Marco Wilson #3 of the Florida Gators during the second half of their game at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on September 16, 2017 in Gainesville, Florida. (Photo by Scott Halleran/Getty Images) /
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Tennessee football’s rivalry with Florida renews itself Saturday. The game is a must-win for both the Volunteers and Gators just to stay afloat this season.

It’s far too cliche to ever call the Tennessee-Florida game a must-win game. There are too many times in which Tennessee football went into this game with SEC and national title implications. It’s always a must-win.

However, this year, the game is a must-win for both teams in a different way. The loser could see their season finished before it started. When’s the last time you thought of that in a Tennessee-Florida game?

This used to be the game that single-handedly decided the winner of the SEC East. Only the Georgia Bulldogs would threaten. But now, it might single-handedly decide who finishes last place in the division.

The fact of the matter is both teams only had four wins last year, both are 2-1 this year with new head coaches and new systems on both sides of the ball, and both have brutal schedules coming up. The Gators already have an SEC loss, while the Vols got embarrassed by the West Virginia Mountaineers to open the season.

So what happens if either team loses? Well, if Tennessee football loses, they will be 2-2. Up next will be back to back road trips to the Georgia Bulldogs and Auburn Tigers, both of which are almost sure losses. Oh, don’t worry, they get a bye and come back home after that…only to face the Alabama Crimson Tide. Then they face the South Carolina Gamecocks on the road.

Simply put, if Jeremy Pruitt’s team loses on Saturday, it’ll likely be the start of a five-game losing streak that drops this team to 2-6. Sure, they get a break with the Charlotte 49ers after that. But then they’ll be 3-6 and needing to win three straight against the Missouri Tigers and Kentucky Wildcats at home, both of whom are still undefeated, and then the Vanderbilt Commodores on the road, who has beaten the Vols two years in a row and pushed the Notre Dame Fighting Irish to the brink on the road this past Saturday.

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Tennessee football already has a difficult enough road to get to a bowl game. Even with a win Saturday, they have to win at least two games between South Carolina, Missouri, Kentucky and Vanderbilt to get to six wins, assuming they lose to Auburn, Georgia and Alabama. That will be very tough. But a loss means they have to win three of those games.

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What about Florida, though? The Gators just lost at home to the Wildcats, so one of their easy wins en route to a bowl game has already been taken. The Florida State Seminoles all of a sudden look like an easy win for this team, but that game is in Tallahassee.

Before then, though, if Florida loses on Saturday, they also have their own brutal road. The Gators’ next two games are against the Mississippi State Bulldogs on the road and the LSU Tigers at home. So should they lose, they will almost certainly fall to 2-4. And to get back on track before their bye week, they have to find a way to beat that same dangerous Vanderbilt team on the road. Then, after their bye week, they have Georgia, Mizzou and South Carolina.

A loss to Tennessee football for Dan Mullen’s team could send them to 2-8 before facing the Idaho Vandals, making the season a complete loss. It will certainly send them to 2-4, and they’ll also have to find a way to win two of three against Vandy, Mizzou and S.C. to have a chance at a bowl. That’s going to be difficult this year.

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Tennessee football’s rivalry with the Florida Gators is one featuring two programs trying to restore former glory. They have first-year head coaches looking to do it. But with future recruiting battles and momentum huge in the SEC East, this first year is going to go a long way towards determining who gets there first. And this game will have a huge impact on who has a better first year. So while there are no national or SEC title implications Saturday, there’s a lot for both teams to play for. The future is at stake for both programs.

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