Tennessee football vs. Florida: Vols and Gators keys to the game

Tennessee football resumes a huge rivalry at home Saturday. Here are the 10 keys to the game for the Volunteers and the Florida Gators.

New coaches, new era, and a new level of mediocrity will be oozing out as Tennessee football takes the field Saturday against the Florida Gators. For only the third time since the schools began playing each other on a consecutive basis, which was official in 1992 but dates back to 1990, both teams will enter Saturday’s game unranked.

Even crazier is the fact that the previous two times were 2014 and 2015. Simply put, the series has clearly fallen on hard times from the 1990s, when it had national championship implications almost every year.

Still, this game will have major implications for the rest of the season. The Vols and Gators are both looking for a quality victory against a Power Five opponent, and both will be looking for their first SEC win. So there’s a lot focus on with this game.

As we get set to bring you our keys to winning, Tennessee football probably has less pressure than Florida overall on Saturday. That’s because the Vols entered this year with fewer expectations under a first-year head coach in Jeremy Pruitt.

However, the Vols probably need the better season this year because of the fact that Pruitt needs to make an impact to recruit well. After all, Dan Mullen is a proven coach, so he’ll be fine long-term regardless of what happens this year. Pruitt is the one who needs to make the impact.

These factors make this a huge game for both teams. But what will determine who pulls out the victory in the end? Let’s take a look here. These are our 10 keys to Tennessee football’s SEC opening match-up against the Florida Gators at home.