Tennessee football vs. Florida: Vols and Gators keys to the game
3. Rushing battle overall
This key kind of just repeats aspects of the last three keys, especially the last one. After all, Florida’s rush defense directly impacts the run game. But the reason we’re bringing this up is because of the history of the series.
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Dating back to the 1990s, the rushing battle almost always decided this game. It was one of those crazy things. The only exception during the Steve Spurrier years was 2000, and that was due to a phantom touchdown catch by Jabar Gaffney.
So this is a history key as much as anything else, similar to the turnover battle. Tennessee football has a stable of running backs, all of whom have run the ball well at some point already this season. However, running Dan Mullen’s spread, Florida is also doing well on the ground. They’ve picked up 555 yards through three games and average over five and a half yards a carry.
While the Vols have Ty Chandler, Tim Jordan, Madre London and Jeremy Banks, the Gators can almost match them. They have Jordan Scarlett, Dameon Pierce, Lamical Perine and Malik Davis. Oh, and it’s worth noting that their quarterback, Feleipe Franks, has rushed the ball for over 105 yards. And if you take away the times he’s been sacked, Franks has 19 carries for 126 yards on the year.
Simply put, both teams can run the ball, and they can run it well. As a result, that will determine the outcome of this game more than it has even previous games in the series. It’s a return to tradition for the Vols and Gators.