Tennessee football at Florida: Five Gators to watch for against Vols

Given Feleipe Franks’s injury, Dan Mullen will rely a lot on Lamical Perine more than he probably wants to this game and for the rest of the season. So far, Perine has not lived up to all the hype he had coming into the year, as he is only averaging three and a half yards an attempt with 34 carries for 120 yards and two touchdowns.

Last week at the Kentucky Wildcats, he averaged less than two yards an attempt with with 14 carries for 27 yards. Now, to be fair, he did have a touchdown. And he does have 12 receptions for 63 yards and a touchdown on the year, so Mullen is finding ways to incorporate him into the offense. But his overall production has not been there so far.

Tennessee football can’t relax on him just because of that. If there was ever a game for him to explode back onto the scene and return to his usual self, it would be this one. That’s what Gators do against the Vols, and we all know that Perine is much better than he has looked so far this year. At some point, things will get back on track.

Again, Jeremy Pruitt and Derrick Ansley need to show why they are highly touted defensive minds. The return of Daniel Bituli and an immobile quarterback could help with this a lot. But the Vols need to make sure he does not gash them.