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Tennessee football: Five reasons Vols can upset Florida Gators

By Caleb Calhoun

KNOXVILLE, TN - SEPTEMBER 08: Head coach Jeremy Pruitt of the Tennessee Volunteers brings his team onto the field prior to a game against the East Tennessee State University Buccaneers at Neyland Stadium on September 8, 2018 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Tennesee won the game 59-3. (Photo by Donald Page/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - SEPTEMBER 08: Head coach Jeremy Pruitt of the Tennessee Volunteers brings his team onto the field prior to a game against the East Tennessee State University Buccaneers at Neyland Stadium on September 8, 2018 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Tennesee won the game 59-3. (Photo by Donald Page/Getty Images) /
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Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images
Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images /

5. Is Florida taking the game too lightly?

Well, this is as a factor by itself wouldn’t be relevant. After all, the Florida Gators likely had many games in their streak over Tennessee football the past 14 years in which they didn’t take the Vols seriously, including 2008 and 2010 (2009 they were motivated to silence Lane Kiffin).

However, this year, that could definitely be the case. Florida opened the season with a very emotional win over their in-state rival Miami Hurricanes on a neutral field. Two week later, they had an epic comeback on the road to beat the Kentucky Wildcats. Now, heading back home, they may be trying to catch their breath.

Could that be just what the Vols need to pull off the upset? There’s a very good chance the Gators are suffering a massive hangover after the brutal start to the season, and UT has had two weeks to look forward to this game after such a bad start.

Sure, they had to focus on the Chattanooga Mocs since they were 0-2. But they did coast in that win, so they were able to relax a bit mentally. Meanwhile, they will be super-motivated to play this game on Saturday.

Florida, meanwhile, just wants to get out of there with a win so they can coast by Towson in a break game next week before preparing for the Auburn Tigers. They could be nervous and unmotivated as a result. In that sense, it’s a bit of a trap game. And that might favor Rocky Top.

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