Tennessee football: Key moments, turning points in Vols’ 34-3 loss at Florida

Despite losing 34-3 to the Florida Gators, Tennessee football had plenty of chances to make it a game. Here are the key moments that did in the Volunteers.

It’s hard to believe, but Tennessee football was competitive with the Florida Gators for the first quarter and a half. The Vols were trailing only 7-0, their defense was playing hard, and they seemed like they were in decent position to make this close.

But mistake after mistake, a failing offense and a defense continuing to get tired turned what was a close game into a blowout. The Vols ended up trailing 17-0 at halftime and lost 34-3 on the day to a clearly superior team with a backup quarterback in Kyle Trask.

So by the end, UT didn’t appear to be in their league at all. And Dan Mullen is riding much higher than Jeremy Pruitt right now. How did it get to that point? We analyze that here. These are the key moments and turning points in Tennessee football’s loss to the Florida Gators.

K’Rojhn Calbert commits a penalty on the opening drive.

This was more critical than people realize. After falling behind 7-0, Jarrett Guarantano and the Vols’ offense were moving the ball. But after a five-yard pass to Austin Pope on first down near midfield, K’Rojhn Calbert drew a late hit penalty. That killed the drive and the Vols’ momentum, as they had to punt it away.

Jauan Jennings fails to catch a pass that’s intercepted in the end zone.

After the K’Rojhn Calbert penalty, the Vols got a strip-sack of Kyle Trask with another chance to tie it up. They made it inside the five-yard line. But on 3rd and goal, Jarrett Guarantano threw a perfect pass to Jauan Jennings in the end zone. It bounced off his facemask and was intercepted. That was another killer, as it wrecked a great opportunity for the Vols to tie it up.

Jarrett Guarantano misses Dominick Wood-Anderson, then throws a pick.

After that interception, the Vols’ defense came through with a 4th-down stop. But then Jarrett Guarantano overthrew Dominick Wood-Anderson wide open on a busted coverage that would have resulted in a touchdown. That same drive, he later threw in interception. It set up a Gator field goal to go up 10-0, when they could have tied it. By this point, UT could’ve been up 14-10.

Florida scores a touchdown on 4th and goal at the half.

Down 10-0, Tennessee football was still playing hard. But Florida then drove deep into Vols’ territory late in the first half. UT got a stop on 3rd and goal. Dan Mullen then let the clock run down to two seconds and took a timeout. He then went for it on 4th down, and Lamical Perine barely got in. UT went into halftime down 17-0 and three scores. That was a killer.

Eric Gray fumbles the ball to open the fourth quarter.

Two quarterback changes and three total turnovers later, the Vols were only down 24-3 and had the ball in Florida territory in the fourth. They could’ve maybe staged a comeback. But following a Riley Locklear false start penalty, Eric Gray fumbled the ball on the handoff. By that point, the defense was too dejected. UF scored on the next drive and had the game completely in hand.

There were plenty of chances for Tennessee football to make this a game. But Jeremy Pruitt’s team made mistake after mistake, including four turnovers and 74 penalty yards. The offense was never good, but it could have done a better job cashing in on some Florida mistakes. It never did.