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Tennessee football: Five reasons Vols could upset Florida

By Caleb Calhoun

KNOXVILLE, TN - SEPTEMBER 22: Smokey the live Tennessee Volunteers mascot on the sidelines during the game between the Florida Gators and Tennessee Volunteers at Neyland Stadium on September 22, 2018 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Florida won the game 47-21. (Photo by Donald Page/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - SEPTEMBER 22: Smokey the live Tennessee Volunteers mascot on the sidelines during the game between the Florida Gators and Tennessee Volunteers at Neyland Stadium on September 22, 2018 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Florida won the game 47-21. (Photo by Donald Page/Getty Images) /
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The sun peeks over Neyland Stadium before the University of Kentucky and the University of Tennessee college football game on Volunteer Boulevard in Knoxville, Tenn., on Saturday, Oct. 17, 2020.Kentucky Vs Tennessee Football 202095971
The sun peeks over Neyland Stadium before the University of Kentucky and the University of Tennessee college football game on Volunteer Boulevard in Knoxville, Tenn., on Saturday, Oct. 17, 2020.Kentucky Vs Tennessee Football 202095971 /

1. Florida isn’t used to December weather in Knoxville.

In 1992, Tennessee football upset the No. 4 ranked Florida Gators 31-14 thanks to a torrential downpour that slowed down Steve Spurrier’s Fun-n-Gun offense. A decade later, the Vols lost 30-13 thanks to another rainstorm that resulted in three first-half fumbles lost by UT and four fumbled snaps by Casey Clausen, a California quarterback not used to that weather.

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Simply put, weather at Neyland has played a role in this game. Well, when Florida travels to Knoxville on Saturday, the high is 47 degrees, and the low is 26 degrees. With a 3:30 p.m. ET kickoff, it could get cold for them in the second half, which could prevent their ability to get in the offensive rhythm they usually get in during that time.

In its entire school history, Florida has never won a game in an outdoor stadium as far north as Knoxville in December or January. They lost to the Vols in Knoxville in December in 1928, their final game of the season, after an 8-0 start and with a chance to go to the Rose Bowl on the line.

Florida isn’t the only team to lose to the weather at Neyland late in the year either. In 1950, the best Kentucky Wildcats team in history was 10-0, led by Bear Bryant and had clinched the SEC title. They traveled to Knoxville with the national title on the line. Well, the Great Appalachian Storm of 1950 hit the week the game arrived.

dark. Next. Five previous seasons Vols played Florida in December

A blizzard pummeled the stadium just as the two teams kicked off, and a heavily favored and superior Kentucky team was upset 7-0 thanks to a series of fumbles, which won Robert Neyland’s Tennessee football team the national title. Don’t count out what weather could do on Saturday.

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