Tennessee football: Turning points in Vols’ 31-19 loss to Florida

These were the key moments in the Gators’ win over the Tennessee football Volunteers.

This game wasn’t as close as it looked. Tennessee football only lost to the Florida Gators 31-19 thanks to two touchdown drives of 94 and 96 yards late in the fourth quarter with their backup quarterback, J.T. Shrout, after Dan Mullen called off the dogs with a 31-7 lead.

At 2-6 and on a six-game winning streak, the Vols were never really in this game once the middle of the second half arrived. Unlike other games, this didn’t come down to one play. However, Jeremy Pruitt’s team could still have made this a game with a few plays back.

It’s hard to do that against a team like Florida, though, who is now 8-1 and clinched the East with this win. How could the Vols have made this interesting? Let’s take a look at that here with the key moments and turning points in Tennessee football’s loss.

Three 3rd-down conversions on Florida’s final TD drive of first half

Before this point, the Vols trailed 10-7. They failed on a fake punt and allowed a sack on a drive near midfield, but in between those, the Florida Gators had a missed field goal, so they were in the game. However, Florida’s final first-half drive saw Kyle Trask convert passes on 3rd and 11, 3rd and 12 and 3rd and 3, as they drove 80 yards on 10 plays to take a 17-7 lead with a touchdown.

Kyle Trask 42-yard pass to Kyle Pitts early in second half

After taking that two-score lead in the first half, Florida got the ball to start the second half. On 2nd and 2 early, Kyle Trask completed a 42-yard pass to Kyle Pitts, which set up another touchdown pass three plays later to give the Gators a three-score lead.

Intentional grounding knocks Vols out of field goal range

The Vols had no quit in them after trailing 24-7. They had driven to the Florida 32-yard line later in the third, and a field goal would have made this a two-score game going into the fourth. However, Harrison Bailey threw the ball away on a 3rd and 7 as Trey Dean III got into the backfield, and that knocked Tennessee football to the 44-yard line, forcing them to punt on 4th and 14.

Harrison Bailey sacked on Vols’ opening drive of fourth quarter

One drive later, in the fourth quarter, Bailey drove the Vols close to field goal range again. They had a 2nd and 6 at the Gators 41-yard line. However, Bailey was sacked by Amari Burney for an eight-yard loss, knocking UT back to midfield, and that brought up a 3rd and 14, which the Vols couldn’t convert, forcing them to punt again and keeping this a three-score game.

Six straight completions from Kyle Trask on Florida’s final TD drive

Throughout much of the second half, the Vols’ defense hung tough and just couldn’t get any help from the offense. After a second straight drive was stalled due to a sack, though, Kyle Trask got hot. He drove the Gators 86 yards on six plays, all of which were completions by him, en route to his fourth touchdown of the day to put Florida up 31-7 and the game out of reach.

Jeremy Pruitt then put J.T. Shrout in the game in place of Bailey, and Shrout’s touchdown drives made this respectable for Tennessee football in the end. However, the game was already out of reach because of these other events that happened.