Tennessee football still in bottom tier of Week 14 SEC Power Rankings
3. team. 840. . 8-1. Previous: . Gators
Defeated Tennessee Volunteers 31-19
Against the bottom-feeders of the league, the Florida Gators don’t always look as dominant. They struggled at times with the Vanderbilt Commodores, and Tennessee football just played them closer than any team has played them ever since they came off of their bye week. Is that anything to worry about going forward?
No. Florida had a 31-7 lead over the Vols and allowed two late touchdowns after Dan Mullen called off the dogs. Those scores mean nothing. The Gators are still an elite team, and Kyle Trask added to his Heisman credentials by throwing for four touchdowns and over 430 yards. He continues to spread the ball around to a series of elite weapons.
For the first time since 2016, Florida has clinched the SEC East, and unlike that year, the Gators did it as a top 10 caliber program. They haven’t played for the SEC Championship with a chance to go to the College Football Playoff or compete for any national championship since 2009, when the Alabama Crimson Tide dynasty began by beating Tim Tebow.
To have that chance, though, the Gators have one more critical game left. They’ve got to make sure they beat Ed Orgeron’s LSU Tigers. They’ll still play for the title, but they can’t mess up their national title chances by losing this one. All their focus should be on it.