Tennessee football: Five takeaways from Vols’ 38-14 loss at Florida

Florida Gators place kicker Jace Christmann (47) kicks a 47 yard field goal for three points in the first half to make it 10-7 Gators. The Florida Gators played the Tennessee Volunteers Saturday September 25, 2021 at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, FL. [Doug Engle/GainesvilleSun]2021Flgai 092521 Gatorsvsvolsgatorwalk

For a brief moment,

fans were teased. The Vols led 14-10 over the No. 11 ranked Florida Gators on the road and had the ball early in the second quarter. However, Florida got it back and scored to go up 17-14 at halftime. They then scored two touchdowns to open the third quarter and take control of the game en route to a 38-14 victory.

With the win, Dan Mullen’s team improves to 3-1 and rebounds from its 31-29 loss to the Alabama Crimson Tide last week. Rocky Top falls to 2-2 and remains 0-2 against Power Five schools after falling to the Pittsburgh Panthers two weeks ago.

UF extends its dominance over UT to five straight wins, four straight by double digits, and 16 wins in 17 years. Josh Heupel’s Vols will next travel to Columbia, Mo. to take on the Missouri Tigers. Meanwhile, Florida hits the road to face the Kentucky Wildcats. Here are five things we learned from Tennessee football’s loss.

5. Special teams was not the advantage it should have been.

It’s pretty simple when you look at it. Florida went into halftime up 17-14. The difference? Jace Christmann hit a 47-yard field goal, and Chase McGrath missed his. That is not a prediction anybody would have made heading into the game. In fact, anybody making the case for UT to have the chance would have brought up special teams.

A USC Trojans transfer, McGrath had been perfect on the year up until this game, hitting all of his extra points and all three of his field goals, two of which were beyond 40 yards. Florida, meanwhile, had kicker issues all year, and Christmann is the second guy Mullen has tried.

We can safely say Christmann is the one who made it work out. In the process, Tennessee football went into halftime trailing. There were no real advantages in the return game, so this was the one big difference on special teams. If things had just been tweaked slightly, it may have been a game in the second half.