Tennessee football: Five takeaways from Vols’ 38-14 loss at Florida
![Tennessee Volunteers defensive lineman Ja’Quain Blakely (48) sacks Florida Gators quarterback Emory Jones (5) in the first half. 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](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_1080,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape%2Fcover%2Fsport%2Fa6677bca9f3c82c18f579fb16b473d9bfd8c1787923fadb365cb9fa9ca857f47.jpg "Tennessee Volunteers defensive lineman Ja’Quain Blakely (48) sacks Florida Gators quarterback Emory Jones (5) in the first half. 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")
1. The rush defense was exposed.
Through three games, Tennessee football had a top five rush defense nationally. The Florida Gators had the No. 1 ranked rush offense nationally, so it set up an interesting showdown. This could have made the game close, and honestly, Tim Banks’ impressive play-calling in the first half did make it seem like it could be close.
However, one big difference is that Florida’s rush offense was tested against the Alabama Crimson Tide the previous week. On the other side, the Vols’ rush defense had never been tested. Even their Power Five foe pre-Florida, the Pittsburgh Panthers, were notoriously bad when it comes to rushing offense.
Florida being tested while UT wasn’t proved itself, particularly in the second half. The Gators had 283 rushing yards on 40 carries. Emory Jones started the whole game, despite Anthony Richardson being the better rusher, and led a dominant rushing attack.
This may be a concern for Tennessee football going forward. However, Florida’s rushing offense is that good no matter what, so maybe the Vols’ rush defense will get back to normal with this game out of the way. Still, it’s clearly not as good as the numbers showed through the first three games. That much is obvious, and it’s another area the program needs to work on.