Tennessee football traveled to Gainesville for its semi-annual trip to the Swamp and took over the stadium early, handling business with an easy 31-11 win over Florida.
It's the first time in over two decades the Vols walk out of Gainesville with a win, and it was an emphatic one against a struggling Florida squad.
This is a game that Tennessee teams of the past would have struggled in, but Josh Heupel made sure to send a message that the Vols might have three losses, but their season is far from over.
Even in the Heupel era, slow starts and offensive struggles have plagued the Vols, but that was not a problem on Saturday night. Tennessee scored on all but one first-half drive, putting up all 31 of its points in the first half.
It seemed like the Vols went conservative on offense in the second half, playing to get to the end of the game, rather than playing to score. The Vols failed to score on any of their three second-half drives, but there were no worries about the outcome of this game after the first quarter.
Joey Aguilar finished the game with 204 passing yards and one touchdown. It wasn't a spectacular game for Aguilar, but it wasn't needed for the Vols to cruise to victory.
The Vols were dominant on the ground, totaling 248 total rushing yards. DeSean Bishop led the team in rushing with 116 yards and two touchdowns, followed by Star Thomas with 71 yards and a touchdown, Daune Morris with 41 yards, and Mike Matthews with 20 rushing yards.
Tennessee hit all three things I laid out as necessary to beat Florida, adding to the emphatic win. The Vols scored early and kept scoring, dominated the run game, and did not turn the ball over.
The Vols didn't win the turnover battle as neither team turned the ball over, but not having any turnovers counts as a win.
It was a great win for the Vols, ending a long-awaited road drought against Florida. Now, Tennessee will focus on Senior Day festivities as it hosts College Football Playoff contender Vanderbilt with a chance to eliminate them from the Playoff.