Game Day: Florida at Tennessee, 7 p.m. (ESPN)

Saturday, September 22

Knoxville, TN

7 PM

Florida Gators

Tennessee

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Game Day: Florida at Tennessee, 7 p.m. (ESPN)

Saturday, September 22, 2018 | Football, Chris Harry

By: Chris Harry, Senior Writer

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The series has been woefully lopsided for well over a decade. Florida-Tennessee, a matchup that represented one of the most anticipated of the college football season for the entire decade of the 1990s and into the 2000s, has been dominated by the Gators, who have won 12 of the previous 13 meetings, dating to the 2005 season. At one point, UF won seven straight by double figures.

But the games have been much closer the last four years, with Florida's three victories coming by a combined 11 points, including last season's "Hail Feleipe" play — a 63-yard touchdown pass from Feleipe Franks to Tyrie Cleveland — as time expired to give the Gators a 26-20 victory.

And let the record show that UT's lone win over the last 13 years came the last time the Gators ventured to Neyland Stadium two years ago. The Gators built 21-3 halftime lead, but the Volunteers scored five unanswered touchdowns after the break and ran away with a 38-28 win.

[Read senior writer Scott Carter's comprehensive "Opening Kickoff" preview here]

Much has changed since UF and UT met on Sept. 24, 2016, most notably the two coaches on the sidelines. Dan Mullen, after nine seasons as head coach at Mississippi State, replaced Jim McElwain for the Gators and Jeremy Pruitt, most recently the defensive coordinator at Alabama, took over for Butch Jones as overseer of the Vols. Whether the tenor of the series has changed will be determined Saturday night on the banks of the Tennessee River.

Fact: Florida has not won here since 2014.

For Tennessee, that represents amazing progress, given how upside down this rivalry had become.

Tennessee had a lot to celebrate the last time Florida came to Knoxville. The Volunteers, with 38 unanswered points after the Gators built a 21-0 lead, won 38-28 in 2016.

The Gators go into the game with an offense averaging 382.3 yards per game, which ranks 93rd in the nation and 13th of 14 SEC teams. Franks has completed 41 of 77 passes for 570 yards, nine touchdowns and two interceptions. UF's rushing attack, now without backup tailback Malik Davis (broken foot), is at 185.0 yards per game, but Franks has nearly a fifth of the Gators' rushing yards (103 of 555) on a team-high 23 attempts. Defensively, UF checks in 43rd nationally (329.7 ypg), but 101st against the run in giving up 198.3 yards a game).

The Vols will take note of that latter statistic, given their preference for the ground game. UT is averaging 221.3 rushing yards per outing, which rates 36th in the country and seventh-best in the league, compared to just 187.7 passing (101st and 12th, respectively). The bulk of those yards, though, were tallied in the last two games, against FCS opponent East Tennessee State and mid-major Texas-El Paso, two foes the Vols walloped by a combined score of 83-3. The Vols were beaten 40-14 on a neutral field in their opener by 17th-ranked West Virginia.

Of course, the most impressive stats Florida has posted came against Charleston Southern (FCS) and Colorado State (mid-major), with a 27-16 home loss to Kentucky (and 303 rushing yards surrendered) in between.

Sounds like a pretty even matchup. Unlike the recent run of dominance from tonight's visitors.

Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. on ESPN, with Adam Amin on play-by-play, Rod Gilmore providing analysis and Quint Kessenich working the sideline. Replays will air Sunday at 5 p.m. and Monday at 9 p.m. on the SEC Network, and be available on the ESPN app and WatchESPN.com.

Click here for for a station list of the Gator IMG Sports Network broadcast, with pre-game coverage starting at 1 p.m.

Finally, follow senior staff writers Scott Carter and Chris Harry on Twitter (@GatorsScott and @GatorsChris) for commentary and analysis throughout the game. FloridaGators.com will have fresh coverage content late Saturday night and Sunday, as well.