Sep 24, 2016; Knoxville, TN, USA; Florida Gators quarterback Austin Appleby (12) passes the ball against the Tennessee Volunteers during the second quarter at Neyland Stadium. Photo Credit: Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports
The Gators left Neyland Stadium in stunned silence after blowing an 18-point halftime lead in a 38-28 loss to the rival Vols. The loss ended UF’s string of 11 straight wins over Tennessee.
Florida (3-1) will look to regroup this Saturday in a noon kickoff at Vanderbilt. The Gators are hoping their second trip to the Volunteer State will have a happier ending than their first.
“The big thing moving forward is what are we going to learn from this and how are we going to let it affect us,” Florida coach Jim McElwain said of the Tennessee loss. “We have a lot of football ahead of us and there’s a lot that we can accomplish. It will be interesting to see how we handle people writing us off, jumping off the ship.”
Vanderbilt (2-2) is coming off a 31-30 overtime win at Western Kentucky. The Commodores are led by a pair of junior standouts — running back Ralph Webb and linebacker Zach Cunningham.
“They play disciplined, they play sound,” McElwain said. “And I think Cunningham is one of the most underrated players in the league.”
Florida has plenty to clean up following its second-half collapse. UF’s normally air-tight secondary allowed Tennessee senior quarterback Josh Dobbs to throw for 319 yards and 4 TDs in the loss. A Florida offense that moved the ball effectively in the first half went three-and-out on five second-half drives.
“They came and took it to us,” McElwain said. “That’s disappointing. We gave them a lot to cheer about.”
NOTES, QUOTES
PLAYERS TO WATCH
–QB Austin Appleby displayed his ability to throw the ball downfield in his first career start at Florida. Appleby completed 23 of 39 passes for 296 yards with 3 TDs and 1 interception. In the first quarter, Appleby connected with WR Antonio Callaway on a 51-yard pass play. “Appleby played pretty darn good, good enough for us to win a ballgame,” McElwain said.
–WR Antonio Callaway, returning from a quad injury, finished with 4 catches for 134 yards against Tennessee. For the season, Callaway has a team-high 335 yards receiving on 17 catches with 2 TDs.
–LB Alex Anzalone was strong in run support throughout the Tennessee game with 12 tackles. For the season, Anzalone has a team-high 26 tackles and 2.5 sacks.
–DL Jordan Sherit was strong on the defensive side of the ball against Tennessee with 8 tackles and one sack. Sherit has 20 tackles, 3 sacks and 2 quarterback hurries on the season.
SERIES HISTORY: Florida leads 37-10-2 (last meeting, 2015, Florida won 9-7).
QUOTE TO NOTE: “We had a good plan coming out after the half and they just out-executed us. We never buckled down and made a play, especially in that third quarter. That was just kind of miserable.” — Florida coach Jim McElwain, on UF’s second-half meltdown against Tennessee.
