Gators seeking first SEC win at Tennessee
Florida bounced back from its first loss of the season with a resounding 48-10 win over Colorado State.
Now the Gators (2-1, 0-1 SEC) will hit the road in search of their first conference win on Saturday at Tennessee.
“Every week is a fun new challenge,” Florida coach Dan Mullen said.
Tennessee (2-1, 0-0 SEC) has lost its last nine games against power conference opponents, but under first-year coach Jeremy Pruitt has won two straight after a season-opening loss to West Virginia. Last week, the Vols blanked UTEP 24-0.
Last season, Florida beat Tennessee 26-20 in a game decided by a dramatic, 63-yard Hail Mary TD from quarterback Feleipe Franks to wide receiver Tyrie Cleveland as time expired. Both Franks and Cleveland are back for the Gators this season.
Mullen, who coached at Mississippi State last season before joining the Gators this season, said he watched tape of the game. What stood out to him was that the Gators were up 20-10 with 5:13 left and unable to finish off the game in a more comfortable margin.
“That was kind of my talk about it to our guys,” Mullen said. “I was like, ‘Why didn’t we finish the game off on offense? Why didn’t we get first downs and put them away?’ Get that mindset of we’ve got the lead, finish it off.”
Franks said the fact that the biggest play in his career came last season against Tennessee is not on his mind this week. Franks has already matched his touchdown passing total from last season (nine), completing 41-of-77 passes for 570 yards with nine TDs to two interceptions while learning a new system in Mullen’s spread offense.
“We’re just trying to focus on our game plan that we’re going to have for this coming week and just working hard with our guys and being ready to play,” Franks said. “A whole other year, a whole other game. It will be fun and exciting to get out there to an away game, too.”
Florida continued its strong special teams play under Mullen, scoring two more special teams’ touchdowns against Colorado State on a blocked punt recovered in the end zone and an 85-yard punt return by Freddie Swain.
“The special teams aspect of it, the big plays made, guys buy into that,” Mullen said. “They’re really starting to see how important it is. Here at Florida, we should always have dynamic special teams. We have through the years and it should continue.”
