Game To Watch: #20 Florida at #11 Tennessee: September 24, 2022

Florida visits Tennessee for a showdown between SEC East rivals this Saturday at 3:30 EST. The Gators opened the year with a three point home win over Utah, but have lost to Kentucky and struggled to get past USF in the two weeks since. The Vols have been sharp on offense this year, picking up two blow out wins at home and an over time win over Pittsburgh on the road. Florida and Tennessee are bitter rivals and both want to be the one to challenge Georgia in the division, they need a win Saturday to make that happen.

Recent History

Florida leads the all time series 31 – 20 and holds the edge recently having won five in a row, and 16 of the last 17. Tennessee’s lone win in the last 17 match-ups came at home in 2016 when Josh Dobbs rallied the Vols for a come from behind 38 – 28 victory. Other than that Florida has controlled the rivalry of late, even winning the last four games by a double digit margin.

Top 25 Players

What To Watch For…

What Happened to Anthony Richardson?

After a thrilling week one win over Utah, Anthony Richardson was the talk of college football. The Florida quarterback had just led his team to a big win, playing an efficient game and mixing in the spectacular plays a select few players are capable of. Unfortunately, since that performance Richardson has not looked like the same player.

Richardson completed 70.8 percent of his passes against Utah, did not throw an interception and ran for over 100 yards. In the two games since he has only completed 45.3 percent of his passes, has thrown four interceptions and only managed 28 rushing yards total. It might make more sense if Utah was an early season cupcake and the schedule had just gotten tougher, but the Utes are a good team and are certainly better than USF. Richardson appears lost in the offense and seems to lock on to one receiver too often. He is not trusting his instincts and seems to be overthinking the situation, handcuffing himself at times.

To keep up with a high scoring Tennessee team, Florida needs their quarterback to return to form. Richardson is still a young quarterback with little game experience, the Gators have to simplify the offense so he can put his athletic gifts to work. If he is in rhythm, Richardson will be difficult to stop, even if the playbook is simplified. For Florida to win this game, Richardson has to resemble the player he was in week one, otherwise the Gators will struggle to keep up.

Tennessee’s High Powered Offense

Josh Heupel was hired at Tennessee to bring the high octane offense he oversaw at UCF to Knoxville. He had done just that, averaging 39.3 points per game his first year with the team and raising that number to 52 points per game so far this season. With starting quarterback Hendon Hooker running the offense for the second year Vols fans are expecting to keep the offense humming along.

Hooker has been able to hit big plays in the passing game to Jalin Hyatt and Cedric Tillman. Both receivers have shown the downfield play-making ability to stretch the defense, though Tillman is questionable for this week. In addition to the big plays in the passing game, Tennessee has been solid running the ball as well. Sophomore running back, Jaylen Wright has led the way with 231 yards in three games, but junior Jabari Small and freshman Dylan Sampson have also had their moments. Heupel’s offense will look to strike quickly and often as they wear down the Florida defense with their pace and big play ability.

Florida has not been putting up big numbers on offense this year, topping out at 31 points against USF. Tennessee has scored 34 or more points in every game this year, if they can beat that number on Saturday they are probably in good shape.

Can Florida’s Running Attack Control the Game?

With Anthony Richardson struggling of late, Florida would be best served by leaning on their running game. The Gators have featured three running backs this year who have all been effective. Montrell Johnson and Trevor Etienne have been particularly efficient, both averaging over 7.5 yards per carry. The only issue is they are both averaging less than nine carries per game. Florida has to make more of a commitment to their running game against Tennessee.

Tennessee has been strong defending the run this season allowing just 2.8 yards per carry, but Kent State, Pittsburgh and Akron do not have the same caliber of backs that Florida will feature on Saturday. By running the ball effectively, Florida can keep the ball away from the Tennessee offense and allow their defense to rest, while also opening up easier passing options for Anthony Richardson. If Johnson, Etienne and Nay’Quan Wright are able to pick up chunk plays on the ground it will help get their quarterback on track and give Florida a chance to pull off the upset on the road.

Prediction

Tennessee has the firepower and quarterback play to threaten a good defense and plays with the pace that will wear down opponents. Florida will attempt to run the ball early, but Tennessee is going to force them to win with Anthony Richardson’s arm. He has struggled recently and barring a dazzling performance by Richardson against Tennessee, Florida does not have the firepower to keep up. Tennessee 38 Florida 24.

Neyland Ariel View of Checkerboard image taken by Neomrbungle is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

For more content like this don’t forget to subscribe to our website.

For the latest content follow us on twitter @saturdayscfb & @cfbsaturdaysC or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/CFBSaturday