GAINESVILLE
-- The national pundits have put the spotlight for Saturday’s
meeting of rivals Florida and Tennessee squarely on the quarterbacks.
Junior
Tyler Bray and the talented receiving duo of Justin Hunter and
Cordarrelle Patterson have the Volunteers ready for an aerial assault
on the Gators defense. And sophomore Jeff Driskel, with just one true
start under his belt, will be entering a raucous, sold-out Neyland
Stadium with 102,000 screaming fans ready to rattle the UF
quarterback.
That’s
what the national pundits have said. That’s the sexy outlook. But
that’s not what history dictates will determine the outcome at
6 p.m. when No. 18 Florida (2-0, 1-0 Southeastern Conference) and
No. 23 Tennessee (2-0, 0-0) meet in Knoxville, Tenn.
Instead,
the winner is likely to be the team that is effective running the
ball and stopping the opposition. Florida defensive coordinator Dan
Quinn knows keeping the Tennessee running game in check will be huge.
“Once
a team is able to successfully do both, in the run game and in the
pass game, that opens up all sorts of problems for the defense,” he
said. “For us, it’s going to be a really important job.”
Since
2003, the team that has rushed for the most yards has won the game.
For the past seven years, that team has been Florida. During that
span, the Gators have outrushed the Volunteers 1,262 to 472 and twice
held them to negative yards rushing. In Tennessee’s previous two
wins in 2003 and ’04, it outrushed Florida 310 to 208.
While
not an end-all path to victory, running the ball effectively will be
paramount Saturday, especially for the Gators.
UF
coach Will Muschamp has placed an emphasis on that aspect of the
game, keeping the ball on the ground on more than 60 percent of the
team’s snaps. Handling the bulk of that load is senior Mike
Gillislee, who leads the SEC in carries (38), yards (231), touchdowns
(four) and yards per game (115.5). Not surprisingly, Florida has
controlled the time of possession this season, 68:15 to 51:45.
Gillislee
strained his groin in last week’s victory against Texas A&M but
is expected to play Saturday.
Despite
all the hype surrounding the Tennessee passing attack, third-year
coach Derek Dooley has put added importance on running the ball this
season. Through two games, the Volunteers have actually averaged 6
more yards than the Gators. Junior Rajion Neal and sophomore Marlin
Lane have each rushed for more than 100 yards, and sophomore Devrin
Young has also been involved, with 10 carries for 44 yards. Even
Patterson has made an impact on the ground, taking a reverse 67 yards
for a touchdown against North Carolina State.
“They
want to be physical and run the football,” Muschamp said. “They
want to take advantage of their strengths offensively, which are at
the quarterback and receiver position.”
