As Florida's defense jogged onto the field clutching to a 23-13 lead with 6:01 remaining in the fourth quarter against rival Tennessee, All-American linebacker Brandon Spikes watched from the sideline.
Spikes developed tendinitis in his Achilles heel during practice this week and was unable to play the entire game on Saturday.
The middle linebacker played the majority of the first half, but the pain was too great to keep him on the field full time, as he rotated in and out for much of the second half.
"I saw Spikes on the sideline with his shoes off and I went up to (defensive coordinator Charlie Strong) and I said, 'What's going on?'" safety Ahmad Black said. "'Why isn't our playmaker in the game?' He's hurt. I was like, 'Aw nah, he can't be.'"
With Spikes at less than 100 percent, Tennessee was able to run the ball effectively with senior Montario Hardesty, who racked up 96 yards on 20 carries and scored the first touchdown UF's defense has allowed all season.
By comparison, the Volunteers mustered just 37 rushing yards in last year's meeting - a number they eclipsed on their first drive of the game.
Florida coach Urban Meyer said he felt the defensive line did a good job of controlling the line of scrimmage, but when the Tennessee running backs were met in the hole the Gators missed too many tackles.
Senior outside linebacker Ryan Stamper, who moved inside with Spikes sidelined, didn't blame UF's tackling woes on Spikes' injury.
"We feel like the defense needs to be good enough to step up," Stamper said. "Spikes is the leader, he's a great player, but we feel like with the players we have on the defense we should be able to get it done."
The Gators struggled on offense for most of the game and looked out of sync on their way to scoring just 23 points, their lowest output since losing to Auburn 20-17 at home on Sept. 22, 2007.
As a result, UF leaned on its defense which responded by allowing Tennessee just 210 total yards of offense.
The secondary completely shut down the Volunteers' passing game, easing the effect of Spikes' absence.
Cornerback Joe Haden and safety Ahmad Black each intercepted UT quarterback Jonathan Crompton, who completed 11 of his 19 passes for just 93 yards.
