Tennessee is more than just Tyler Bray, despite what you have read this week.
Sure, the Volunteers’ quarterback leads the Southeastern Conference with 698 passing yards and seven touchdowns. And yes, Tennessee has a dynamic one-two pass-catching punch in sophomore receivers Justin Hunter and Da’Rick Rogers.
But through two games, the Vols have run the ball 15 times more than they have put it in the air.
While Tennessee has hit a couple of home runs in the passing game, most of its touchdowns have come at the end of long, methodical drives; the Vols lead the SEC in time of possession.
To keep them off the scoreboard, the Gators’ young defensive backs have to pass their first test of the season.
But just as important, No. 16 Florida (2-0) will need to prevent Tennessee (2-0) from extending drives.
That means winning the battle on third down.
Third-down plays are always key, but they will be even more important Saturday at 3:30 p.m. when the Vols and the Gators storm Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in both teams’ conference opener.
Entering this week, Tennessee’s offense is 20-for-30 (66.7 percent) on third downs — best in the SEC.
Florida’s defense, meanwhile, has held opponents to a 3-for-23 rate (13 percent) in those same situations — also best in the SEC.
For the Gators to have success, they need to handcuff the Volunteers by putting them in third-and-long situations. To do that, Florida will have to control the line of scrimmage and clog running lanes.
“Although their (passing) stats are really high, I think they do have a good run game, too,” defensive coordinator Dan Quinn said.
“Certainly, they’ll try to establish that.”
If that’s the case, senior running back Tauren Poole has a larger target on his back than Bray has on his.
Poole leads Tennessee with 199 yards on the ground, though he was not a factor in last year’s meeting, when he managed just 23 yards on 10 carries in a 31-17 Florida win — the Gators’ sixth straight win in the series.
Still, while Poole stands just 5-foot-10, he is a strong, 215-pound back who could give UF fits.
“They like to run the ball,” middle linebacker Jon Bostic said.
“You can see it with that big offensive line; we saw it on film. There are some big guys that like to get after it. Basically our main objective is to stop the run first, and then we’ll react to the pass.”
If the Florida defense can do so, if it can put Bray in obvious passing situations, the Gators will have a much better shot at getting the Volunteers off the field.
While Tennessee has been great on third downs overall, it has really only thrived in short-yardage situations, when the defense can’t sell-out for the pass.
Against Montana and Cincinnati, Tennessee was 16-for-19 (84 percent) on third downs of five yards or less, and 4-for-11 (36 percent) on all others.
To get in those short-yardage situations, the Vols leaned on Poole and the running game more than the arm of Bray.
At the same time, Florida has not been tested on defense by either Florida Atlantic or UAB.
Of the 23 third-down situations the defense has faced, only twice has the opposing team been within five yards of moving the chains.
Florida stepped up and stuffed the run on both plays.
On Saturday, however, the defense would prefer not to find itself in those scenarios, because this time the Gators could get burned.
Contact Tyler Jett at tjett@alligator.org.
Tennessee running back Tauren Poole leads the team with 199 yards rushing through two games. It’s Poole and the Vols’ ability to convert on third down that could make the difference Saturday.
