KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Jalen Tabor could only watch as Jauan Jennings bobbled and tipped and tapped the ball to himself, tiptoeing along the sideline and finishing the remainder of his 67-yard touchdown catch by waltzing into the end zone.
Goodbye, lead.
Florida held one until the 12:45 mark in the fourth quarter. Then, suddenly, Tennessee stopped fearing Florida’s defensive backs and began attacking them.
Tabor’s mistake was followed by another, when UT’s Josh Malone strode through Florida’s defense untouched on the Volunteers’ next drive, on his way to a 42-yard touchdown.
By the game’s end, Florida corners Quincy Wilson and Tabor had combined for two interceptions and five total tackles. But the only statistic they guaranteed a week earlier — a sure-fire win over the Volunteers in Knoxville — eluded them in a massive 38-28 Florida collapse Saturday night.
“Being humble, there’s a lot of good in that,” coach Jim McElwain said. “As I said, back it up. They didn’t back it up, did they?”
No, they didn’t. After staring at a group of reporters after last Tuesday’s practice, assuring them there was no way a duck can pull a truck, or, in other words, that Tennessee would beat Florida, Wilson’s words were proved wrong.
The duck pulled the truck.
So maybe we can finally put this meaningless metaphor to rest.
And, while we’re at it, maybe we can debunk some theories along the way.
Let’s start with this one: Florida’s defense is the best in the nation.
The Gators gave up 38 points on Saturday, 35 of which were scored in the second half, 21 of which were scored in the fourth quarter.
Before Tennessee, Florida had played Massachusetts, Kentucky and North Texas, and its defense allowed a startlingly low 14 points combined. Now, those teams have a combined record of 4-7.
Tennessee is obviously much better than any of those teams, and even so, Florida’s defense looked dominant in the first half. There were three-and-outs forced, passes intercepted and sacks aplenty.
And then, not so much. Florida had busted coverages, little pressure in the backfield and, according to McElwain, many missed tackles.
Quincy Wilson, what was all that trash talk for?
“I’m not answering that question,” he said. “That’s just what we do.”
Maybe it is. Maybe Florida’s defensive backs have a long lineage of trash-talking their opponent in their history, passed down through collegiate legends Joe Haden and Vernon Hargreaves and others.
But they also have a recent history of dominance on defense. The Gators have ranked in the nation’s top 20 in scoring defense in every season since 2011.
And maybe that’s where they are right now. Not the best defense in the nation like they claim to be, but the 20th best.
That isn’t a bad thing. In fact, that’s a really good thing.
But a 20th ranked defense and a 35-point second-half collapse after broken promises and delusions of grandeur surely doesn’t mean you’re the best in the nation.
Ian Cohen is the sports editor. You can contact him at icohen@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter @icohenb.
Quincy Wilson (right) is held back by Chauncey Gardner in front of Tennessee players during Florida's 38-28 loss to the Volunteers on Sept. 24, 2016, at Neyland Stadium.
