It didn’t take long for Florida to get on the board against rival Tennessee.
Quarterback Kyle Trask — making his first start in nearly seven years — only needed two passes.
On UF’s second play from scrimmage, the redshirt junior loaded up and tossed it downfield in the direction of junior receiver Trevon Grimes. The ball was slightly underthrown, but the 6-foot-5 Grimes came back for the ball and snagged it in one-on-one coverage for a 43-yard gain.
Three plays later, Trask found tight end Kyle Pitts on a slant for a 19-yard touchdown.
“I wasn’t really nervous,” the signal-caller said after the game. “But we definitely wanted to start fast, and we completed that goal by scoring on the first drive.”
That five-play, 75-yard opening drive set the tone for the remainder of the game. No. 9 Florida never looked back in its 34-3 dismantling of the Volunteers, earning its eighth-straight win against UT in Gainesville.
“It was a really good win for us,” coach Dan Mullen said. “I thought we did a lot of good things out there today. There are still some things we need to clean up, and we’re still a little sloppy in certain areas, but we can always get better.”
UF’s second possession began with promise, when Trask hit redshirt freshman receiver Jacob Copeland for a first down on third and 21. But it abruptly ended the next play when Trask was hit in the backfield by Tennessee’s Daniel Bituli and fumbled, giving possession back to the Vols.
“I thought he played solid,” Mullen said of Trask. “I think the fumble was just him trying to hold the ball, hold the ball, hold the ball and make a play, but if it’s not there just burn it and make the next play. That comes with experience…”
UT quarterback Jarrett Guarantano led his team down to the Florida 3-yard line, but the Gators defense caught a break.
What should have been a touchdown pass bounced out of receiver Juaun Jennings’ hands and corner Trey Dean III intercepted it in the end zone off the tip.
Though not his fault, the pick marked the beginning of a frustrating first half for Guarantano. He was 8 of 15 with 73 yards and two interceptions, the second pick coming on a pass thrown directly to UF’s Marco Wilson. Florida (4-0, 2-0 SEC) capitalized on that turnover in the form of an Evan McPherson field goal.
UF’s offense stalled midway through the second quarter when Mullen elected to swap Trask for redshirt freshman Emory Jones, who led a quick three and out.
But when Trask came back in for the Gators’ next drive, they got down to Tennessee’s goal line with one second left in the half. Facing fourth down, UF went for it and running back Lamical Perine took it in for the score to make it 17-0 at the half.
It was the biggest contribution in an otherwise forgettable day for Perine, who managed 62 yards on 14 carries.
Coming out of the locker room, Tennessee (1-3, 0-1 SEC) made a quarterback change, replacing the struggling Guarantano with freshman Brian Maurer from Ocala, Florida.
It appeared to be the right move, as the Volunteers opened the second half with a field goal drive in which Maurer threw for 46 yards to break the shutout.
But Florida answered with a six-play drive capped off by a deep post from Trask to receiver Freddie Swain, and UF led 24-3.
UT’s offense went dark after that.
Maurer threw two incompletions and then a pick to Amari Burney off a tip from corner Marco Wilson on the next possession.
“The ball was up in the air,” Burney said, “and they say ‘see ball, get ball,’ so I dove for it and I got it.”
Tennessee’s offense was ineffective with Maurer at the helm, but two third quarter interceptions from Trask kept the Florida lead from growing. Mullen said he wasn’t upset about the decisions Trask made on those picks.
“It wasn’t like he threw to a guy and hit a defender in the chest,” Mullen said. “He took a shot on two plays, gave receivers a chance, and you have to make good decisions when taking those chances, but I think he managed the game well.”
Guarantano eventually returned to the game in the fourth quarter but failed to add any points.
It was a sharp first start for Trask, who finished 20 of 28 for 293 yards (eclipsing Feleipe Franks’ career high of 284), two touchdowns and two interceptions.
A strong defensive performance allowed Trask and the UF offense to grow the lead, as Florida’s defense came away with a Burney fumble recovery in addition to the three interceptions. Defensive end Jonathan Greenard said that the defense’s performance was only the beginning.
“We are only scratching the surface of what we can really do,” he said. “We had some pretty good numbers, but I just know what we are capable of and what the guys on this team are able to do.”
Follow Tyler Nettuno on Twitter @TylerNettuno. Contact him at tnettuno@alligator.org.
Trevon Grimes recorded 60 receiving yards as Florida dismantled Tennessee.
