Tennessee quarterback Harrison Bailey runs the ball against Florida in Saturday afternoon's game at Neyland Stadium. The Vols (2-6) lost their sixth straight game to the Gators (8-1).
photo by Tennessee Athletic Communications
Despite giving up just 21 rushing yards and making multiple timely stops, Florida's (8-1) passing attack was too much for Tennessee (2-6) to overcome in a 31-19 defeat on Saturday inside Neyland Stadium.
Tennessee true-freshman quarterback Harrison Bailey completed 14 of his 21 pass attempts for 111 yards and his first career touchdown toss in his first career start for UT.
Bailey became the fourth ever Tennessee true-freshman signal caller to make his first career start against a top-10 opponent, joining Erik Ainge, Josh Dobbs and Brian Mauer.
Senior tailback Ty Chandler finished the contest with 64 all-purpose yards giving him 3,184 career all-purpose yards, moving him into fifth in Tennessee history for career call-purpose yards, passing Jamal Lewis and Travis Henry.
The duo of linebacker Henry To'o To'o and cornerback Warren Burrell led the way for the Vols defense, tallying eight total tackles apiece.
To'o To'o also recorded a game- and career-high two-and-a-half tackles for loss.
Tennessee offensive linemen Cade and Cooper Mays became just the second set of brothers to start in the same game since Eli and Ethan Wolf did so on Sept. 4, 2017 against Georgia Tech at the Chick-Fil-A Kickoff Game in Atlanta.
Florida quarterback Kyle Trask led the way for UF with 433 yards through the air and four touchdowns.
The Gators opened the scoring on a 30-yard field goal from Evan McPherson to take a 3-0 lead with 9:19 remaining in the opening quarter.
After the teams traded punts to end the first quarter, the Vols marched 96 yards down the field in 11 plays, capped by a Bailey 15-yard connection with Gray who caught the ball out of the backfield and waltzed into the Checkerboards to give UT a 7-3 advantage with 9:59 left in the first half.
The drive was the longest scoring drive of the season for the Vols in terms of yardage and the touchdown was Gray's 10th in his last 10 games for the Orange & White.
Florida immediately responded with a six-play, 75-yard drive in just over two minutes to regain its three-point advantage.
On the ensuing drive, the Vols failed to convert on a fake punt from their own 30, but the defense was undaunted with its back against the wall, forcing a massive three-and-out, before McPherson missed a 53-yard field goal attempt.
Following a Tennessee punt, the Gators took their ensuing drive back into the endzone on the cusp of halftime to take a 17-7 lead into the locker room.
Florida maintained its momentum to start the third quarter with a five-play, 75-yard drive that ended with a screen pass that found the endzone, increasing its lead to 24-7.
The Gators found the endzone yet again at the start of the fourth quarter to increase their advantage to 31-7.
The Vols followed the Florida touchdown with a touchdown drive of their own. The 11-play, 94-yard drive was finished with a seven-yard rush from Chandler—his third score of the season—to cut the Florida lead to 31-13.
The Vols played through the final whistle as sophomore quarterback JT Shrout came out of the bullpen to find graduate transfer receiver Velus Jones Jr. on a 22-yard pitch-and-catch to cement the final score of 31-19.
The Vols will return to action next week with a road contest against Vanderbilt. Kickoff for that game is still to be determined.