Live update for today’s Tennessee vs. No. 9 Florida college football game from Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville:
FIRST QUARTER
UF quarterback Kyle Trask’s first pass is good for 43 yards to Trevon Grimes.
Trask connects with tight end Kyle Pitts for a 19-yard touchdown with 12:44 left in the first quarter to cap a five-play, 75-yard drive in 2:16. Trask was 2/2 for 62 yards with an 8-yard run for a first down.
What went right: Quarterback Kyle Trask and the offense could not have gotten off to a better start. His first pass attempt went for 43 yards to Trevon Grimes. His second went for 19 yards to tight end/wide receiver Kyle Pitts for a touchdown to give the Gators a quick 7-0 lead. Later in the quarter following a lost Trask fumble on the UF 19, Trey Dean snuffed out the UT scoring threat with an interception in the end zone on a tipped pass.
What went wrong: The Gators again struggled to get anything going on the ground, and UF lost two fumbles on one offensive possession. One was overturned under review, the other the Gators escaped unscathed with Dean’s pick in the end zone. Defensively, the Gators gave up some plays in the passing game, including a 27-yard pass on UT’s first possession.
Play of the quarter: The 43-yard pass to Grimes that set a positive early tone for Trask and the offense.
Trending: The UF defense, which is shutting down the run and starting to apply some pressure to UT quarterback Jarrett Guarantano.
— Robbie Andreu
Tennessee 0
Florida 7
Notes: Former UF track and field star Grant Holloway, the honorary Mr. Two Bits, really got the crowd jacked. … Defensive end Jabari Zuniga (ankle) and cornerback CJ Henderson (ankle) are out today due to injury. Safety Donovan Stiner (targeting ejection at UK last week) will play in the second half. … The Vols win the coin toss and defer. … Kadarius Toney on UF’s sideline in a Falcons jersey with his arm in a sling.
SECOND QUARTER
Miller back on the UF sideline as second quarter gets underway.
Marco Wilson intercepts a pass by UT’s Jarrett Guarantano at the Vols’ 46.
Trask connects with Pitts for 17 yards.
UF kicker Evan McPherson connects on a 22-yard field goal for a 10-0 lead at 10:07 mark.
The Gators go three-and-out with Jones at QB.
What went right: On the last play of the first half, running back Lamical Perine scored on a one-yard run on fourth-and-goal to give the Gators a 17-0 halftime lead. Early in the quarter, onn a third-and-seven from the UT 40, sophomore cornerback Marco Wilson intercepted a Guarantano pass in the flat that led to a 22-yard field goal by Evan McPherson to give the Gators a 10-0 lead. From that point on, the UF defense dominated the rest of the quarter, coming up with consecutive three-and-outs and getting the ball to the offense, which responded with the 10 points.
What went wrong: After the Wilson pick, the Gators drove and had a first-and-goal from the 10, but stalled and had to settle for the chip-shot field goal.
Play of the quarter: Perine’s 1-yard TD run on fourth-and-goal on the last play of the half.
Trending: Trask and the UF passing game — and the UF defense, which clearly has made some adjustments after giving up some plays in the first quarter.
Trask is 12 of 14 for 204 yards, with a touchdown and one turnover at the break.
— Robbie Andreu
Tennessee 0 0
Florida 7 10
THIRD QUARTER
Trask teamed with Swain for a 29-yard TD pass play to put UF up 24-3 with 9:11 left in the quarter. The score capped a six-play, 75-yard drive in 2:13 time of possession.
Trask is 15-for-18 for 257 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Amari Burney catches a tipped pass for an interception at the UT 31.
Trask intercepted at the Vols’ 15.
Trask is intercepted again when ball is tipped in the end zone. Trask throws into double coverage again.
Guarantano is back at QB for Vols.
What went right: After the defense surrendered a field goal on the opening possession, the Florida offense answered with a touchdown drive, the 75-yard march culminating with a 29-yard TD strike from Trask to Freddie Swain. On UT’s next offensive possession, the Gators came up with a turnover. Cornerback Marco Wilson broke up a pass that bounce up in the air and was intercepted by a diving Amari Bureny on the UT 25.
What went wrong: The Gators had a chance to put the game completely out of reach, but failed to do so, with two potential scoring drives ending in Trask interception, the second in the end zone. Trask threw into coverage on both picks.
Play of the quarter: The 29-yard touchdown pass from Trask to Swain.
Trending: The Florida defense — again.
— Robbie Andreu
Tennessee 0 0 3
Florida 7 10 7
FOURTH QUARTER
The announced attendance is 82,776.
Trask in his first career start: 293 yards on 20 of 28 passing with 2 TDs, 2 INTs and a fumble.
“He did a great job, but we expected that,” Mullen said of Trask.
McPherson puts UF up 34-3 with a 37-yard field goal with 2:22 remaining. The score capped a 14-play, 46-yard drive that ate up 7:03 with Jones at QB.
The Gators improve to 4-0 overall, 2-0 in the SEC, while the Vols drop to 1-3, 0-1. UF next hosts Towson at 4 p.m. on Sept. 28.
What went right: On the first play from scrimmage in the quarter, defensive end Jon Greenard forced a fumble that was recovered by Burney, his second turnover of the half. The offense then put the game away, with Dameon Pierce scoring on a 10-yard run with 11:31 to play. Once the Gators had the comfortable lead, the game was turned over to No. 2 quarterback Emory Jones and the Gators were able to establish a running game that burned most of the remaining time in the quarter.
What went wrong: Nothing, really.
Play of the quarter: The 10-yard TD run by Pierce.
— Robbie Andreu
No. 9 Florida 34, Tennessee 3
| Tennessee | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0— | 3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Florida | 7 | 10 | 7 | 10—34 | |
| First Quarter |
FLA_Pitts 19 pass from Trask (McPherson kick), 12:44
| Second Quarter |
|---|
FLA_FG McPherson 22, 10:02
FLA_Perine 1 run (McPherson kick), :00
| Third Quarter |
|---|
TEN_FG Cimaglia 40, 11:24
FLA_Swain 29 pass from Trask (McPherson kick), 9:11
| Fourth Quarter |
|---|
FLA_Pierce 10 run (McPherson kick), 11:31
FLA_FG McPherson 37, 2:21
| TEN | FLA | |
|---|---|---|
| First downs | 12 | 25 |
| Rushes-yards | 27-88 | 37-128 |
| Passing | 151 | 313 |
| Comp-Att-Int | 14-28-3 | 24-34-2 |
| Return Yards | 0 | 10 |
| Punts-Avg. | 5-33.4 | 1-43.0 |
| Fumbles-Lost | 1-1 | 1-1 |
| Penalties-Yards | 7-75 | 5-44 |
| Time of Possession | 25:46 | 34:14 |
| INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS |
|---|
RUSHING_Tennessee, Chandler 10-34, Gray 6-27, Jordan 3-16, Guarantano 4-6, Crouch 1-4, Maurer 3-1. Florida, Perine 14-62, Pierce 11-39, M.Davis 6-20, Copeland 1-8, E.Jones 1-5, Trask 4-(minus 6).
PASSING_Tennessee, Maurer 4-11-1-44, Guarantano 10-17-2-107. Florida, Trask 20-28-2-293, E.Jones 4-6-0-20.
RECEIVING_Tennessee, Jennings 7-73, Palmer 2-24, Callaway 1-27, B.Johnson 1-22, Pope 1-5, Jordan 1-2, Maurer 1-(minus 2). Florida, Pitts 4-62, Jefferson 4-31, Swain 3-67, Cleveland 3-43, Grimes 2-60, Copeland 2-22, Perine 2-9, M.Davis 2-9, Hammond 1-10, Pierce 1-0.
MISSED FIELD GOALS_None.
Need more points. Speaking of which, Wisconsin sure is “sqeaking” by Michigan, huh?
205 yrds in first half. I predicted that we would have over 350 yrds passing. Keep on throwing and use the run to keep them honest. When you can have 87% completion keep on chunking it down the field.
Good call. If Copeland had held on to the one Trask put right in his hands, you’d have been all over it, Trask would’ve thrown 3 TD’s.
Bad tackling and bad play calling, other than that not bad.
The defense showed that they were missing some players, but that’s no excuse for the bad tackling — which I hope doesn’t become a habit. The OL needs to come up to full speed muy pronto, otherwise we are going to look pretty silly against LSU, Auburn, and Mizzou. Auburn may be limping a tad after TAMU, but LSU will no doubt be hitting on all cylinders and may very well be a CFP team. I don’t even know what to think about Mizzou and who knows what Georgia will look like by Jax.
So with Michigan being humiliated, and Georgia fixin’ to do more of the same to the media darling, Notre Dame, we should move up as long as nobody watches the tape of us playing like mullets a few times during the UT game. Probably not tho, we’ll no doubt move down to #10 since Utah lost to USC who is now suddenly being promoted as “back”. That way, when Notre Dame gets nuked tonight and cave dwelling is restored as an acceptable way of life in South Bend, they only fall into our old spot at #9 no matter how bad they get beaten. See how this works? I’m sure Pat Dooley will be leading the charge to drop us as far as he can anyway after beating Tennessee 34-3.
All that said, Trask is a stud. GO GATORS!
“Kadarius Toney on UF’s sideline in a Falcons jersey with his arm in a sling.”
Was his Gator jersey unavailable? Seriously, didn’t he want to look like part of the team?