TENNESSEE, USA — The Tennessee Vols came from behind to defeat the Florida Gators on Saturday with a final score of 23-17. The No. 8 Vols began a four-game home stretch on Saturday night, welcoming Florida for a rivalry matchup inside Neyland Stadium.
At the start of the game, the Gators won the toss and deferred. On the Vols' first drive, a 24-yard connection from Nico Iamaleava to Squirrel White put the Vols in scoring position. However, on third and one, Iamaleava fumbled during an exchange with Dylan Sampson and turned the ball over.
Tennessee veteran linebacker Keenan Pili was injured on the Gator's first drive and did not see action for the rest of the game.
On Florida's second drive, the Gators rushed down to Tennessee's 20-yard line before running back Jaden Baugh got pushed back on a critical third and one. Florida was forced to kick a field goal, and Trey Smack's 42-yarder was good for the first points of the night. Florida led 3-0.
With less than three minutes left in the first quarter, Nico Iamaleava rushed 22 yards for a Tennessee first down, but an offensive holding call called the playback. Two Chris Brazzell completions and one from White put Tennessee in a closer position to score, but Iamaleava was sacked back-to-back and pushed back a combined 16 yards to the 47-yard line. On third down, the redshirt freshman quarterback was sacked a third consecutive time to end the drive.
This season, Florida is known for its two-quarterback system. In the second quarter, freshman quarterback DJ Lagway was put in for the Gators. Lagway marched his squad down before Tennessee's defense got a massive fourth-down stop when Ricky Gibson III blew up a run to force a turnover on downs.
The Vols couldn't capitalize and had to punt on the next drive, as Iamaleava overthrew two deep passes to White and Chas Nimrod, while Sampson couldn't establish the run game.
With five minutes left before halftime, the Gators ran all over the Vols. Florida snuck down to the one-yard line before running a quarterback sneak on first and one. On the play, James Pearce Jr. knocked the ball loose and recovered the fumble. This was another massive play for Tennessee's defense to keep them lucky in the endzone.
Tennessee’s offense continued to struggle. Iamaleava threw an interception right to Sharif Denson who returned it 18-yards to the Tennessee 22 yard-line. The triple coverage mistake was Iamaleava’s third interception of the season. However, Mertz was sacked on third down and Florida had too many players on the field as they knocked in a field goal, so the points didn’t count.
This was the second week in a row the Vols ended the first half down 3-0. The Vols finished the half with 41 rushing yards, and Iamaleava completed 7- of his ten attempts for 89 yards and an interception.
The Gators marched down the field and ended a nine-play drive with a 13-yard touchdown to give Florida a 10-0 lead.
The Vols had some life after the Florida score. A few Sampson runs combined with a pair of Iamaleava completions put Tennessee in scoring position. On fourth and one, Sampson spun into the endzone for a four-yard touchdown. The Vols were back down by three, 10-7.
Arion Carter picked off Lagway's pass on the next play and returned it 15 yards toward the endzone. The interception was the momentum swing the Vols needed, but Tennessee again couldn't fully capitalize on big moments, and the series ended with a field goal to tie it up.
The Vols took the lead for the first time after the Gators gave them an excellent field position in the fourth quarter. Sampson rushed for a 23-yard touchdown to make it a 17-10 game. This was Sampson's fifth multi-touchdown game.
The Gators went on to tie up the score at 17-17. After multiple back-and-forth plays, the game went into overtime.
In the end, the Vols defeated the Gators with a final game score of 23-17.
Tennessee continues its four-game home stretch welcoming Alabama on the third Saturday of October next weekend. The kickoff time is slated for 3:30 p.m. inside Neyland Stadium.
