KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Jauan Jennings forever etched his name in the hearts of Tennessee fans with one play in 2016.
Not the Hail Mary, the one before that.
Jennings streaking down the sideline, leaving Florida corner Teez Tabor in the dust on his way to a 67-yard touchdown. He gave Tennessee the lead after the Vols trailed by 21 in the game. He gave Vol fans relief and joy after 11 straight years of losing to Florida.
When he was asked about his fondest memories of the rivalry with the Gators on Tuesday, Jennings didn't bring it up.
"I guess just winning. I don't really have any fondest memories, not any that you don't know about," Jennings said as a big smile spread across his face.
"I'm just ready to go out there and ball."
The redshirt senior wide receiver gets one more shot to play against his arch rival on Saturday, a noon kickoff against no. 9 Florida in Gainesville.
“It’s going to be crazy. The level of energy, it’s going to be is crazy. We’re going to have lots of energy. We’ve been having lots of energy since that last game I told you all we were going to come out with energy. This whole team’s ready. We’re fired up. Like I said, it’s a road game, going into ‘The Swamp’ – Florida. How else can you put it? It’s an SEC game. We’re going to go out there and give our all and that’s all that matters,” Jennings said.
For many Vols, including seven starters listed on the depth chart, it will be their first SEC game. And it comes on the road.
You can tell them about it all you want, but you can't really know until you experience it.
"Going back to when I was young, people used to tell me how crazy it would get and I would be like, 'ok I understand it's going to get crazy,' but you don't really understand until you get thrown into the fire what it's all about. I'm excited for them, I think we're going to have a tough week of practice going into this and we're going to really try to get accustomed to it, whether its crowd noise and all those type things throughout the week," redshirt junior quarterback Jarrett Guarantano said.
An unranked Tennessee team has never beaten a ranked Florida team. The Vols are 0-8 in that situation but Florida quarterback Kyle Trask will be making his first start since his freshman year of high school.
The last quarterback to make his first start as a Gator against the Vols was Austin Appleby - in 2016. Jauan Jennings can tell you how that ended.