No. 23 Tennessee will take its 2-0 record on the road against No. 24 Florida in one of the best rivalries in college football. The Vols are fresh off a cake walk win over Indiana State, while the Gators had two weeks to recover from the loss to Michigan due to a cancelled game last weekend against Northern Colorado. That does not mean Florida had extra time to prepare for Tennessee, however, as it was riding out Hurricane Irma and hoping for the best.
The Gators are 5.5-point favorites over the Volunteers in the SEC on CBS Game of the Week.
Viewing information
Date: Saturday, Sept. 16 | Time: 3:30 p.m. ET
Location: Ben Hill Griffin Stadium -- Gainesville, Florida
TV: CBS | Live stream: CBSSports.com, CBS Sports App
Storylines
Tennessee: It hasn't been the prettiest start to the season for Tennessee, but 2-0 is 2-0, and a win over Florida will go a long way for a Volunteer team that would love nothing more to start a winning streak over the Gators. The Vols have a reliable running back in John Kelly (208 yards, four touchdowns), an upstart playmaker in Marquez Callaway (152 yards, three touchdowns) and a quarterback in Quinten Dormady who seemed to gain some confidence late in the double overtime win over Georgia Tech in the season opener. The key for Tennessee is its defensive line owning the line of scrimmage against a Florida offensive front that looked horrendous against the Wolverines two weeks ago.
Florida: Is two weeks enough time to get over the Michigan hangover? Is two weeks enough time for coach Jim McElwain to develop a functional offensive line and a quarterback to firmly take hold of the position? Those two issues have plagued McElwain during his first two-plus seasons in Gainesville, and at this point, it's naive to just assume that he will get them answered. Florida's defense needs to rattle Dormady, force him into some mistakes and take advantage of good field position any way that it can.
Prediction
While the quarterback play in the opener drew headlines, the play of Florida's offensive line was far more concerning for Gator Nation. After talking up its progress all offseason, the gross misdiagnosis by the Florida staff is concerning and, more importantly, inhibits the development of an offense that has been stale for going on two years. Tennessee will get to the quarterback, force mistakes by Feleipe Franks and Malik Zaire, and Kelly will ice the game away late against a worn out Gator defense that will become frustrated due to the lack of help its offense provides. Pick: Tennessee +5.5