The Florida football team is looking past its mistakes against the Alabama Crimson Tide and turning the page to the new chapter that is Tennessee.
Fingers were pointed at the Gator offense after managing only 200 total yards after their loss in Tuscaloosa. Offensive coordinator Kurt Roper says that this bye week has allowed him to work with quarterback Jeff Driskel for this week’s game.
“I think that Jeff is a talented football player. We went back and watched all our third downs. He’s had 37 third downs and drop back passes and we felt like eight of them we needed to be critical of him on the other 29 they were either good decisions or… we didn’t make the play.”
Tennessee is a slight favorite over Florida despite the fact that the Gators have won a series-best nine consecutive games against the Volunteers. Florida running back Matt Jones says that this bye week allowed the team to refocus and prepare for another road trip.
“Everybody’s mind got scattered around the place and we had to pull back together mentally. On and off the field we have gotten better as a team like I said. I mean it’s going to be tough because people throw stuff at us that we don’t want to hear so we are going to pull together and get this W.”
Defensive back Vernon Hargreaves III says the defense has worked on fixing its errors during the time off too.
“We’re all on the same page now and we understand the defense; we broke some things down, we talked about where we messed up so now it’s just getting it going during the week,” Hargreaves said.
Defensive lineman Dante Fowler has played Tennessee a few times and knows the importance of this rival game.
“I mean you know this is a SEC East week and we play Tennessee. This is the team that’s in front of us to get to the SEC Championship so we’re going to handle them and then we are going to go further on.”
The game against the Volunteers will be a high-noon showdown in Knoxville but coverage on ESPN 850 WRUF will begin at 9 am with the First and Ten Pregame Show.
To hear audio from coaches and players, click below.