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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The Vols had it. The game was theirs. The streak was over.
Jalen Hurd had just run for a touchdown to give the Vols a 27-14 lead with 10:19 left in the fourth quarter of last year’s game, and they were finally going to beat Florida.
That touchdown was part of a 16-play, 70-yard drive that lasted 7:26.
The Vols were that close to wiping away the bitter taste of blowing a 9-point lead and losing 10-9 in 2014.
Aaron Medley came in and knocked down the PAT try after Hurd’s touchdown, though many called for the Vols to go for two points in hopes of stretching the margin to 14. But the decision was the right one because Butch Jones trusted his defense to hold a 13-point lead with the game on the line.
The Vols’ defense immediately placed Florida in a 3rd-and-3 situation with nine minutes remaining, but quarterback Will Grier connected with Demarcus Robinson on a short pass for a first down.
Then Grier went back to Robinson for another first down.
Soon the Gators faced a 3rd-and-10 from the Tennessee 48 after two run-blitz stops with 6:35 remaining. The Gators gained 3 yards, setting up 4th-and-7 with 6:25 to go.
Jim McElwain called a timeout. Grier regrouped.
Grier threw an out route to Jake McGee for 12 yards, reeling in the pass over Jalen Reeves-Maybin, moving the chains and keeping the Gators’ comeback alive.
After another first down, the Gators soon faced another fourth down — this time needing 8 yards. They were at Tennessee’s 21 with 4:38 left.
Grier stepped up in the pocket and found Brandon Powell open with room to run to the 5-yard line. The end zone was in sight now.
The drive was such a collapse that CBS’ Gary Danielson commented on how unbelievable things were unfolding.
“Butch Jones is seeing his life pass in front of him right here,” Danielson said.
The Gators scored when Grier found Powell again. Tennessee’s lead was just 27-21, and plenty of time remained.
Evan Berry uncharacteristically tripped and fell on the kickoff return, falling to the 15-yard line with 4:06 to go. The Vols were one, maybe two first downs from celebrating.
The Vols ran to the right side with Jalen Hurd for 2 yards. Then Hurd again on second down, up the middle for only two more yards. On 3rd-and-6, Dobbs ran but was tackled for a 3-yard loss. Forced to punt, the Vols would lean on their defense one last time.
With 2:18 remaining, Florida had to go 59 yards for victory with a touchdown.
It didn’t look good for the Gators after a third down sack from Derek Barnett, placing the Florida in a 4th-and-14 position at their 37 with only 1:39 remaining.
“Can this Tennessee defense win it?” Danielson said.
Then the unthinkable happened. Tennessee rushed just three, and with the Vols in a soft, deep coverage, Grier scanned the field and found Antonio Callaway. The completion was enough to move the chains, but it did much more than that.
Callaway curled toward the sideline, picked up a critical block from Brian Powell that took out two Vols defenders and raced down the sideline to complete a 63-yard touchdown. The point after gave Florida an improbable 28-27 lead with 1:26 to play.
Danielson criticized Tennessee’s conservative defensive call on the game’s most critical play.
The rest is history. Tennessee had one last shot, missing a 55-yard field goal, just right, from Aaron Medley as time expired.
The Vols and Team 120 now have to face Florida again Saturday after two fourth-quarter collapses in as may years.
They’ll do so with a different defensive voice. Bob Shoop replaced John Jancek with one specific goal in mind: beat Florida.
#Vols DC Bob Shoop on whether Butch Jones told him he was hired to beat Florida: “Yeah. Him and about six million other people on Twitter."
— Wes Rucker (@wesrucker247) September 21, 2016
. @UTCoachBobShoop: I've been instructed that i was hired to win this game, that we better go win this game. I'm aware. #Vols
— John Brice (@JohnDBrice1) September 21, 2016
“Everybody is aware of it, you can’t help of be aware of it,” Shoop said of the current 11-game losing streak to Florida. “You turn on the SEC Network and it’s there, but a lot of these guys haven’t played them but one or two times and they were both really good games.
“It’s a nice rivalry, we are very excited about it. To us it’s a great game because its our first SEC game and it’s a 3:30 CBS game. I think our players are really excited to play Florida on Saturday.”
They’ll be even more excited if Shoop’s new defense can solve a decade-long problem.
Dan Harralson covers Tennessee football for SaturdayDownSouth.com. Follow Dan on Twitter @danharralson.
