GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Squirrel White streaked down the sideline, behind the Florida secondary.
For a moment at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on Saturday, the Tennessee offense looked like its old self. Slow starts in the first two games of the 2023 season weren't enough to quell the optimism that the Vols' third-year quarterback in Joe Milton III and staple of talented wide receivers were just one game away from clicking.
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On the opening drive of its SEC opener, Milton connected with White for a 41-yard gain. One play later, he linked up with Ramel Keyton for the second time in as many games to cap a drive that last two minutes and covered 71 yards.
It was a statement drive, but the momentum was short-lived.
The Vols sputtered, hindered by pre-snap penalties that put them behind before they could get going and took them away from the style of play that plagued defenses a year ago.
The result was a 29-16 loss to the Gators—Tennessee's 10th-straight in Gainesville and the first significant consequence for an uncharacteristic start to a season laden with promise.
"Extremely disappointing start to a football game in the first half, not very good in any sort of way," head coach Josh Heupel said. "Offense had the one drive and defense got the one stop. Other than that, not the way you want to start."
WATCH ON VOLREPORT: Josh Heupel, players talk to media after loss to Florida
"(The pre-snap penalties) were just not us being focused. Just shooting ourselves in the foot," Milton added. "When you come into an environment like this, you just have to come in as a team, a collective and execute plays. We didn't start doing that in the first half and it led to the score tonight."
Tennessee (2-1, 0-1 SEC) was penalized 10 times for 79 yards, much of which were self-inflicted before the ball was snapped. The offensive line struggled in protection in its third-straight game without Cooper Mays.
Milton was hit on a throw that landed into the hands of Florida defensive back Devin Moore and his return was aided by a 15-yard penalty after the play. The Gators (2-1, 1-0) scored on the ensuing drive to take a 19-7 lead in the second quarter.
It was Milton's first interception since transferring to Tennessee in 2021.
"(The interception) happened, man," Milton said. "I can't go back and change what happened. You can only learn from it. It's tough. It's on me."
The run game, which Tennessee has leaned heavily on in the last two weeks mustered 106 yards with Jaylen Wright leading in rushing for the third-straight game at 63 yards and Milton connected on multiple deep throws, including a 55-yard toss to Bru McCoy to cut Florida's lead to 29-16 in the fourth quarter.
WATCH ON VOLREPORT: Recapping Tennessee's loss to Florida in Gainesville
Perhaps some positives to build on, but not enough to right the wrongs of a mistake-filled first half.
"I'll have to go back and watch it," Heupel said. "First half, at the end of the day, nobody was doing what they needed to. That can be run game, it can be protection, it can be QB play, it can be wide receiver play. That why it looked the way it did after the first drive. It starts with me and our coaching staff, too. We're in it together."
Tennessee's issues weren't limited to offense.
The defense, which looked dominant in the previous two games albeit against Virginia and Austin Peay, reverted to some of its old ways, which made the offensive woes all the more glaring.
Missed tackles allowed Florida to make big plays, including the 62-yard touchdown run that Trevor Eitenne broke off in the first quarter, despite Kamal Hadden getting his hands on him.
Eitenne gashed Tennessee for 172 of Florida's 183 total rushing yards and when the Gators weren't running the ball, quarterback Graham Mertz was extending drives with critical pass completions on third down.
"(The tackling was) not very good in the first half. Huge part of the problem," Heupel said. "You can look at tackling and not getting off the field on third down, defensively and offensively you can look at pre-snap penalties and a lack of efficiency, all of it."
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