It’s been a particularly unusual college football offseason, but with the recent news that Tennessee players will return to campus this month and start voluntary workouts on June 8, there’s real optimism that a season will still happen despite the COVID-19 pandemic.

As we do each year, here’s a brief snapshot of Tennessee’s 12 opponents for the fall. We continue the preseason preview with a look at the Florida Gators.

Florida — Sept. 12

2019 Record: 11-2

Head Coach: Dan Mullen

Fresh off an 11-2 season, including a win over Virginia in the Sugar Bowl, Florida is looking to make a leap in Year 3 under Dan Mullen: Compete for the SEC title and a spot in the College Football Playoff.

The Gators return one of the top quarterbacks in the conference in Kyle Trask, who took over the starting job last season when Feleipe Franks went down with a brutal leg injury at Kentucky.

In Mullen’s quick-read, RPO-heavy attack, Trask distributed the ball to a slew of now-mostly gone playmakers (Van Jefferson, Freddie Swain, Josh Hammond and Tyrie Cleveland), completing 69.9% of his passes with 25 touchdowns. The 6-5, 240-pound quarterback is considered the entrenched starter, but Trask is likely to continue to split some snaps with mobile backup Emory Jones.

The Gators do return the SEC’s top tight end in Kyle Pitts, a freaky 6-6, 240-pound matchup nightmare who lines up all over the field, but for their team to take a leap this fall they need their running game to seriously improve. Their top tailback from last season is gone (938 total yards and 11 touchdowns), and yet even then, UF struggled to consistently run the ball. Last season, Florida ranked 13th in the SEC in total run offense and averaged just 4.24 yards per carry. The Gators believe they’ve addressed this issue this offseason with a couple transfer o-linemen, as well as bringing in former standout prep tailback Lorenzo Lingard. The Miami transfer was recently granted immediate eligibility after playing in just eight games the last two seasons while battling knee injuries.

Defensively, coordinator Todd Grantham must replace his best two edge rushers (NFL Draftees Jonathan Grenard and Jabari Zuniga, who combined for 12.5 sacks) and top tackler (linebacker David Reese) off a stingy defense that ranked among the best nationally in scoring (No. 7), yards per play (No. 20) and total defense (No. 9).

There’s still plenty of talent on the unit, though, especially in the secondary. Marco Wilson is a future NFL corner, while Shawn Davis, Kaiir Elam and Donovan Stiner make up a stout backend unit. Replacing Grenard, who led the SEC in sacks in 2019, won’t be easy, but Zachary Carter will be asked to step up, as well as inserting former 5-star Georgia transfer Brenton Cox into the pass rushing rotation. Freshman 5-star defensive lineman Gervon Dexter is an underclassmen who will be hard to keep off the field by season’s end.

1. One of the reasons Florida has been an offseason darling is because of its favorable schedule this fall. The Gators still face a tough slate in the SEC, but LSU is depleted after its historic 2019 season and that game is at home. UF also gets four of its first five games in The Swamp, with only a tricky road game to Tennessee sandwiched in-between. Meanwhile, its other cross-division matchup is at Ole Miss — a team unlikely to make a bowl game in Year 1 under Lane Kiffin — while Georgia plays both Auburn and Alabama this fall.

2. The Gators must replace 55% of their receiving yardage production from last season, and 21 of 33 touchdowns. Look for former Ohio State transfer Trevon Grimes (25 catches for 351 yards and three scores) to become a big target. Same for sophomore Jacob Copeland, who had 21 catches and two touchdowns in is freshman season. Former Penn State wideout Justin Shorter should also crack the rotation if granted eligibility, while freshman Xzavier Henderson, former UF cornerback C.J. Henderson’s little brother), could see early PT, too.

3. Florida pitched three shutouts last season, including a 56-0 beatdown of Vanderbilt. In four of their six conference wins, UF combined to allow just a single touchdown.

4. As teased by several names above, the Gators have become the transfer portal kings this offseason. Need a home? There’s a bed waiting in Gainesville. Mullen has added seven transfers alone just this offseason. Former Mississippi State offensive lineman Stewart Reese left Starkville for Gainesville, while wideout Jordan Pouncey left Texas for UF. The Gators also added former UCLA outside linebacker Noah Keeter, Georgia Southern kicker Zach Sessa, as well as Cox, Shorter and Lingard.

5. Florida’s win total this season is set right at 10. The Gators have close to a 40% chance to win the SEC East, per ESPN’s FPI, and are +120 underdogs to win the division. They’re 6-to-1 to win the SEC, with 12.5% chance per FPI.