Everything about Saturday is being early. Tennessee must be mentally ready for an early start. Yes, Tennessee played a noon game last week but road games are different. You have a longer commute to the stadium, etc. Everything is just earlier.

Offensively, everything has to be early. Early detection of where the pressure is going to come from. Early in and out of the huddle so you can communicate at the line of scrimmage. You just have to play faster. Quarterback Jarrett Guarantano has to get the ball out of his hands quickly as everything just happens faster. Jim Chaney’s offense must play fast.

Defensively, the Vols defensive front must play over their heads and better than they have all year. Tennessee can’t let Florida have anything cheap and both sides of the ball must win on first down.

The Vols have an edge in the kicking game and they must use it to make a play or two if they are going to pull the upset.

Florida isn’t the 9th best team in the country, but they are better than the Vols starting in the line of scrimmage.

Florida 24 Tennessee 13

Hubbs just doesn’t see it. Why should he? The more I’ve looked at this game and just games from this series, I’m not sure I see a path to victory for Tennessee. This is a game that Florida wins and that’s how these games work traditionally. I’ll be the first to admit that the only way I see Tennessee winning is with a coaching job of epic proportions and that’s where Jim Chaney comes into play. He is getting $1.5 million for this very game.

Jeremy Pruitt referenced Titanic a few weeks ago and that’s fitting because his quarterback, much like Jack Dawson, doesn’t want to let go. Jarrett Guarantano has either got to eat the football or get it out on time tomorrow. Otherwise those late throws will likely result in Gator corners or safeties likely making some momentum changing plays. Can he play the way he did one year ago against Florida and Kentucky where he didn’t turn it over and made the some plays? I wish I knew this answer.

I fully expect a lot of misdirection with the game plan from Chaney and I expect plenty of pressure from the defensive side. Tennessee should have a winning or at worst a .500 record against Florida the last six seasons. But they don’t. This Gator team is again solid but not spectacular. They don’t see Tennessee as a threat or a rival. They see them as inevitable. They see Tennessee as a given. That’s where the youth factor is an advantage for this team in my opinion. Sometimes what you don’t know is a plus.

I’ve said for two weeks that I’ve had this funny feeling about this one. So while I know the odds are long, I’ll stick with my gut and hope that feeling isn’t last night's pizza.

Vols 23, Florida 21

Tennessee hasn’t beaten a Top 10 team on the road since 2006, but Saturday is a prime opportunity for Jeremy Pruitt to earn back all that goodwill he and his staff flushed down the toilet with the season-opening loss to Georgia State.

I do not think Florida is a Top 10 team in the country. The Gators are banged up and inconsistent, and they look ripe for an upset. They could be without arguably their top two overall players (CJ Henderson and Jabari Zuniga), have a quarterback who hasn’t started a game since he was in JV and have offensive line issues, just like Tennessee.

Still, while UF is riddled with issues, the same goes for Tennessee.

Can the Vols truly block a legitimate pass rush? Can they stop the run, even against a sub-par ground game? Is Jarrett Guarantano out of his funk?

Florida looked sloppy and average in wins over Kentucky and Miami, but Tennessee hasn’t even played a Power 5 school yet.

The Vols have a few matchups in their favor Saturday (namely their playmakers vs. UF’s secondary, their pressure packages vs. UF’s offensive line), but I don’t think it’s enough avoid their first 1-3 start since Phillip Fulmer’s final season.

Florida 33, Tennessee 21

I don’t think it’s out of the question that Tennessee pulls the upset this week, but it would require a significant leap of faith to pick it. The Vols simply haven’t shown me that they’re ready to go on the road and win a game of this magnitude against an SEC opponent of this caliber.

I do think Florida is probably overrated and I think that’s a result of their offensive line not playing at the level of a top-ten team right now. I just don’t think Tennessee’s front seven is up to the task of taking advantage of that shortcoming right now.

Based on the small sample size we saw last week at Kentucky, I also don’t think the Gators offense is really going to suffer much with Trask taking over for Felipe Franks.

Tennessee’s biggest concern has to be an inexperienced offensive line facing a salty Florida front seven. The pass rush is a real concern as is simply running the football. This is the same Tennessee team that couldn’t crack 100 yards on the ground against Georgia State three weeks ago. I think they’re better, but not to the degree they’ll need to be to win on Saturday.

If Tennessee is going to pull the shocker then Jarrett Guarantano and his receivers are going to need to have a huge day. They’re capable of doing that, but Guarantano’s uneven play to this point combined with Florida’s pass rush make me skeptical that they can pull it off.

I look for Tennessee to play its best game of the season so far and keep it ‘closer than the experts think,’ I just don’t think the Vols have enough to pull what would be a monumental upset.

FLORIDA 27, TENNESSEE 20