If you can't get yourself fired up for a rivalry game, then what's the point of it all? On Saturday night, The Swamp is packed for a huge showdown between Florida and Tennessee. The Vols haven't won at Florida since 2003, giving Gators fans so many bragging rights.
Florida disrespected by College GameDay leading up to Tennessee game
It hasn't taken long for Josh Heupel and Co. to remind everyone of how far the Gators have fallen in 2025. In the first quarter alone, Tennessee had no issues moving the ball, with Joey Aguilar and Co. scoring 14 quick points and posting 190 yards of offense. As for Florida? They had one yard of offense in the first 15 minutes of play:
Tennessee had 190 yards of offense in the first quarter.
— Ben McKee (@benmckee14) November 23, 2025
Florida had one. pic.twitter.com/nPvfDhOhU8
Florida's performance vs. Tennessee has been totally unacceptable
Not long into the start of the second quarter, Tennessee scored another touchdown... and then another. As of this writing, the Vols are up 28-0 and the crowd is stunned. Just what in the heck was said leading up to kickoff inside of the locker room?
Over the weekend, news broke that Florida is ready to offer Lane Kiffin a big-time contract worth around $13 million per campaign, plus around $25 million in NIL money to build his roster. After this showing against Tennessee, go ahead and give him a blank check.
When Florida fired Billy Napier, a statement was made by the administration. It knew that it had to make a splash hire to get the Gators back to where they need to be. This has been a year to forget, but an exciting new coach can make loyal fans forget all about it.
That's where Kiffin needs to come in. There's a ton of speculation that LSU is leading this race and that the Tigers are at the one yard line in terms of poaching him from Ole Miss. Nothing matters until a contract is signed. Florida needs to step up and convince Kiffin he's got to take charge of the Gators just like his idol Steve Spurrier did. The Florida faithful need something to give them hope. This performance early on against Tennessee surely isn't it.