Three stats Florida Football needs to overcome in order to beat Tennessee
![Florida Gators offensive lineman Brandon Crenshaw-Dickson (65) leaps in the air as Florida Gators defensive back Cahron Rackley (32) carries the American flag while running out of the tunnel with the team as fireworks and fire shoot out of towers before the start of the game at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, FL on Saturday, October 5, 2024. [Doug Engle/Gainesville Sun]](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,w_4132,h_2324,x_0,y_1425/c_fill,w_1080,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images%2FImagnImages%2Fmmsport%2F213%2F01j9xq1t93rzbtz5qmvj.jpg "Florida Gators offensive lineman Brandon Crenshaw-Dickson (65) leaps in the air as Florida Gators defensive back Cahron Rackley (32) carries the American flag while running out of the tunnel with the team as fireworks and fire shoot out of towers before the start of the game at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, FL on Saturday, October 5, 2024. [Doug Engle/Gainesville Sun]")
Florida Football enters this Saturday as a 14.5 point underdog to Tennessee. While the Gators are coming off wins over Mississippi State and UCF, Florida will have a step up in competition as they travel to Knoxville.
And in order to pull off the upset, they following are three key stats the Gators will need to overcome if they want to leave Knoxville with a win.
Rushing Yards Against
One of the areas that has made Tennessee a squad people view as a legitimate contender in 2024 is their defense. The irony in their defeat to Arkansas was that the Volunteer defense still held the Razorbacks to 19 points. In games against FBS competition, Tennessee is holding opponents to 11 points per game, 5th best in the country.
A big reason the Tennessee defense has stiffened up in 2024 is their run defense. At 1.9 yards per run against versus FBS competition, Tennessee is first in the country in this area.
Last year, when Florida pulled off the upset, Trevor Etienne averaged 7.5 yards per carry, while Montrell Johnson averaged 1.9 yards per carry.
One of those two isn't here for Saturday.
Go Long
Nico Iamaleava is the headliner in this game and the key for Florida is which version of Iamaleava is going to show up in this game. On the season, Tennessee is 19th in the country in yards per passing attempt and 23rd in yards per passing completion.
Florida, meanwhile, is 117th and 119th in these two categories on defense.
But Iamaleava averaged just 5.4 yards per attempt last week against Arkansas. The caveat is that Arkansas is also 57th in the country in yards per attempt against, so Florida will need more than just Jason Marshall to step up.
NASCAR
Tennessee's offense is playing at a slightly slower pace in 2024 than they did in 2023. Last year, the Volunteers had the fourth fastest time between plays, while this year, they are 41st in time between plays.
What hasn't changed is their efficiency on offense. Even with last week's dud, they are still 28th in the country in punts per offensive score. Essentially, they score twice for every one punt on offense.
Florida is 64th in this category, essentially scoring once for every one punt they have.
Do the math and if this turns into a track meet, the odds of Florida being able to keep up are low.
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