Three takeaways from Florida's disappointing loss at Tennessee

Florida lost a game it should have won against No. 8

Saturday night, 23-17, in overtime.

On a night when the Gators’ defense finally stepped up against a good team, the offense couldn’t hold up its end of the bargain, scoring just once in the first half. Florida scored twice in the second half to force overtime, but the offense didn’t play as effectively without Graham Mertz, who left the game with what looks like a serious injury.

It’s a heartbreaking way for a rivalry game to end, and the loss may have sealed Billy Napier’s fate.

Missed opportunities in the first half

Florida got into the red zone four times in the first half and came away with three points. After kicking a field goal on their second drive, the Gators turned the ball over on downs, fumbled on the 1-yard-line and blew another field goal thanks to an illegal substitution penalty.

What could have been a 16-0 lead at the half wound up being a three-point lead, wasting a strong defensive performance. The fumble was unfortunate, but the other two missed opportunities were completely avoidable. If Billy Napier is still calling plays, he messed up running a sweep with Lagway under center and one yard to gain.

The salt in the wound… Trey Smack drilled his second kick of the evening but it was wiped off because Florida had too many men on the field. That can’t happen, especially if Florida wants to win rivalry games on the road in the SEC.

The defense is improving week-by-week

For a defense that looked completely lost against Miami and Texas A&M, the past two weeks have been solid for Florida. It’s a shame that the defense got scored on in overtime to lose the game, but this loss is hardly on them.

Florida held Tennessee to just 312 total yards on offense. The Volunteers came into this matchup averaging 519 yards per game. Florida got to Tennessee behind the line of scrimmage eight times, including three sacks. The Volunteers had only allowed 24 tackles for loss through its five previous games.

This is the kind of performance that should lead to a win. But it didn’t. The fear now is that the defense will lose some mojo instead of entering the toughest portion of the schedule with a ton of confidence. Film review should remedy some of the hard feelings, but it’s hard to remain optimistic after a loss like this.

Losing Graham Mertz is devastating

Graham Mertz left the game in the third quarter, and that’s bad news for the Gators, even with DJ Lagway in the fold. Lagway will be the better college quarterback when all is said and done, but the true freshman isn’t prepared to take over an SEC team just yet.

Lagway looked overwhelmed on his first drive after taking over for Mertz, and he didn’t get the play off in time when pinned inside Florida’s 10-yard-line on his second drive. Playing in Knoxville isn’t easy, especially when 100,000 fans are screaming over the play call — so much for that in-helmet communication.

It’s good for Lagway to get experience in these kinds of situations, but not in this way. Mertz leading the way and taking pressure off the five-star freshman was working. Now, it might be Lagway’s team to lead.

Hopefully, Mertz isn’t hurt too badly, but a lower-body, non-contact injury is always worrisome.

The Gators return to the Swamp on Saturday to host the Kentucky Wildcats in Week 8 for the program’s homecoming game. Game time is once again a late one — starting at 7:45 p.m. ET — while the broadcast will be provided by the SEC Network.

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