After a 10-win debut season, getting to double-digit wins this time will be difficult for Florida’s Jim McElwain. The Gators (8-3, 6-2 SEC) are heading into Atlanta as 21.5-point underdogs.

That record would be at 9-3 if the Gators had faced Presbyterian as originally planned on Nov. 19, but that game was scratched from the schedule to make room for a bigger, more important game. Florida’s upset win in Baton Rouge was one of the high points of the season, but there have certainly been some lows as well.

Here’s a look at some of the things that went right for the Gators, and things that didn’t:

What went right

Eddy Pineiro proved to be the real deal: After three seasons of ups and downs with Austin Hardin, the Gators were desperate for an upgrade at kicker. The Gators found that in soccer player turned YouTube sensation Eddy Pineiro. Many people wondered if the junior college soccer player would be able to kick in SEC stadiums.

Through 11 regular season games, Pineiro wasn’t perfect (18-of-22), but he was reliable. What made his first season even more exciting was the fact that he was 3-of-3 from 50-plus yards, including a career-long of 54 yards.

The defense reloaded: Between graduation and the NFL Draft, the Gators lost six key starters on defense. That’s a tall task, but the Florida defense answered the call, not skipping a beat from its 2015 dominance.

While Jonathan Bullard was expected to be a difficult loss to overcome, Caleb Brantley and others have gotten the job done upfront of stopping the run and rushing the passer. When they were healthy, Jarrad Davis (56 tackles) and Alex Anzalone (53 tackles) have looked like an even more athletic duo than Davis and Antonio Morrison. In the secondary, Teez Tabor (4 INT, 5 pass breakups) and Quincy Wilson (3 INTs, 6 PBUs) made sure no one was missing Vernon Hargreaves III.

The Gators finished fifth nationally in scoring defense (14.6 points).

The running back situation sorted itself out: When the Gators played their spring game, the talk centered around a three-headed monster at running back. JUCO transfer Mark Thompson was the new kid on the block while sophomores Jordan Scarlett and Jordan Cronkrite were primed for bigger roles.

In fall camp, the coaches insisted that they had five backs, saying that redshirt senior Mark Herndon and true freshman Lamical Perine would be in the mix. While Herndon has gotten special teams snaps, it was evident in Week 1 that the running back committee was a four-headed monster.

Through Week 7, the Gators tried a four-man rotation. It was designed to keep everyone’s legs fresh, but at times, it seemed the coaches outsmarted themselves by leaving the most effective runner on the bench for an entire quarter.

It took a suspension (Thompson) and getting left behind over attitude issues (Cronkrite) to force the coaches into a one-two punch of Scarlett and Perine, but once it worked, there was no going back. The modified ground approach helped the Gators to wins over Georgia, South Carolina and LSU, games in which Scarlett rushed 68 times for 335 yards. On the year, Scarlett leads all Florida ball-carriers with 778 yards on 154 carries.

Getting the best of LSU: After Hurricane Matthew prevented the game from being played on Oct. 8 in Gainesville, the SEC’s mission became rescheduling the game. Florida was on board with Nov. 19 as a date, as the conference would aid both schools with canceling their nonconference home games and instead playing the game, which was scheduled for Week 6. LSU, however, had a problem.

The Tigers began to publicly object to finishing the season by playing three road games – at Arkansas, Florida and Texas A&M – over 12 days to end the season. LSU administrators were adamant on playing the game in Baton Rouge. UF finally agreed as long as the 2017 game would be played in Gainesville as well as the 2018 contest as planned.

So the game was played Nov. 19 in Tiger Stadium, and the Gators pulled off the massive upset to secure their spot in the SEC Championship Game. Now Ed Orgeron has to come to The Swamp the next two seasons.

Winning the SEC East: Florida’s division might have the worst reputation of any in the Power 5, but someone has to win it, and the Gators did. UF’s status as the defending champion while Tennessee was the recipient of the media hype gave Jim McElwain’s squad a noticeable chip on its shoulder. It was a frequent talking point for players in fall camp, and it’s obvious that it kept the Gators hungry and focused on their goal of getting back to Atlanta.

Losing two conference games and needing outside help was a different experience from last year, but it counts the same. McElwain is now the only coach in conference history to make it to the championship game in his first two seasons.

What went wrong

Trash talking Tennessee: All offseason, Gators players relished every opportunity to remind Volunteers players and fans alike about The Streak. Florida had won the past 11 meetings with Tennessee, and it was supposed to extend to 12 once UF took care of business in Knoxville.

Despite all the back-and-forth during the offseason, both sides seemed relatively prepared to just focus on the game itself during game week. On Monday, Gators players talked about stopping Joshua Dobbs. The most controversial comment from Gainesville looked like it would be Austin Appleby brushing off the noise factor at Neyland Stadium.

And then Tuesday came. After practice, Quincy Wilson, Teez Tabor and Marcus Maye entered the indoor practice facility where interviews are conducted. It was notable that Wilson was the only one of the three announced as available. Wilson delivered his “ducks don’t pull trucks” message, and the Vols found a rallying cry.

While Wilson actually played well in the game, the Gators, including DBU, left Rocky Top with egg on their faces after talking a big game and falling in an epic collapse.

Last chance with elite defense: While the Gators withstood a sizable loss of talent on defense from 2015 to ’16, it’s unlikely that they can do same next fall. The losses of Anzalone, Davis, Maye, Tabor and Wilson will be very tough on the 2017 defense. Freshmen linebackers David Reese and Vosean Joseph have earned praise this season, but it is highly unlikely they will be comparable to Anzalone and Davis next season.

The secondary will do its best, but there’s no overcoming losing talents like Tabor and Wilson. The last season with all the talent about to depart Gainesville made 2016 a special opportunity.

The quarterbacks: For Florida it was new season, same old problems at the quarterback position. With Will Grier and Treon Harris both having transferred out, the Gators turned to a pair of transfers (Luke Del Rio, Austin Appleby) and true freshmen (Feleipe Franks, Kyle Trask). Del Rio won the starting job in fall camp and Appleby was named the backup.

Looking back on the regular season, there might be two impressive outings combined between the two of them (Del Rio vs. Kentucky; Appleby’s first half at Tennessee). Del Rio was supposed to have the brains and decision-making skills to overcome a lack of arm strength. As Del Rio tried to play while injured, he made more poor throws into coverage, and often underthrew those passes. In six games, he posted a stat line of 114-of-201 for 1358 yards, 8 touchdowns and 8 interceptions.

Appleby’s arm strength excited Florida fans. It was first on display against Tennessee when the former Purdue quarterback and Antonio Callaway connected for multiple deep passes that set up two of UF’s first-half touchdowns against the Volunteers. Unfortunately, Appleby struggled to find open wide receivers without staring them down, and he often struggled as the Gators’ starter in Del Rio’s absence. In seven games, Appleby is 87-of-145 for 964 yards, 6 touchdowns and 2 interceptions.

For Florida fans, after watching the last eight games of 2015 with Harris as the quarterback followed by a season of Del Rio and Appleby, patience is beginning to wear thin with the coach who boasted he could win with his dog at quarterback.