As Benny Snell and Kentucky ran over and around Florida’s defense, Gators fans spent most the night wondering when their upperclassmen leaders David Reese and Cece Jefferson would return.

After Saturday night’s performance in Knoxville, it was easy to see why.

The Gators defense sparkled Saturday night, forcing five Tennessee turnovers (special teams forced another) that directly contributed to 24 Florida points. Playing aggressive, downhill defense all night, Florida added a safety for good measure early in the second quarter when Jefferson bull-rushed past a Trey Smith and LaTrell Bumphus double team to help senior defensive end Adam Shuler corral Tennessee running back Tim Jordan in the end zone.

Florida cashed in a play after the safety, when Feleipe Franks found Freddie Swain for a 65-yard touchdown pass to stake the Gators to a 20-point lead.

Saturday night’s performance was precisely the type of defense Florida hoped would return to Gainesville when Dan Mullen brought Todd Grantham with him from Mississippi State to serve as defensive coordinator.

A year ago, playing Randy Shannon’s safe, base 4-3, the Gators struggled to create big plays on their way to the program’s first finish outside the S &P+ Defense Top 50 since 2007.

This year, with Grantham’s Steelers 3-4, Florida figured to be more aggressive, relying on the electric talents of Jefferson, Jabari Zuniga and Jachai Polite to get to the quarterback and the ever-steady general Reese to direct traffic and provide a playmaking piece at middle linebacker. The thought was the talent and aggressive scheme would match, and Grantham would be worth every penny.

Unfortunately, Florida had to wait three games to see it all in action.

Jefferson, the presumed face of the football program, found himself suspended for the season’s first two games for “failing to live up to the Gator standard” off the field.

Meanwhile, Reese, the thoughtful, intelligent but sometimes too-quiet All-SEC linebacker from Farmington, Mich., missed the season’s first three games with an ankle injury. On a Gators linebacker corps already saddled with depth issues, the loss of the unquestioned leader in the middle was devastating, especially in the Kentucky game, when the Gators frequently either overpursued or failed to fit gaps against Kentucky’s power run game.

Saturday night, it all came together, and with it, Florida’s defense started to show a little swag.

On just the fifth Tennessee play from scrimmage, Polite beat his man inside on a stunt and hit Jarrett Guarantano as he was set to throw, forcing a fumble. Reese, who came on a delayed blitz, was right there to catch the fumble in the air and set the Gators up in prime field position inside the Vols 25-yard line.

Florida would score three plays later, taking a vital lead on the road and quieting what had been a deafening early Neyland Stadium crowd.

By halftime, Reese had a team-high five tackles, including a tackle for loss, along with a fumble recovery. He would finish with 11 tackles, his third consecutive game in double digits dating back to last season.

As for Jefferson, he was in Tennessee’s backfield all night, and while he registered only two tackles, the safety was essentially a nine-point swing that came after Tennessee had cut Florida’s lead to 14-3 and forced a quick punt. Even better, Jefferson adds All-SEC experience and bite to Florida’s defensive line rotation, giving the Gators a formidable trio of Polite, Jefferson and Zuniga who can all dominate a game at the point of attack.

“Getting those guys (Reese and Jefferson) is huge. It makes us harder, more physical, tougher. They have an edge about them,” Mullen said Saturday night.

Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Who could argue?

One year after producing only 17 turnovers in 11 games (81st nationally), Florida suddenly finds itself leading the nation with 14 takeaways through four games in 2018. The Gators lead the SEC in turnover margin at plus-10, and only perennial powers Alabama, LSU and Georgia are even at plus-4 in that department.

That’s huge when you have a young quarterback still trying to find his feet in a new offense, and it has shown on the scoreboard. The Gators have produced 43 points directly off turnovers in 2018; they managed only 44 off turnovers the entirety of the 2017 campaign.

Florida still has work to do defensively.

The team ranks 97th in run defense nationally, a number that won’t work as Florida hits the meat of the schedule and games against the power running attacks of Mississippi State, LSU and Georgia over the next five weeks.

But Reese’s return provided plenty of reason for hope in that department as the middle linebacker helped the Gators bottle up Tennessee’s running game to the tune of a paltry 2.9 yards per carry. With Reese there to fit gaps and Jefferson back to add teeth to Florida’s defensive line rotation, Grantham can trust his front seven a bit more and get back to what he does best: dialing up exotic pressures and playing aggressive football. Grantham knows he can trust his pass defense, led by All-American candidate C.J. Henderson and already ranked in the Top 20 nationally.

If Florida can shore up its run defense and be more physical up front, the Gators defense might start to resemble the dominant units that have defined Florida football over the last two decades.

At least with Jefferson and Reese back, there’s an edge to Florida on defense again. They’ll need it as the season gets tougher, starting Saturday night in Starkville.