The Gators and the Vols will square off in The Swamp Saturday night (7 p.m., ESPN), and if you just looked at the prime time kickoff, the records of the teams and the stakes of the football game for each program, you might be tempted to think that the game commanded national attention.

There was a time when this game mattered beyond the walls of the two program’s football complexes — when the game was, to be blunt — a rivalry.

For the better part of a decade, the Tennessee-Florida game was the SEC’s centerpiece game, a national headline commanding showcase of southern football that helped drag the SEC out of the 3 yards and a cloud of dust 1980s and into a future where the league reigned supreme over the entire sport. National championship dreams were born and died and Heismans won and lost in this game. From 1990-2006, the teams were both ranked in the Top 10 at kickoff 12 times. Other than Florida-Florida State and Florida State-Miami, no other rivalry in that era even reached 10 such matchups.

Only 20 years ago, Florida and Tennessee played what was one of the most consequential games in SEC history.

In an epic game in The Swamp, Tennessee handed Florida perhaps the most heartbreaking regular-season loss in school history, defeating the Gators 34-32 to capture the SEC East title. The game, moved to December because of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on America, featured Phil Fulmer giving a pregame speech that, unless you are a Florida fan, will still make you run through a wall.

It saw a Florida safety named Todd Johnson make 22 tackles because no one else on Florida was interested in tackling the wrecking ball that was Tennessee’s Travis Stephens. It saw Florida quarterback Rex Grossman, an All-American and the eventual AP Offensive Player of the Year who should have won the 2001 Heisman Trophy, throw for 400 yards and 4 touchdowns and … lose. And it ended up being the last game Steve Spurrier coached in The Swamp as Florida’s head coach.

The Vols’ victory cost Florida a trip to the SEC Championship and a rematch with a Nick Saban LSU team they had beaten ruthlessly by almost 40 earlier in the year. It likely costs the Gators a Rose Bowl national title appearance against the University of Miami —  a game of the century type thing that everyone who watched college football that season wanted.

It also saw Tennessee celebrate the win so mightily that they were upset by LSU a week later, helping Saban win his first SEC title and with it, triggering the beginning of a new era in the SEC. It was a game that had everything and left Florida fans numb and feeling nothing, all at once, and yet it was just one of a handful of mesmerizing games in what used to be an epic rivalry.

There was a time this game meant something to so many.

Now it’s just another game on the schedule. The rivalry is dead and Saturday won’t bring the rivalry back. Florida will defeat Tennessee for the 16th time in 17 years, and it won’t be close.

Here are 5 reasons.

The Gators are angry and motivated

Dan Mullen has been impressed with the way his team has responded in practice after losing at home to Alabama last Saturday. The week after a tough defeat in a huge game can often be an inflection point in a season. Do you let the loss linger and let Alabama beat you twice or do you use what went well as a building block and get back on track toward your goals? Early in the Mullen era, Florida’s culture wasn’t strong enough to get back on track right away. The Gators famously lost to Georgia in 2018 and then were routed at home by Missouri a week later. Mullen praised Missouri’s physicality but also said he was disappointed in his team’s focus and in how they “let Georgia beat us twice.”

Mullen has been very pleased with his team’s focus this week. Florida has avoided the “moral victory” talk that lingered among many media members who felt Florida deserved praise despite the loss and focused on getting back to work and getting better. Florida star defensive back Kaiir Elam has preached accountability all week, beginning after the Alabama loss.

He will make sure the Gators are locked in and ready to go Saturday.

A motivated Florida in a night game in The Swamp? Forget about it, Tennessee.

Florida’s run game will present problems the Tennessee defense isn’t equipped to solve

Tennessee’s run defense has been terrific through 3 games. The Vols lead the SEC in rushing defense and rank No. 3 in yards allowed per carry, bolstered by a strong defensive line led by super seniors Matthew Butler and Ja’Quain Blakely. Those numbers are solid and the Vols appear to have a solid scheme under new defensive coordinator Tim Banks. But some of Tennessee’s success stopping the run is about competition.

Pitt ranks 95th in rushing through 3 games and Bowling Green, the only other Division I opponent Tennessee has faced, ranks 129th out of 130 teams. The Gators, who rank No. 2 in the country in rushing offense and No. 1 in rushing success rate, will be a different kind of test for the Vols.

The other reality? Tennessee just isn’t as deep up front as Florida (or Alabama, who Florida just chewed up). I expect the Vols to be inspired and get some stops in the first half, but they will wear down late as the diversity of what Florida does in all its different run concepts becomes too much for the Vols to handle. Once the Gators get things rolling on the ground, the game will get sideways on Tennessee.

Florida’s nasty front 7 will overwhelm Tennessee’s banged up offensive line

The Vols’ offensive line has been a mess this season. A good amount of it comes down to injuries, as both Cooper and Cade Mays have had ailments, causing a domino effect that has been felt since the Bowling Green game. Both brothers should play Saturday, which would be huge for the Vols. But even with them, Kingston Harris, Ollie Lane and Javontez Spraggins have generated little to no interior push in the running game and the Vols rank 108th nationally in sacks allowed and 111th in pressures allowed.

Those numbers are a real problem against a Florida front 7 that ranks 9th nationally in “havoc” created and features multiple All-SEC type talents in ends Zachary Carter and Brenton Cox and tackles Gervon Dexter and Antonio Valentino.

This is the biggest mismatch in the game and why it’s hard to see a path to a Tennessee win, even if QB Hendon Hooker extends plays with his legs and makes the occasional Gators defender miss.

Jacob Copeland and Xzavier Henderson will take the top of the Vols’ defense

Tennessee will likely need to spy Emory Jones and/or Anthony Richardson, which will create numerical advantages for Florida in the passing game. Over the past 2 weeks, Florida’s blue-chip wide receiver duo of Jacob Copeland and Xzavier Henderson have taken advantage of those numerical advantages, winning a number of 1-on-1 battles with the USF and Alabama secondaries. They caught 11 passes for 301 yards and 3 touchdowns in those games. They also drew 5 pass interference penalties. That means they are stressing corners and safeties even when they don’t make the play, and averaging about 30 yards a catch when they do.

Tennessee’s Jaylen McCullough and Theo Jackson have been very good most of the year, but the Vols lost 1-on-1s throughout their contest with Pitt (former Gators tight end Lucas Krull had a TD) — and they will again Saturday night, especially once the Gators get the run game going and force the Vols safeties to cheat.

Dan Mullen doesn’t lose to Tennessee. Like ever.

If you think Tennessee’s 1-15 run of futility against Florida the past 16 years is bad, wait until you hear about their record against Dan Mullen.

It’s a pretty grim tale for Vols fans.

Mullen has been around the SEC for the better part of two decades. He spent 4 years at Florida as the offensive coordinator for Urban Meyer, helping the Gators win 2 national championships. He spent nearly a decade taking the Mississippi State program to new heights. He’s now in Year 4 in Gainesville, where he’s built a team that ranks 7th in the 247 talent composite (compared to 17th when he arrived) and has advanced to a New Year’s 6 bowl in each of his first 3 seasons on campus. The Vols sit 19th in roster talent composite, making this matchup the widest differential between the teams in 9 seasons.

As for Mullen, there are only 3 things he hasn’t done. One is beat Nick Saban. Largely because of No. 1, No. 2 is win an SEC championship or national championship.

The third thing Mullen hasn’t done? Lose to Tennessee.

Like ever.

Florida was 4-0 against the Vols when Mullen mentored under Meyer. Mullen was 1-0 against Tennessee at Miss State. He’s now 3-0 at Florida, with the wins coming by an average of 23 points.

It won’t be any closer than that Saturday, and by Saturday night, Mullen will be 5-0 as a head coach vs. Tennessee and 9-0 as a head coach or assistant.