Florida steamrolled Tennessee, 38-14, Saturday night in a sold-out Swamp. That much was expected. It’s the way the Gators turned their 16th victory over Tennessee in the last 17 years into a rout that was surprising.

This wasn’t a game where Florida fed off the crowd’s energy in the first quarter and pushed and pulverized its pumpkin orange-clad SEC East rivals into the fetal position before halftime, as has happened in so many Swamp blowouts of Tennessee in the past. No, this game was different.

In this game, Tennessee fought gamely, landing a few punches of its own and pushing the Gators from the opening kickoff. The Vols looked the part of an outfit that has bought into their new head coach’s culture and that will always play hard, come hell or Cumberland River high water. Hendon Hooker was giving the Vols life, forcing the Gators’ pass rush to miss and pursue and hitting the throws he needed to, including a 75-yard touchdown pass to a wide=open JaVonta Payton that staked the Vols to a 14-10 lead with 11:31 remaining in the second quarter. Tennessee would hold that lead for a few tense minutes, too, quieting a Gators crowd that had been in a frothing, full-throated feeding frenzy before kickoff.

Down 4 points before halftime, with Todd Grantham’s defense hemorrhaging big plays and the crowd grumbling? Was Florida suffering from an Alabama “moral victory” hangover?

If his teammates were, Emory Jones wasn’t.

For the second consecutive week, Jones put the Florida offense on his back halfway through the second quarter. Really, Jones’ good work started before that. Head coach Dan Mullen is one of the best rhythm playcallers in college football. He has been that since his Utah days. Once a Mullen offense gets in rhythm, good luck stopping it. We saw that most recently against Alabama a week ago and plenty of times last season, including at the Cocktail Party, where Florida scored 41 points on Georgia in 8 possessions to turn a 14-0 deficit into a rout.

The problem Saturday night was that Florida struggled to get in rhythm.

For a half, the Vols stymied Florida’s vaunted run game, using Herculean efforts from their super senior defensive tackles to keep the Gators’ mammoth offensive line from moving the pile and letting their faster-than-years-past linebacking corps clean up the rest. Mullen seemed surprised by the speed of Tennessee’s pursuit and slow to use screens or misdirection to slow the Vols down.

Fortunately for Mullen, Florida had Jones, who took off and moved the chains when plays broke down, and who eventually took the game over when things got tight. Jones delivered his best performance as a Gator — and a record-tying performance for a Florida quarterback — on a night his team needed him most.

“We needed a push, and my dog balled. You can quote me on that,” Florida running back Dameon Pierce said after the game.

Jones balled to the tune of 21-of-27 for 209 yards and 2 touchdowns passing and 144 yards rushing on 15 carries. In so doing, he became only the second Gators quarterback ever to throw for 200 yards and run for 100 in a game. The other one was Tim Tebow, who did it 4 times. For the first time this season, Jones didn’t turn the ball over. He also didn’t force bad throws, save one in the red zone early in the game that was delivered late and fell just short of a diving Vols safety. But progress keeps being made, and his red-zone execution, an issue in his first 2 starts, was splendid and included this beautifully executed play-action bootleg touchdown pass.

Florida would finish 4-for-4 in the red zone, and Jones would close the night by leading the Gators on a 12 play, 80-yard soul-crusher of a 6-minute drive to put the game to bed in the fourth quarter.

Asked about his performance, Jones demurred.

“I’m just trying to get better every week, build on each performance. I’m just getting warmed up,” Jones said after the win.

Considering it was only his fourth start, maybe Jones is “just getting warmed up.” He’s certainly getting better every week.

This week, he had to be. Anthony Richardson, the dynamic backup plenty in the fan base still clamor for, was held out for precautionary reasons.

“We want (Anthony Richardson) to be 100 percent, and hopefully that happens in practice this Monday,” Mullen told the media after the game. “If he pressed it and played last week or tonight, he could have hurt it again and been out for 6 weeks. We were fortunate he didn’t have to go into the game the past 2 weeks, and he’ll be ready to go for Kentucky.”

Having both is suddenly less a controversy and more a complex problem for opposing defensive coordinators.

While Jones improves as a thrower, the Gators’ run game continues to churn along. After a slow start, Florida piled up 283 yards rushing against a Vols squad that entered the game first in the SEC in rushing defense. Jones accounted for half of the damage, but Florida has 4 runners with 150 yards or more on the season, and through 4 games the Gators have 1,290 yards rushing total. Given this was an offense that couldn’t run against air for much of the past 2 seasons, it’s safe to say it’s not just about Mullen adapting his scheme. It’s about players — and it’s about 2 different but special quarterbacks in Richardson and Jones.

Florida takes its show on the road next Saturday night, and Jones will face down another big challenge in a quality Kentucky team at a juiced Kroger Field environment. After the Florida Atlantic and USF games, Florida fans might have been deeply worried about that type of challenge. Now they’ll respect it, as they should given their recent tight battles with Kentucky — but welcome it.

What a difference 2 weeks makes. And what a difference Emory Jones makes.