KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — It’s been a long 11 years.
That’s how many consecutive years Tennessee has lost to the Gators. There have been a wide range of ways in which Florida has pulled out a victory during the current winning steak.
From the blowout wins under Urban Meyer, to the past two one-point victories over Butch Jones’ teams, Florida has put together a streak that might never be duplicated again in the series.
The current 11-game streak has seen Phillip Fulmer lose after attempting a fake punt, Tim Tebow convert a 4th-and-1 to help ice a comeback victory and Cam Newton score a touchdown in garbage time in a blowout win.
Lane Kiffin wanted to sing Rocky Top after beating the Gators — but wound up on the losing end to Meyer. Derek Dooley lost a halftime lead in his final season. Jones has been right there, only to lose two one-point heart-breakers in as many years.
The average score in the current 11-game streak is Florida 29 Tennessee 16.3, and during the streak there have been three 1-point wins for Florida (2006, 2014, 2015) and the Gators have won three contests by more than two possessions (2007, 2008, 2012).
Florida has won the turnover battle every year except for 2009, 2014 and 2015 — when it was even; Tennessee has never had fewer turnovers in 11 years. Oddly enough, Tennessee has had fewer penalties in the 11 games in all but three games (2010, 2012, 2014).
Florida has had the most rushing yards in every game since 2005 except for last season when Tennessee outrushed the Gators 254 yards to 109 yards. The only other time Tennessee has rushed for 100 yards was in Kiffin’s 2009 season.
Florida has had more first downs than Tennessee in every contest except in 2005, 2011 and 2015. Remarkably, Tennessee has been a better passing team than Florida during the streak, having more passing yards in six games (2006, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2014).
Not that Vols fans want one, but here’s a refresher on some of the key stats that have determined each of the past 11 losses to Florida. They provide clues on what needs to change Saturday inside Neyland Stadium.
2005 Florida 16 Tennessee 7
Stat                          TENN               FLA
First Downs                    14                      13
Rush-Yds-TDs           25-66-0             37-68-1
Comp-Att-Yd-TD-INTÂ Â Â 16-35-147-1-0Â Â Â 17-26-179-0-0
Total Yards                     213                    247
Fumbles-Lost                 2-1                    2-0
Turnovers                        1                        0
Penalties-Yards              4-20                  10-63
2006 Florida 21 Tennessee 20
Stat                                 FLA                   TENN
First Downs                   22                       13
Rush-Yds-TDs              41-121-0             23–11-1
Comp-Att-Yd-TD-INTÂ Â 15-25-199-3-1Â Â Â Â 18-33-231-1-2
Total Yards                    320                     220
Fumbles-Lost                0-0                     0-0
Turnovers                      1                          2
Penalties-Yards             9-65                    4-34
2007 Florida 59 Tennessee 20
Stat                               TENN                 FLA
First Downs                  14                        23
Rush-Yds-TDs             21-37-0              46-255-4
Comp-Att-Yd-TD-INTÂ 28-46-261-1-2Â Â Â 14-19-299-2-1
Total Yards                   298                     554
Fumbles-Lost               2-1                       0-0
Turnovers                      3                          1
Penalties-Yards             7-40                   9-66
2008 Florida 30 Tennessee 6
Stat                               FLA                    TENN
First Downs                 16                        16
Rush-Yds-TDs         39-147-0             31-96-1
Comp-Att-Yd-TD-INTÂ 8-15-96-2-0Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 18-28-162-0-1
Total Yards                  243                      258
Fumbles-Lost              0-0                      2-2
Turnovers                     0                          3
Penalties-Yards            9-57                    9-95
2009 Florida 23 Tennessee 13
Stat                                TENN                 FLA
First Downs                  13                        20
Rush-Yds-TDs              32-117-1               44-208-2
Comp-Att-Yd-TD-INTÂ Â 11-19-93-0-2Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 14-19-115-0-1
Total Yards                   210                      323
Fumbles-Lost                1-0                      1-1
Turnovers                       2                          2
Penalties-Yards             3-40                    4-25
2010 Florida 31 Tennessee 17
Stat                                FLA                      TENN
First Downs                  18                          11
Rush-Yds-TDs              49-150-3               23-29-0
Comp-Att-Yd-TD-INTÂ Â 14-23-167-1-0Â Â Â Â Â Â 19-31-259-2-2
Total Yards                    317                        288
Fumbles-Lost                4-2                        1-1
Turnovers                       2                           3
Penalties-Yards              5-25                      9-54
2011 Florida 33 Tennessee 23
Stat                               TENN                    FLA
First Downs                  23                           17
Rush-Yds-TDs              21–9-0                 40-134-1
Comp-Att-Yd-TD-INTÂ Â 26-48-288-3-2Â Â Â Â Â 14-23-213-2-0
Total Yards                    279                        347
Fumbles-Lost                2-0                         1-1
Turnovers                      2                             1
Penalties-Yards              10-94                   16-150
2012 Florida 37 Tennessee 20
Stat                               FLA                       TENN
First Downs                 20                           19
Rush-Yds-TDs             43-336-2               28-83-1
Comp-Att-Yd-TD-INTÂ Â 14-20-219-2-0Â Â Â Â Â 22-44-257-2-2
Total Yards                   555                340
Fumbles-Lost               2-0                         0-0
Turnovers                     0                              2
Penalties-Yards            8-78                       9-59
2013 Florida 31 Tennessee 17
Stat                               TENN                      FLA
First Downs                 12                              20
Rush-Yds-TDs             23-66-0                   56-215-3
Comp-Att-Yd-TD-INTÂ 14-34-154-1-4Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 11-20-167-1-1
Total Yards                   220                           382
Fumbles-Lost              2-2                             6-2
Turnovers                     6                                3
Penalties-Yards            3-25                          6-44
2014 Florida 10 Tennessee 9
Stat                               FLA                          TENN
First Downs                  16                              12
Rush-Yds-TDs             48-156-1                    29-28-0
Comp-Att-Yd-TD-INTÂ Â 13-27-76-0-3Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 26-39-205-0-2
Total Yards                   232                            233
Fumbles-Lost               1-0                             2-1
Turnovers                     3                                 3
Penalties-Yards            5-45                           8-49
2015 Florida 28 Tennessee 27
Stat                                TENN                       FLA
First Downs                  20                              17
Rush-Yds-TDs             51-254-2                    28-109-2
Comp-Att-Yd-TD-INTÂ Â 12-19-165-1-0Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 23-43-283-2-1
Total Yards                   419                             392
Fumbles-Lost               3-1                  0-0
Turnovers                      1                                 1
Penalties-Yards             4-25                          4-25
Dan Harralson covers Tennessee football for SaturdayDownSouth.com. Follow Dan on Twitter @danharralson.
