Tennessee’s offense has struggled in recent weeks, but at least the Vols weren’t facing this kind of down and distance.

CBS Sports mistakenly used a graphic which said Tennessee’s first play from scrimmage was 1st down and 69 yards to go. It’s difficult to even imagine a slew of unsportsmanlike penalties producing that kind of down and distance.

The Vols’ offense, led by Harrison Bailey, who got the start on the marquee afternoon game as CBS Sports setup a double header with Alabama and LSU in primetime, had a lot at stake. They hoped to keep Florida from clinching a spot in the SEC Championship game. The Vols are also trying to avoid the program’s longest streak since 1988 when the Vols lost the first 6 games to start that season.

One way the Vols can do it is feed RB Eric Gray, who is fourth in the SEC in rushing with 93 yards a game, and he just registered his first back-to-back 100-yard rushing games. He’s the first to do that in consecutive SEC games since Joshua Dobbs in 2016.

The teams typically meet in September. This is the first December game in the series since 2001 when that game was postponed following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.