Before an exciting 38-28 Tennessee victory last year, the Vols had dropped 11 straight games to the Florida Gators, their SEC East rivals.

Now, though, the Vols expect to start a winning streak of their own when the two teams meet in Gainesville this weekend.

While speaking with the media on Tuesday, junior DE Kyle Phillips said the Volunteers always expect to beat the Gators, citing several close losses during the long Florida winning streak:

“Going into this year, we always expect to beat them,” he says around the 2:15 mark in the above video. “Even through the streak, there’d been close games, going down to the wire.

He added that the Vols and Gators have a great rivalry, which makes it a fun game to play in every year:

“Florida and Tennessee are a big-time rivalry,” he said. “Florida really doesn’t like us and we don’t like them, but it’s always very competitive and always very exciting.”

If the Vols are going to win this year to extend their streak to two wins, Phillips will need to build upon the four tackles (one for a loss) he’s recorded so far this season.

Florida and Tennessee kick off at 3:30 p.m. Eastern time on Saturday. The game can be seen on CBS.