I’ve been to more than a few Tennessee-Florida games over the years.

I was at the 1996 game when both teams were ranked in the top 5. Danny Wuerffel threw for 4 touchdowns in the Gators’ 35-29 victory.

I covered the 2004 game, when James Wilhoit went from goat to hero, kicking a 50-yard field goal in the final moments of a 30-28 Tennessee win. I covered the 2007 game, when Florida ran up the score in a 59-20 romp in Gainesville. I was also at the 2016 game, when the Vols snapped an 11-game losing streak to the Gators with a 38-28 victory.

The 2020 version, a 31-19 Florida win on Saturday, won’t be remembered nearly to the point that those games are today … but maybe it will be the game that puts Tennessee on the right track. The Vols didn’t get embarrassed on this day against one of their biggest rivals, and that hasn’t happened very much in the Jeremy Pruitt era.

This was my 1st college football game to attend in person in 2020, and it was … strange.

The beer lines were still long, and the crowd still got loud at times, but with maybe 22,000 fans in the stands at Neyland Stadium, it just felt, as you’d imagine, different. Social distancing was still taking place … unless you were in the UT student section, which looked like a mosh pit.

All that said, it was nice just going to a college football game. I hope that in 2021, we can all attend games as we did pre-COVID.

In terms of the game itself, Tennessee fans finally got their wish. True freshman Harrison Bailey got the start over Jarrett Guarantano, who Pruitt said after the game hadn’t practiced in 13 days, which is why he didn’t play. This was perhaps Pruitt’s way of hinting that Guarantano could be on the field next Saturday at Vanderbilt.

Bailey threw for 111 yards, completing 14 of 21 passes. He also ran 9 times for -19 yards, and he was sacked 5 times. I can tell you from being in the stands that Bailey looks like he runs a 10.2 40, but he was still able to extend a few plays with his feet.

The moment that will have Vols fans thinking about the future came early in the 2nd quarter, when Bailey directed Tennessee on an 11-play, 96-yard touchdown drive that culminated with a 15-yard touchdown pass to sophomore running back Eric Gray. That score put the Vols on top 10-7.

Someday, when Bailey is accepting his 3rd Heisman Trophy, fans should remember that drive as the start of something historic.

But I digress.

Bailey didn’t turn the football over, and he looked poised under pressure. No one was expecting Bailey to put up Kyle Trask numbers, and he didn’t. Trask, the Florida quarterback, threw for 433 yards and 4 touchdowns against the Vols. He’ll be a Heisman Trophy finalist, and he might follow in the footsteps of Steve Spurrier, Wuerffel and Tim Tebow and win the award as a Gators signal caller.

But Tennessee isn’t looking for such lofty accolades. For now, they just want a quarterback who can play a complete game and not make soul-crushing mistakes.

Is it possible Tennessee found 2 of them in this game?

Redshirt sophomore J.T. Shrout played in the 4th quarter, and he looked as good as he ever has during his Tennessee career. Shrout threw 2 touchdown passes against the Gators, completing 12 of 14 passes for 121 yards.

Granted, Shrout put up those numbers when the game was out of reach, but maybe it proved that he’s not a lost cause and can make a contribution to this team.

We still saw the head-scratching errors that have been the hallmark of this season for Tennessee. The Vols still can’t stop a slant pass, and the offensive line still can’t properly protect their quarterback, and Brent Cimaglia is still missing kicks. Tennessee fell to 2-6 and has lost 6 straight games.

But the sky is not falling in Knoxville, at least to the point it was the past few weeks. To me, this looks like a team that is still playing hard, even under difficult circumstances. They were missing 16 players due to injuries and COVID-related measures, but they were still competitive against one of the best teams in the country.

Is Tennessee ready to ascend to the top of the conference? No. No they are not.

But at least there was improvement.