Gators’ fourth-quarter rally falls short against Hooker, Volunteers
KNOXVILLE, TENN.
Hendon Hooker threw for 348 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 112 yards and a score to lead No. 11 Tennessee to a 38-27 victory over No. 20 Florida Saturday.
It was Tennessee’s second win over Florida in the last 18 meetings and snapped a six-game losing streak in the series. The win gave the Volunteers their first 4-0 start since 2016.
Tennessee (4-0, 1-0 Southeastern Conference) took control in the fourth quarter when it traveled 87 yards for a TD after a fumble by Gators (2-2, 0-2) quarterback Anthony Richardson.
Richardson had a career-high 453 passing yards and two touchdowns and ran for 62 and two scores in a raucous Neyland Stadium.
Tennessee led 17-14 at halftime following a first half loaded with big offensive plays on both sides.
Hooker, who shook off what was reported as an upper body injury, threw for 248 yards, including a 70-yard connection with Bru McCoy for the Vols’ longest play from scrimmage this season.
A 99-yard drive that ended with a one-yard pass from Hooker to McCoy, gave Tennessee the lead 7 seconds before the break.
Richardson had a career-high 220 passing yards by intermission and connected with his first TD pass of the season. Keon Zipperer broke three arm tackles on his way to a 44-yard score.
The left leg injury that forced Tennessee WR Cedric Tillman to miss a good deal of the Akron game caused him to be held out . ... Vols WR Jimmy Calloway couldn’t play in the first half against the Gators because of a team suspension after being ejected last week for punching an Akron player. Florida OT Michael Tarquin (lower leg injury) and long snapper Marco Ortiz did not play. LB Ventrell Miller, who missed last week’s game with a right foot injury, started.
Tennessee QB Hendon Hooker had a string of 14 consecutive pass completions, including 12 against Akron, before a misfire. In back-to-back secondquarter plays, Richardson threw his first TD pass of the season, for 44 yards to Keon Zipperer, before Hooker’s 70-yarder to McCoy.
Midway through the second quarter Richardson had thrown for 207 yards, a career high. Florida had just three sacks in its first three games. Florida was four of five in fourth-down conversions.
After playing three ranked teams in the first four weeks of the season, the Gators get a break by hosting Eastern Washington Saturday.