Tennessee @ Florida preview

Last Meeting ( Oct 4, 2014 ) Florida 10, Tennessee 9

Florida leaned on its defense to begin the SEC season with a victory last week and must be sharp again on that side of the ball to remain unbeaten when conference-rival Tennessee visits on Saturday. Florida, which edged Kentucky 14-9 last Saturday night to start 3-0 for the ninth time in 11 years, looks to extend its winning streak over the Volunteers to 11 games.

The Gators are seventh in the nation in allowing 55.3 yards per game on the ground and Tennessee’s productive rushing attack -- led by Jalen Hurd -- will face its toughest test. “They are active, explosive and get after it,” Volunteers coach Butch Jones told the Knoxville News Sentinel of Florida’s defense. “I think that the results speak for themselves.” The Gators are 11th in the nation in total defense with talented corner Vernon Hargreaves III leading an experienced secondary. Florida's Will Grier should get the whole game at quarterback for the second straight week after fellow signal caller Treon Harris was suspended for the game, along with corner Jalen Tabor, after violating team rules.

TV: 3:30 p.m. ET, CBS. LINE: Tennessee -1

ABOUT TENNESSEE (2-1, 0-0 SEC): The Volunteers rebounded from a rough loss to Oklahoma in double overtime by routing Western Carolina 55-10 last week and are tied for second in the SEC in scoring (46.0). Hurd had 109 of his 300 yards rushing against the 14th-ranked Sooners and has scored five times, pacing a Volunteers ground game averaging 246 yards. Quarterback Joshua Dobbs is completing 58.1 percent of his passes with five TD strikes to go along with only one interception, and Preston Williams has three catches for 98 yards and two scores.

ABOUT FLORIDA (3-0, 1-0): Grier, who completed 13-of-22 passes for 125 yards while rushing for another 61 and a score against Kentucky, will be more successful if the Gators can get their rushing attack going after averaging 3.2 per carry against the Wildcats. “The position, I get it, everybody has to write about it,” McElwain told reporters of his QBs. “(But) it has as much to do with the other 10 around you. …” Demarcus Robinson, who needs 62 yards for 1,000 receiving in his career, leads the team with 14 catches while tight end DeAndre Goolsby owns six receptions for a team-most 132 yards.

EXTRA POINTS

1. Florida LB Jarrad Davis leads the team with 24 tackles, including 10 in each of the last two contests.

2. The 138 points the Volunteers have registered is the most they have scored in the first three games of a season since producing 171 in 1914.

3. The 50 yards in sacks the Gators registered last week is the most since they had 51 against Ohio State in the 2007 BCS National Championship Game.

PREDICTION: Florida 24, Tennessee 17