Tennessee-Florida opening line set

The Tennessee Volunteers are set to open SEC play on the road next weekend against the Florida Gators. Tennessee, sitting at 1-2 on the year, picked up its first win against Chattanooga this weekend.

The Gators sit at No. 9 in the new AP Poll after a dramatic comeback win at Kentucky on Saturday night. This coming all after starting quarterback Feleipe Franks was lost for the season due to a dislocated ankle.

That left Kyle Trask, who came in and helped guide Florida to a win from an 11 point deficit. Trask is now left as the starting quarterback for the Gators, who will welcome Tennessee on Saturday afternoon.

After summer lines had Florida as anywhere from 14 to 16 point favorites, the Franks news seems to have affected this game week spread. Florida has opened as a 12.5 favorite over Tennessee.

Tennessee has beaten Florida just once since 2005. Last year’s game got out of hand early after a host of Tennessee mistakes added up in the first quarter. The Vols last win in this series came in 2016.

Jeremy Pruitt has been working to iron out defensive mistakes in week one, which led to Georgia State’s upset of the Volunteers. Another key defensive error ended up costing Tennessee the game against BYU, which is the difference between 2-1 and 1-2 right now.

Florida will easily be the toughest test to this point for Tennessee, though the Gators haven’t been particularly impressive in wins over Miami and Kentucky.

Quarterback play will likely determine this one. How will Jarrett Guarantano perform on the road after a rough start to the season? Can Trask back up a strong performance in Lexington?

We’ll find out on Saturday at Noon (ET) on ESPN.