In a defeat that was 12 years in the making, the Florida curse over Tennessee was finally lifted this weekend in roller coaster-like fashion.

Over the last twelve meetings between these teams, fans have seen some crazy, improbable and down right unbelievable things happen. So it was only fitting that the breaking of this streak would come complete with a blown 21-point lead, one team scoring 38 points unanswered, misleading statistics and instant, irrational overreactions.

A multitude of things make this loss so hard to swallow for the Gator Nation. Expectations of success should have been low with the Gators starting a backup quarterback on the road, but it being Tennessee took some of that logic away due to the passion of dislike for the rival school – yes, it’s a rivalry.

That’s what made going up 21-0 only to come away empty handed when the clock struck zero even harder to accept; Florida was in a position they really shouldn’t have been in, if we’re being honest, and just as the brilliance of the offensive play calling gave the Gators that unexpected cushion, it became the staleness of their creativity in the second half that left them vulnerable.

Following the game, I saw quite a few people questioning head coach Jim McElwain and offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier’s jobs. I think that’s silly.

Here’s why.

The screen shot above is the first play form scrimmage. The gators were on the road for the first time this season; they were facing a rival who hadn’t beat them in what would’ve been 12 years; they were starting a back up quarterback for the first time due to injury, and they had a plethora of talented running backs on their roster. The bunched receivers at the line became extra blockers that took advantage of a basic four-man front and gained five yards on the ground: simple, safe and expected.

So on second down, with all that information still in their mind about Florida having every reason to play it cautious and keep running the ball, Tennessee stacked the box and the line of scrimmage hoping to force a third-and-short.

Instead, Nussmeier proved for the first time of many in the first half that he was one step ahead of Tennessee’s defense.

Not only did the Gators counter an over aggressive UT defense in the box, they targeted the man who replaced the injured Cam Sutton by using Antonio Callaway on his side for the big play action throw.

But that wasn’t all. The touchdown to cap it off was also a successful chess move.

The screenshot above is of third-and-goal. The Gators lined up with an unbalanced line to the right, a formation they use a lot for stretch plays to the outside. Tennessee recognized this, but in the video below you can hear commentator Gary Danielson note the detail of this play’s success. Just like UT knew Florida often called the stretch play in this formation, Nussmeier knew it, too. That’s why he made it a fake.

Tennessee was way too over-committed by the time they saw the two players running routes towards the corner of the end zone and couldn’t recover. Usually the first two drives of a game are completely scripted and worked on repeatedly in practices. The script read perfectly for McElwain and Nussmeier on their first attempt.

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As the half went on and the defense was able to combine stout play with a bit of luck, the lead for Florida grew. As the half was winding down, the Gators took at their own 20. Without seeing any signs of adjusting defensively from the original game plan that focused on Florida being overly cautious, Nussmeier continued to attack that by throwing on early downs.

The play above looks so simple, and again is the reason why the second half was so frustrating. Starting at your own 20-yard line with a back up quarterback on the road almost guarantees a run on first down. Tennessee took that bait, and Nussmeier burned them easy by throwing a shorter route to counter the Vols playing Cover 3 so deep in order to stack the box.

Two plays later, after UT tried to adjust to the short, easy pass, Nussmeier burned them again by going over the top.

Tennessee’s defensive coordinator Bob Shoop had no answers for Florida in the first half; McElwain and Nussmeier were in his head the entire 30 minutes, and the result was 21 points from an offense that was suppose to be limited in how they moved the ball down the field.

In the interview with CBS before heading to the locker room at half, McElwain noted that his team was struggling with bad field position and that was something they would need to overcome. This was true, to an extent. Yes, the Gators had some not-so-favorable field position for most of their drives, but they were already overcoming it doing what they were already doing. For whatever reason, that all changed after halftime.

In the second half, Florida became as predictable as Tennessee wanted them to be in the first half. They started running the ball on second and long, relied way too heavily on screen passes for third downs, and stopped taking shots down the field. All of that snowballed into Tennessee gaining momentum. The short offensive series started gassing the defense, and the offensive line getting overpowered by a newly confident Vols pass rusher.

Appleby looked somewhat poised and showed a good mentality to make most of the throws they wanted him to make in the first half, but once the offensive line was overpowered, he reverted back to the guy we watched struggle under pressure at Purdue.

For years Florida fans watched Will Muschamp make scoring points a second thought. During his tenure, the offense was so micromanaged at establishing time of possession and limiting turnovers that they forgot to take the risks necessary to score enough points in college football to keep up. In the second half of the game versus Tennessee, Jim McElwain gave Florida fans a traumatic flashback to that phase of their fan-hood.

McElwain doesn’t have a problem with putting blame on his players. Not necessarily in a bad way; he uses it for motivation and to bring his players down to Earth to remind them that they still have to go out there week-in and week-out and prove themselves each game like past success doesn’t exists. I like that mentality, but I hope he also can realize that that loss to Tennessee was about him being scared as their leader. It was about him not trusting who he is as a coach.

McElwain and Nussmeier are very good at what they do, but they didn’t believe that enough on Saturday. I think the mentality they had in the second half will be an outlier in the long run. The right men are in the right places at the top, but I think that truth is what makes that second half performance stink that much worse.

We hear coaches tell their players all the time to, “play all 60 minutes.” Florida’s coaches needed their own reminder of that on Saturday.

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