GAINESVILLE, Fla.-- The Florida defense flat out dominated in its 34-3 drubbing over Tennessee,, holding the Volunteers to 239 total yards and forcing four turnovers.

Some of that success was due to Amari Burney's return to the side.

“I thought it was okay,” said a humble sophomore linebacker about his performance. “I’m not one to hype myself up. I know I can do better out there than what I showed today. But coaches going to get me right, get me in the film room, and tell me what I messed up on and correct it.”

Let us hype him up.

After missing the last two games with an injury, Burney came up with two take-aways (an interception and fumble recovery) and led the team with five solo tackles.

"It was a pretty big boost," said Jonathan Greenard about getting Burney back in the lineup. "He is an athletic freak. He is fast. He is a bigger body too at the star position, he can play in the box and play linebacker for us. It was good for us, it was good for him. I was excited for him to get a pick and a fumble recovery as well."

"He brought great depth," said cornerback Marco Wilson. "So we don't always have to worry about who's gonna do this, who's gonna do that, and he can play multiple positions so that's great for that."

Burney took every opportunity.

During the Vols' second drive out of halftime, Wilson tipped a pass when colliding with a Tennessee receiver and Burney caught it.

“Marco made a great play,” said Burney. “I am going to give that one to Marco. When the ball is in the air they say, ‘see ball, get ball,’ so I dove for it.”

Then on the first play of the fourth quarter Tennessee running back Eric Gray was tackled by Greenard. Gray fumbled the ball, leading to Burney making a heads up play, covering the ball and giving the Gators offense decent field position.

“Just get to the ball,” said Burney about what through his mind when he saw that ball loose. “Coach harps on that. No loafin,’ just get to the ball. They jumped on it and I was just running to the ball, and I seen it pop out. It was like just get the ball, don’t try to scoop it, just fall on it so the offense can go out there and drive down the field and score.”

Burney admits it was tough missing the last few games but he was ready to take advantage this weekend.

“It was very tough,” said Burney. “Especially going into the Kentucky game, couldn’t get out there and just watching my teammates doing their thing and coming out with a win. It’s very tough sitting on the sideline but you have to be a good teammate, getting everybody ready, and when it’s your chance go out there, you got to make plays.

“It was great just to contribute to my team. I have been out for a couple of weeks, so getting my feet wet and getting back there...the coaches believed in me and put me in positions to make plays and I did.”

**GT's Jacquie Franciulli contributed to this story.**

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