In Dan Mullen's first season at Florida, the Gators overcame an early-season loss to Kentucky but rattled off five consecutive wins to enter the World's Largest Cocktail Party for a top-10 matchup and a chance to take over the SEC East.

Georgia dominated that matchup, effectively ending the Gators' chances at appearing in the SEC Championship game. What happened next was human nature. Florida sleepwalked through the next week of practice and into Ben Hill Griffin Stadium the following weekend. Missouri crushed the Gators and Dan Mullen challenged the media to a thumb wrestling match.

The point of that challenge was to tell his team they needed to compete in everything they do. Florida had its season goals dashed the week before then moped around long enough to allow one loss to turn into two.

Coming off of the loss to Alabama is different in that Florida hasn't had its hopes and dreams dashed yet. The Gators are 0-1 in league play but they still are masters of their future. That being said, there isn't the same intensity or excitement surrounding the Tennessee game that there was a week ago. Last week Florida played the underdog. They had numerous external factors to give them energy, excitement, and to help focus them throughout the week.

This week, even though Tennessee is a traditional rivalry, most of the Gators on the roster don't remember a time when this series was competitive. The oldest player on Florida's team is 23 years old, meaning the Gators are 18-5 in their lifetime. That's hardly a rivalry in their eyes.

This week the Gators need to look within for motivation and Dan Mullen knew that coming off of a tightly contested loss where his team left it all on the field, the first few days of practice would be telling.

"I love the attitude this team has. We came out really hungry on Monday's practice. And I was a little concerned. It was a little quiet there on the field. Normally we're a little bit more boisterous as a team, a little more shouty, have a good time. So I got a little bit nervous getting out there, like, 'Hey, are we going to respond?' I'll tell you what, it was one of our better practices," Mullen said of practice on Monday and Tuesday. "They came out with a very serious, workman-like attitude, of understanding that we've got to fix; you're not going to win and play championship-level football making some of the mental errors we made. So they understood and came out and wanted to work to get better, to improve things, and play at a higher level as a team as we move forward. So I think it's been a pretty good week of practice."

Florida will still need to translate that level of intensity to the field on Saturday. With Tennessee coming in looking to play spoiler and with nothing to lose, the Gators need to bring their own juice and play to their standard, which Kaiir Elam articulated well.

"I feel like Tennessee's coming in here and it's always a big rivalry game against Tennessee," he said. "I feel like our main focus should be improving and dominating, honestly.”