Florida avoided a letdown against Tennessee after taking the No. 1 team in the country to the wire the week before. The Volunteers put up a good fight, especially in the first half, but they couldn’t achieve sustainable ball movement, relying instead on a handful of inconsistent big plays.
Quarterback Emory Jones took another step forward in his development, and the run game was dominant yet again.
It was a very solid performance for the Gators, even if they were a bit sloppy to start. And with two teams in the top 10 losing in previous No. 5 Texas A&M and No. 7 Clemson, Florida is vaulting those teams into the top 10 in the latest update of the USA TODAY Sports Coaches poll, ranking No. 9.
UF is now the third-highest ranked SEC team behind No. 1 Alabama and No. 2 Georgia.
With the win over the Vols, UF moves to 3-1 (1-1 SEC) on the season. Next up is its first conference road trip against a Kentucky team that tends to give Florida fits. In the Gators’ last trip to Lexington in 2019, quarterback Feleipe Franks suffered a season-ending ankle injury, prompting Kyle Trask to take over as the starting quarterback and begin his prolific run by leading a comeback against the Wildcats.
Here’s the full Coaches Poll for this week.
Full USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll:
| Rank | Team | Record | Points | Change |
| 1 | Alabama | 4-0 | 1,624 (64) | – |
| 2 | Georgia | 4-0 | 1,558 (1) | – |
| 3 | Oregon | 4-0 | 1,467 | +1 |
| 4 | Oklahoma | 4-0 | 1,395 | -1 |
| 5 | Iowa | 4-0 | 1,319 | +1 |
| 6 | Penn State | 4-0 | 1,286 | +2 |
| 7 | Notre Dame | 4-0 | 1,187 | +3 |
| 8 | Cincinnati | 3-0 | 1,185 | +1 |
| 9 | Florida | 3-1 | 1,101 | +2 |
| 10 | Ohio State | 3-1 | 1,030 | +2 |
| 11 | Arkansas | 4-0 | 1,016 | +7 |
| 12 | Ole Miss | 3-0 | 916 | +1 |
| 13 | Texas A&M | 3-1 | 744 | -8 |
| 14 | Michigan | 4-0 | 674 | +5 |
| 15 | BYU | 4-0 | 670 | +1 |
| 16 | Michigan State | 4-0 | 583 | +5 |
| 16 | Coastal Carolina | 4-0 | 583 | +1 |
| 18 | Oklahoma State | 4-0 | 459 | +4 |
| 19 | Clemson | 2-2 | 389 | -12 |
| 20 | UCLA | 3-1 | 312 | +4 |
| 21 | Fresno State | 4-1 | 251 | +4 |
| 22 | Auburn | 3-1 | 244 | +1 |
| 23 | Kentucky | 4-0 | 179 | +4 |
| 24 | Baylor | 4-0 | 134 | +18 |
| 25 | Wake Forest | 4-0 | 119 | +14 |
Dropped from the rankings:
No. 14 Iowa State; No. 15 Wisconsin; No. 20 North Carolina.
Others receiving votes:
Texas 101; Boston College 91; NC State 70; San Diego State 69; Maryland 59; Wisconsin 56; Southern Methodist 54; Virginia Tech 39; Louisiana State 36; Iowa State 31; Army 23; Arizona State 12; Texas-San Antonio 11; Liberty 11; North Carolina 10; Central Florida 9; Oregon State 7; UL Lafayette 3; Appalachian State 3; Louisville 2; Indiana 2; Wyoming 1.
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