Another nightmare for Tennessee at Florida as The Swamp remains its house of horrors

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Tennessee’s quarterback hoisted the football high, high, high into the Florida night sky just as Desmond Watson attempted to swallow Joe Milton whole.

To call this pass a prayer would be to insult prayer.

Milton could have no idea into whose hands his heave would settle.

The ball finally descended into arms of a Gators defensive back, Devin Moore, and The Swamp roared. A yellow flag appeared at the end of Moore’s interception return. Personal foul, Tennessee.

The Swamp roared some more.

This rivalry that had been a hallmark of college football during the 1990s isn’t what it used to be. You wouldn’t have known that from any decibel meter positioned in Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on Saturday night.

The Swamp devoured the Big Orange. Again.

Florida 29, No. 9 Tennessee 16.

A sold-out crowd delighted in a familiar result.

Ten consecutive times, Florida has beaten Tennessee in this building that’s a Gators temple and a house of horrors for the Vols.

When I spoke to Steve Spurrier this week, he couldn’t believe some betting lines had listed Florida as a 7½-point underdog.

A touchdown underdog? In The Swamp? To Tennessee? The Head Ball Coach couldn’t believe it. As usual, Spurrier was onto something.

These Gators may not be reminiscent of the Spurrier era, but this result was. All Gators. A couple of Florida kicking blunders prevented the score from being more lopsided.

The Vols couldn’t block. They couldn’t cover Florida’s wide receivers. And Tennessee’s tackling? Mercy.

Tennessee’s defensive backs competed to see who could miss the most tackles. Wesley Walker, Tamarion McDonald and Kamal Hadden each entered compelling submissions into the whiff contest.

Graham Mertz picks apart Tennessee

Who said Florida lacked a quarterback? OK, I said that – and so did so many others. By the looks of Saturday, how wrong we were.

Nineteen of 24 passes, Mertz completed.  He threw, and he scrambled, and he worked the Vols silly throughout a defining first half. He became a maestro on third downs.

And, boy, Mertz had some kind of fun.

After Mertz scored on a sneak, he took a mighty swing with an orange and blue scepter along Florida’s sideline and blasted an imaginary baseball into the sky.

A home run, this result, for Florida’s coach and its quarterback.

Even a clap of Mertz's hands tortured Tennessee, as he drew Kurott Garland offsides on a fourth-and-1 in the fourth quarter. Gators fans laughed at the penalty. The shoe was on the other foot.

Just two weeks ago, the Gators were a mess in an opening loss at Utah. They played like a poorly coached team to begin Billy Napier’s second season.

Napier had his guys ready to play this time. Florida’s second-year coach needed this result – his first rivalry win at Florida.

When Mertz wasn’t flaying Tennessee, Trevor Etienne was gutting the Vols with his legs.

Florida’s defense stymies Josh Heupel’s Vols for second time

And how about Josh Heupel’s up-tempo offense that tortured so many opponents last season, including Florida? Until Tennessee's stat-padding fourth quarter, its offense chummed the waters for a ferocious Gators defense.

Florida turtled up after taking a 19-point lead into halftime, but its defense supplied the necessary stops. On a critical red-zone opportunity for Tennessee in the third quarter, a mess of Gators burst through the line. Scooby Williams got to ball carrier Jaylen Wright first, stuffing him for a 2-yard loss on fourth-and-1.

Milton helped himself to a 55-yard touchdown to Bru McCoy in the fourth quarter. By then, the result was well in hand.

Georgia was the only opponent to hold Tennessee to fewer than 30 points in 2022, but Florida has stymied Heupel’s offense twice. It limited the Vols to 14 points in a win two years ago.

Milton was merely OK. His line played worse. Florida slowed Tennessee’s ground game, and Milton infrequently stretched Florida’s defense.

Maybe, Tennessee will consider handing the keys to ballyhooed freshman quarterback Nico Iamaleava later this season, but Saturday wasn’t the appropriate moment – not given how Tennessee’s offensive line struggled and not in front of this menacing crowd.

The stadium lights dimmed at the end of the third quarter, and cell phone flashlights provided the ambience as Florida fans belted Tom Petty, as is tradition here.

In a pivotal game for Napier, his Gators didn’t back down, and there was no easy way out for the Vols.

Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network's SEC Columnist. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter @btoppmeyer.