South Bound & Down
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SEC Football: 66 points in one of SEC’s best rivalries

By Matt Green

Sep 24, 2016; Knoxville, TN, USA; Tennessee Volunteers running back Jalen Hurd (1) moves the ball against the Florida Gators during the second half at Neyland Stadium. Tennessee won 38-28. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 24, 2016; Knoxville, TN, USA; Tennessee Volunteers running back Jalen Hurd (1) moves the ball against the Florida Gators during the second half at Neyland Stadium. Tennessee won 38-28. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports /
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There are 66 days till college football season, and today is about one of the biggest rivalries in SEC football.

I can hear it now. The SEC on CBS jingle starts playing, and Verne Lundquist’s voice comes on to the television. I get chills just thinking about it. Not only is Florida/Tennessee one of the best rivalries in the SEC, but it also acts as the starting gun for SEC football season.

After a few cupcakes and non-conference matchups in the opening weeks of the season, Tennessee and Florida is usually that first big-time conference matchup of the season. The Gators and Volunteers have played in September in 23 of the last 25 years, with one of those being moved to December because of 9/11.

And that leads us to no. 66 in the Southbound and Down College Football Countdown.

66 total points in Tennessee’s 38-28 win over Florida in 2016.

Must Read: Three different SEC teams went 6-7 in 2016

It was the most points scored in this rivalry since the Gators annihilated the Vols 59-20 in The Swamp in 2007.

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Before last season, the Gators had won 11 straight games in the series against Tennessee. The Volunteers had to watch Florida win two national titles, while they went through the final years of Phillip Fulmer, the failed experiment of Lane Kiffin, and the pitiful years of Derek Dooley. Even the savior of the program Butch Jones was 0-3 against the Gators.

But that all changed last season.

After blowing a 20-7 lead in 2015, 2016 was Tennessee’s year and they knew they finally had what it took to beat Florida, but that was not how it started.

Florida got out to a 21-0 lead in the first half, and carried a 21-3 lead into the half. But in the second half, it was all Vols. Tennessee scored 38 straight points to beat Florida for the first time since 2004.

In Florida’s first six drives of the second half, they were held to five three-and-outs and an interception, totaling -9 yards on 16 plays.

While Florida was still able to win the SEC East last season, Jones and Tennessee got a giant monkey off their back by beating the Gators. Can they make it two-in-a-row in 2017?

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