I am not into moral victories, of course I wanted to beat Florida, but if you have to take them, I'll take today's effort.

Florida won by ten, not by fifty like most of the national experts predicted. Tennessee was in the game until midway third quarter.

Tennessee is 2 players away from really being competitive in the SEC. The Vols need a quarterback desperately, that is obvious. The problem is that Crompton is it for this year.

Lane Kiffin's hands were tied throughout the contest. He knew that he had no deep threat, and Florida was able to stack the line of scrimmage.

Tennessee also needs a real threat at wide receiver. The Vol wideouts are just not able to consistently beat man-to-man coverage. Tennessee had no passing game to speak of and Hardesty still gained 96 yards rushing. What could Hardesty do if he wasn't the only threat?

Eric Berry was absolutely fabulous, he finished the day with 11 tackles, two for a loss and an interception. He may be the best football player I've ever watched. He may be better than other Vols I have watched like Roland James, Dale Carter, Chuck Webb, and many many others that have worn the orange and white.

Florida was coming into the game just foaming at the mouth waiting to lay 60 on the Vols but it was not to be. National analyst Tony Barnhart and Tim Brando talked about how much they were impressed with Tennessee and I was impressed too.

The Vol offense was barely on the field in the 3rd quarter, there was no threat of a big play coming from the offense, Florida smelled blood but a big play by Dennis Rogan turned the Tide and led to a Vol touchdown by Monterio Hardesty.

One other note, the Florida field crowd was the most subdued I can remember. The Vols didn't allow the game to turn into a rout and any football fan would have to admit that Florida knew they were in a football game.

The Good:

The offensive line did as well as anyone could have expected. No passing game today for Tennessee and Florida knew it. I thought the Vol offensive staff did a nice job of scheming the Gator D and they were able to break just enough plays to keep this game close. In the first half they were able to actually blow the Florida defensive line off the ball, something that very few would have thought possible.

Monterio Hardesty played hard, he ran with authority and showed good field vision. Hardesty finished with 96 yards rushing against a great Florida defense.

Bryce Brown is not far away from being a real contributor in this offense. He runs with power and he shows great field vision as well. He shows no fear, and that is exactly what Tennessee needs.

The defense had to be out of gas as Florida drove deep into Tennesse territory midway in the fourth quarter, but they never quit, they keep fighting until the final whistle. I like what I'm seeing with Monte Kiffin's defensive unit.

Chris Walker and Nick Reveiz played with great passion and intensity. These are two very smart football players who are never caught out of position.

The Tennessee Pride of the Southland Marching Band made the Vols proud today, they must have played Rocky Top for the Florida faithful at least 100 times. The Vol fans made the Vol nation proud as well. Tennessee sold out their ticket allotment and the Vol fans made some serious noise rooting on the Vols. No signs of being in awe of Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.

The Bad:

The Vols lost. No real Tennessee fan is ever happy with a loss and I don't think that any Vol player is satisfied with moral victories. Jonathan Crompton said after the game that every player on the team showed up to win.

Where has the Tennessee passing game gone? Tennessee hasn't had a true wide receiver threat since the days of Robert Meachem and Jason Swain three years ago.

Kick coverage was better than last year, but still not good enough. Brandon James had two big returns leading to points for the Gators.

The quarterback play must get better if the Vols are going to win some games this year. Crompton managed the game fairly well, but he threw 2 passes that really cost the Vols some momentum. The interception on the first drive of the third quarter was one he would love to have back I'm sure.