'Resilient' Tennessee Volunteers relish second win over Florida in 18 years

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — For only the second time in the past 18 years, Tennessee was basking in a win over Florida on Saturday, this one a 38-33 thriller that went right down to the end.

But as the fans celebrated outside the media room at Neyland Stadium, a composed Tennessee quarterback Hendon Hooker smiled and said nothing had changed for the Vols.

«We still have the same mission, and that's getting to Atlanta [for the SEC championship game],» said Hooker, who passed for 349 yards and rushed for 112 yards. «We're just going to stay the course, come in every day and keep getting better.»

The Vols (4-0) last advanced to the SEC championship game in 2007, and a big reason for that drought is they simply haven't been able to beat Florida.

While Hooker did his best to downplay the win, a sold-out, checkerboarded Neyland Stadium was still buzzing some 15 minutes after Tennessee cornerback Kamal Hadden intercepted Florida quarterback Anthony Richardson's final heave toward the end zone in the waning seconds. Tennessee led 38-21 with 7:55 to play when Jaylen Wright burst across the goal line on a 5-yard touchdown run.

But the Vols had to survive a couple of late touchdowns by the Gators (2-2), not to mention a recovered onside kick in the final seconds to sweat out the win, something that had eluded them in just about every way possible for much of the past decade and a half.

«I'm really excited for our players, just the growth they've shown, the ability to compete no matter what the score was, no matter what was going on in the football game,» Tennessee coach Josh Heupel said. «They're just resilient and fierce competitors, where we've grown in the time that I've been here. I'm really proud of our players.»

Hooker, making his own