The fundamental problem with your argument (and there are a number of them) is that you give no weight to the score or status of the game as its played. When Floirda suddenly found itself up 20 points or so, it shifted gears offensively and focused on ball control. You can't take those statistics as anything other than a snapshot at the end of the game. They are misleading as to the real relationship between those two teams over the course of the whole game.
Exactly, a snapshot at the end of the game ...that would be when a snapshot is needed . The fudament that you speak of was UT shut Florida's passing game down early . In the 1st , UF went 3 for 3 passing . The snapshot for the game was 8/15 with two tackles for a loss. Florida abandoned the passing game early in 1st . Smart , UT's defensive strength was the secondary . Back to my original point , offensive consistancy puts UT in that game and several others . Not fireworks or anything ...just some consistancy . Three turnovers - 2 inside Florida's 1 yard line . 1 that led directly to 3 points for Florida . A blown lane in kickoff coverage adds 7 points for the gators. 4 three and outs by the Vols offense ( which is not something UF invented for us ...it was the same story all year ) added to the win for UF .
So if you want fundamental ... UT committed errors in every aspect of the game , except defensively , that contributed greatly to UFs win . A minimal amount of offense on 2 plays , a limit to turnovers , decent special teams coaching , UT has more points and UF has less . Florida could not pass the ball against them in the 1st , 2nd , 3rd or 4th with any continuity , I wouldn't expect that would have changed regardless of the score or the point in the game .
I expect a good game next season . I feel the coaches the Vols have landed will make these changes