Takeaways from Tennessee's blowout loss to No. 9 Florida

Tennessee's struggles to start the season continued on Saturday in Gainesville as the Vols found themselves on the wrong end of a lopsided 34-3 loss to Florida to open conference play.

What looked like a close contest early quickly shifted in the Gators' favor as they continuously exploited UT's errors en route to their third consecutive victory over Tennessee, the second straight to begin the Jeremy Pruitt era.

Here are some takeaways from the Vols' third loss of the season:

Quarterback controversy to come?

Jarrett Guarantano was Tennessee's clear-cut starter heading into week one. That reality came crashing down on Saturday.

The Lodi, New Jersey native struggled to hit open receivers throughout the first half and made several questionable decisions, including a second quarter interception that had no chance of reaching any Tennessee receiver.

He was eventually replaced by Brian Maurer at the start of the second half and although the true freshman was able to lead the Vols on their lone scoring drive, he didn't fare much better against an aggressive Florida defense.

For Pruitt, the switch came at a time in which he felt his team needed a spark.

"I think Jarrett’s got lots of ability to be a really good player, and I’ve said that over and over," Pruitt said. "But there’s times where you’ve got to take the bull by the horns and say ‘let’s go.’ You’ve got to make some plays."

While Maurer didn't look like a starting-caliber quarterback on every snap, he made plays with his arm and was able to remain remarkably poised for a true freshman experiencing his first road game in a tough conference.

His teammates were impressed with his confidence as well.

“He brings a lot of energy, he’s really eager to be on the field," Marquez Callaway said. "When his number is called he’s ready, we came out there and we had his back."

Turnovers come back to haunt the Vols again

A year ago, the Vols shot themselves in the foot at Neyland Stadium by committing six turnovers in front of their home crowd. That trend against the Gators continued manifested itself once again in 2019.

Only this time, Tennessee decreased its turnover total by two.

Progress, but only slightly. Either way, it didn't result in a win and that's something that UT is desperate to come by now as it prepares to enter a brutal three-game stretch that includes Georgia and Mississippi State at home and Alabama on the road.

Mistake-free football is what Pruitt has been looking for and thus far, it's been hard to come by.

We’re not good enough to beat a good team if we don’t play mistake free," Pruitt said. "So they’ve got a good football team. We can’t give them stuff, and we did that."

Jennings remains the lone bright spot for Tennessee's offense

If there was any doubt regarding Jauan Jennings' health prior to UT's season-opener, it has certainly been put to rest by his play to start the year.

Jennings has recorded 70 or more receiving yards and at least one touchdown in three of Tennessee's four games and his 19 receptions for 281 yards and four scores rank near the top of the SEC.

The "alpha dog" attitude he's boasted throughout his career has served him well and it continues to do so despite the Vols' team struggles.

The only mistake Jennings made? Letting a ball bounce off of his hands in the end zone into the arms of a Florida defender. A 50-50 play, but one that the redshirt senior typically makes.

“It looked like it hit him in the hands. You always want your hands on top of the ball, so the ball don’t flutter up right there," Pruitt said. "But if it hits us in the hands, we do need to catch the ball."

As Tennessee heads into the bye week, Jennings' leadership and effort will be heavily relied upon as the Vols prep for the third-ranked Bulldogs.

To'o To'o is here to stay

One of UT's most heralded prospects coming in, Henry To'o To'o has played like a man amongst boys to start his collegiate career.

The Sacramento, California native recorded 15 total tackles through Tennessee's opening two games and while he struggled somewhat to make the same impact against Chattanooga, he was back at it in Gainesville.

Recording eight tackles and a fumble recovery, he and senior linebacker Daniel Bituli combined for quite the performance as they spearheaded a unit that, despite the end result, made some noise early on.

Ultimately, it was Tennessee's self-inflicted wounds that caused its demise.

“I feel like we did pretty good, but as we all saw out there, there were plenty of mistakes that we made that we can clean up on," Bituli said. "We just have to use this bye week to clean up those mistakes and learn from this experience.”

Regardless of the final score, it's abundantly clear that To'o To'o is no fluke and has an extremely bright future ahead.

Only time will be the deciding factor on how bright.