Indiana @ Tennessee preview

TAXSLAYER GATOR BOWL STORYLINES

1. Tennessee and Indiana would like to add one more victory to make their respectable 2019 seasons a little bit better when the teams meet in the Gator Bowl on Jan. 2 in Jacksonville, Fla. Neither team beat a Top 25 opponent during the regular season, but each improved from a year ago when they each finished 5-7. Both teams will be making their first bowl appearance since the 2016 season.

2. The Volunteers, who have won five in a row and six of the last seven games, is on a roll heading into the bowl and should receive a boost from a partisan crowd in Jacksonville. Tennessee managed to recover from losses to Georgia State, BYU, Florida and Georgia in four of its first five games with help from a defense that allowed no more than 20 points during the five-game winning streak. Indiana halted a two-game skid - (both losses to ranked opponents) with a double-overtime victory at rival Purdue in its regular-season finale.

3. The Hoosiers will be losing offensive coordinator Kalen DeBoer after he accepted the coaching job at Fresno State, where he was in charge of the offense before coming to Indiana for what proved to be a brief one-year stint. With a reputation for invigorating offenses quickly, DeBoer did just that, taking the Hoosiers from No. 51 to No. 31 in total offense and from No. 87 to No. 41 in scoring offense nationally. And he did that while having to deal with a quarterback change after starter Michael Penix Jr. sustained injuries early in the season and Peyton Ramsey took over without missing a beat.

TV: 7 p.m. ET, ESPN. LINE: None

ABOUT INDIANA (8-4): The Hoosiers haven't won nine games in a season since 1967 and to do so they'll need their offense to continue to click and the defense to hold up better than it did in the final three games of the regular season when it gave up an average of 38 points. Ramsey passed for 2,227 yards and 13 touchdowns in 10 games this season and Indiana's top target is Whop Philyor, whose 69 receptions for 1,001 yards and five touchdowns ranked among the Big Ten leaders. Running back Stevie Scott III has rushed for 845 yards and 10 touchdowns on 178 carries after topping 1,000 yards last year.

ABOUT TENNESSEE (7-5): Quarterback Jarrett Guarantano completed 59.3 percent of his passes for 1,937 yards and 16 touchdowns with six interceptions and Jauan Jennings caught 57 passes for 942 yards and eight touchdowns. The status of Guarantano's center, Brandon Kennedy, is uncertain after he underwent a knee procedure once the regular season ended. Defensively, Tennessee ranked 17th nationally in pass defense, giving up 191.3 yards per game, and only 137.3 in November.



PREDICTION: Indiana 27, Tennessee 24