GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) -- Florida's offense is built around running back Mike Gillislee.
The senior has 231 yards rushing in two games and four of the team's five touchdowns. So his groin injury could be a significant setback for the 18th-ranked Gators (2-0), who play at No. 23 Tennessee (2-0) on Saturday.
Gillislee injured his groin in the first half against Texas A&M and seemed to tweak it on a 12-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.
Coach Will Muschamp said Monday that Gillislee "should be fine." But the coach has a tendency to downplay injuries during the season.
"He's gonna practice today," Muschamp said. "I mean, we planning on it. We just had a staff meeting and they said he's gonna practice. I think he should be fine. We probably won't rep him 40 times today, but we'll make sure he's ready to go for Saturday. But we feel like he's fully available."
The Gators should hope so.
Gillislee has proven to be a big part of the offense this season, and backups Mack Brown and Matt Jones have done little in relief.
Gillislee has 38 of the team's 81 rushing attempts and is averaging 6.1 yards per carry -- considerably better than Brown (2.9 ypc) and Jones (3.4 ypc).
"He's definitely a huge part," quarterback Jeff Driskel said. "He's been running great, but we have depth, and that's the great thing about us. ... I have no idea if he won't be able to go or anything like that, but if he can't, guys are just going to have to step up like any other position."
The ground game has been an integral part of the Florida-Tennessee series the last two-plus decades.
The team with more rushing yards has won 20 of the last 22 meetings. The only exceptions came in 2000 and 2002.
Florida has won seven in a row in a series that used to essentially determine the Southeastern Conference's Eastern Division, and the Gators have dominated those games on the ground.
The Gators have averaged 154.7 yards rushing during the winning streak, and the Volunteers have averaged 46.4 yards.
"If we don't stop the run, they're going to be able to control the game, the time of possession and things like that, and it's going to put us behind," Tennessee nose guard Daniel Hood said. "But if we can go out, dominate the line of scrimmage, stop the run and give the ball to our offense, it will give (our offense) more chances to score."
Gillislee's health could be the key.
"He's extremely productive," Vols coach Derek Dooley said. "He's elusive and he's heavy. If you have bad tackling technique, he's going to break it. If you don't come in at a good angle, he's going to make you miss. And he's got the power to get extra yards.
Gillislee spent the last three years playing in the shadow of Jeff Demps and Chris Rainey. He emerged in the spring and nailed down the starting spot during fall practice even though outsiders figured Jones would push for playing time.
And Gillislee turned potential into production in Florida's first two games, breaking tackles, making defenders miss and accounting for the majority of the team's scoring.
The Gators managed to escape College Station with a victory despite Gillislee's injury. It could be tougher in Knoxville, Tenn.
"I didn't even know he was hurt until halfway through the fourth quarter," Florida linebacker Jon Bostic said. "I was kind of like, `Where's he at?' and somebody said he'd messed up something. Not sure exactly what it was, but hopefully he's back this week."
