Week 4 Is the Most Important of Butch Jones' Tennessee Career

The hype train on the 2015 Tennessee Volunteers came to a screeching halt during Week 2, when they let a 17-point home lead slip away and were stunned by Oklahoma in a 31-24 double-overtime loss. 

Despite that, the Vols still have every goal they set this summer sitting in front of them as they enter SEC play this week at Florida. The Vols still play in a relatively down East division, their cross-division games against Alabama and Arkansas don't look as daunting as they did before the season and they still get Georgia—which looks like the best team in the SEC East so far—at home.

They have to get over the Florida hurdle first in what is the biggest game of head coach Butch Jones' Tennessee career.

Immediately following the Oklahoma loss, this image (via Bill King of WNSR in Nashville) was widely circulated on the Internet:

That's incredibly unfair to Jones since former head coach Derek Dooley left the cupboard incredibly bare on Rocky Top, but it also speaks to the urgency that exists at Tennessee for the Vols to take a step forward and at least contend for the SEC East title.

Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports

Breaking the 10-year losing streak to a rebuilding Florida Gators team would signify that the Vols have taken that step. If they don't, the wheels will come flying off the Tennessee bandwagon as quickly as fans can recite "Rocky Top."

Jones is motivated.

According to Ryan Callahan of 247Sports, he called the loss last year to the Gators—in which the Vols had a 9-0 lead at the start of the fourth quarter—"the lowest moment" of his career during the offseason while at booster event in Atlanta. 

Motivation and potential won't cut it on Rocky Top anymore. It's time for results.

As Ralph Russo of the Associated Press noted on Twitter, the result of Saturday's game has a tremendous bearing on Jones' national perception.

He can't let that happen.

That's not to say that he'll be on the hot seat.

Neither he nor Arkansas head coach Bret Bielema is despite the Hogs' early struggles. But both programs were touted to do some bigger things this year, and the inability to get over that hurdle will signify that Tennessee is stuck in neutral rather than moving forward.

Aside from Georgia's win over South Carolina, no team in the division has looked like a world-beater at any point during this season. This is the chance for the Vols to change that against a Florida team that's owned them for a decade.

Wade Payne/Associated Press

The Vols went into a shell against the Sooners two weeks ago. They gained just 92 yards after their first five drives of the game, according to Austin Bornheim of the Daily Times, and couldn't shut down Baker Mayfield and Co. once edge-rusher Curt Maggitt went out with an injury.

They have to close like championship-caliber teams typically do, and don't know how to do that quite yet.

Florida provides a chance for Tennessee to make a statement to the SEC and take advantage of a team that, while talented, is still building.

Tennessee's offense is incredibly multidimensional within the running game with quarterback Joshua Dobbs and running backs Alvin Kamara and Jalen Hurd. That threat can put tremendous stress on a Florida defense that's incredibly fast but still learning under first-year coordinator Geoff Collins.

Jones better have his Vols prepared, because an 11th straight loss to Florida would be devastating to a team that has all of the tools to do some damage in the SEC East in 2015. 

Other than the confidence of a champion, of course.

Quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Recruiting information is courtesy of 247Sports. Statistics are courtesy of CFBStats.com.

Barrett Sallee is the lead SEC college football writer and national college football video analyst for Bleacher Report, as well as a host on Bleacher Report Radio on SiriusXM 83. Follow Barrett on Twitter @BarrettSallee.