Watch: Joey Aguilar leads band, celebrates with gator chomp after Tennessee's win at Florida

Joey Aguilar walked in front of the visiting Tennessee fans at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium Saturday night and did the one thing he knew he had to do. After leading his 20th-ranked Vols to a 31-11 win over Florida at The Swamp — Tennessee’s first win at Florida since 2003 — he had to have some fun.

Aguilar stretched out his arms and clapped them together, doing the only gator chomp that the orange-clad fans ever want to see in Gainesville.

“I think that’s just something mandatory,” Aguilar said. “If you win here, you’ve got to.”

directing the band as good as he directs the offense.. 🤩 pic.twitter.com/m5H84JHthI

— Tennessee Football (@Vol_Football) November 23, 2025

Tennessee led Florida 31-0 at halftime

This win was different. Tennessee (8-3, 4-3 SEC) scored touchdowns on each of its first four drives and jumped out a to a 31-0 lead at halftime. 

Despite not scoring a point in the second half, the 20-point margin of victory matched a 20-0 win in 1955 for Tennessee’s biggest in Gainesville.

Aguilar threw for 204 yards and a touchdown, opening the scoring with a 23-yard touchdown to tight end Ethan Davis, and the Vols ran for 248 yards and had three rushing touchdowns as a team in the win. 

On the way back to the locker room, Josh Heupel and Tennessee’s coaches and players exchanged high fives with fans that had stuck around to enjoy the moment. 

“Man,” Heupel said afterward, “there were a lot of Tennessee fans here tonight. You felt them. I felt them when we got off the bus. And it’s been a while since that group’s been down to Gainesville and been on the right side of it. And they’re a part of our journey. And I appreciate our fan base. I know our players do too. 

“They’re a huge part of the growth of our program from when we got here. A huge part of recruiting. Not a better fan base.”

I think it's safe to say Joey Aguilar has perfected the Gator Chomp. #Vols pic.twitter.com/tGkGKIQpK0

— Sam Rothman (@samrothman_) November 23, 2025

Josh Heupel on win at Florida: ‘This one mattered’ to Tennessee players

Tennessee won 9-7 in its first trip to Gainesville in 1953, then again in 1955. The next wouldn’t come until 1971 (20-13). Then 2001 (34-32) as a 17.5-point underdog, then again in 2003 (24-10). 

To set the tone this week, Heupel showed clips of the Tennessee-Florida rivalry, including big plays, big names and big moments from the past. 

“This one mattered to them,” Heupel said. “It was a lot of fun inside of that locker room. It was important to them. They understood the history of this rivalry. 

“We’ve talked about that. And it was fun to see them enjoy this moment and have a lot of fun together in the locker room. It was cool.”

Aguilar’s moment didn’t stop with a playful gator chomp. He followed it by leading Tennessee’s Pride of the Southland Marching Band in one final rendition of Rocky Top.

“I felt like I was in drum line,” Aguilar said. “The leader, he asked me if I wanted to do it. I didn’t know what I was doing. He just told me to follow the guy next to me and I did. It was pretty cool. It was fun.”