GAINESVILLE, FLA. ? No. 16 Florida can’t dwell on its painful loss at Tennessee.

Gators fans are still stinging from Florida’s 30-28 loss to the Volunteers, a defeat that was aided by an officiating blunder that gave the Vols more time on their final drive.

But with Florida (1-1, 0-1 Southeastern Conference) beginning a critical four-week homestand, coach Ron Zook is demanding his team forget about Tennessee and the officials.

“I don’t want to talk about it anymore. We’re not going to think about it anymore,” Zook said. “We’re going to think about one thing: The first play of the Kentucky game.”

Yet Zook’s players couldn’t help but mention what happened in Knoxville.

“This kind of taught us every little play matters, and there were so many little plays in that game that could have made the difference,” guard Lance Butler said.

“Now in practice we’ve got to focus and just realize what we may think is joking around, that could be the play that could win a game.”

Also, the Tennessee game marks the third time in Florida’s last six defeats where the deciding score came with less than two minutes to play.

“When we get up on top, we don’t want to be the comeback team,” Butler said. “We want to be on top when the fourth quarter rolls around and be able to put teams away.”

The Gators’ game against the Wildcats (1-1) today is the first of three against SEC opponents. Next up are home games against Arkansas and LSU.

The margin for error is thin if Florida is to win its first league title since 2000.

“It’s a big game that we lost, but every team in the SEC that goes to the championship game usually has one or two (conference) losses,” Butler said. “This isn’t the end.”