By BETH RUCKER, Associated Press Writer
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP)—Once the marquis matchup of the SEC East—maybe the
entire conference—Florida versus Tennessee has lost some luster with recent
years of Gator dominance.
Just don’t tell the Volunteers that.
“This is still the game,” wide receiver Gerald Jones said. “This is still
the game of the year for us and for Florida, regardless of what they say. It’s
always going to be this great tradition between the two schools.”
Florida and Tennessee have combined to represent the East division 13 out of
the 16 years that there’s been a Southeastern Conference title game. And in
every season since the series became an annual event in 1990, both teams have
been ranked in The Associated Press poll.
Except this year.
Florida (2-0) enters Saturday’s game ranked fourth and hoping to prove it
belongs with Southern Cal, Oklahoma and Georgia as national title contenders.
Tennessee (1-1) wants to be ranked again, and to prove that an early loss to
UCLA was just a fluke.
The Vols also want to prove that Florida’s 59-20 rout a year ago was an
aberration.
Florida led by only eight points in the third quarter before the Gators blew
open the game with three straight touchdowns.
Florida linebacker Brandon Spikes didn’t let the Vols forget the end of that
game, saying earlier this week that Tennessee players gave up before it was
over.
The Vols took a large markerboard this week and scrawled the words
“Tennessee quit last year” across it, and placed it near the team’s indoor
practice field.
“It’s not even part of our vocabulary,” Tennessee defensive end Wes Brown
said.
The only way Brown and his teammates will be able to quiet the Gators’
antagonizing and return the Florida-Tennessee matchup to its lofty perch is with
a win—something that might only come with the help of Tennessee tailbacks
Arian Foster and Montario Hardesty.
In the past five years, the team that gained more yards on the ground won,
and in its last three losses to Florida, Tennessee averaged only 30.6 yards
rushing.
Jonathan Crompton has been inconsistent at best in control of Tennessee’s
offense, with three interceptions and two touchdowns this season. The Vols have
plenty of talent at wide receiver, but the passing game hasn’t had much rhythm.
Florida coach Urban Meyer is pressing his defense to keep the Vols off
balance.
“If we want to go win this game, let’s not say, “Hey, let’s go beat
Tennessee,”’ Meyer said. “You better play great defense that day. You better
have toughness and you better take care of the football or there’s no chance of
winning that game.”
That shouldn’t be too hard for an improved Gators unit that ranks third
nationally in total defense, having allowed an average 190.5 yards through two
games.
Florida struggled with its own rhythm on offense against Miami two weeks
ago, but Meyer said he felt a bit better about the performance after watching
tape.
Plus, he’ll have a healthy Percy Harvin. After resting for much of the
Gators’ first two games after offseason heel surgery, Harvin said he hasn’t felt
so good since the 10th grade.
Harvin, quarterback Tim Tebow and running back Brandon James combined for
more than 600 all-purpose yards against Tennessee last year.
“They’ve got a lot of playmakers at Florida. They’ve got guys that can
spread it all over the field,” Brown said. “It’s going to take each guy
knowing their technique, their man and knowing their spot.”
Tennessee should be encouraged by the fact that it’s playing at Neyland
Stadium, where the Vols have a nine-game winning streak and recorded their last
win over Florida in 2004.
But Tebow said he loves playing in hostile conditions and thrives off
opposing fans yelling and throwing things at him.
The returning Heisman Trophy winner made one of his first big plays as a
freshman at Neyland Stadium two years ago—a 2-yard run on fourth-and-1 with
the Gators trailing 20-14. They scored two plays later and held on to win 21-20,
en route to an SEC championship and national title.
Tebow hopes this game is the start of another championship run.
“I don’t think I have to tell anything to my teammates about how big this
game is,” he said. “They already know that, especially the ones that have been
around for a while and realize what a big rivalry game this is.”
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Florida and Tennessee have combined to represent the East division 13 out of the 16 years that there’s been a Southeastern Conference title game.
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