Did Lane Kiffin's Shenanigans Work?

(Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)

Is there anyway this is all part of some well thought out master plan by Boy Blunder and his League of Super Coaches?

If you check out the headlines and stories after the Florida-Tennessee game you can see he pulled a fast one on the media.

Lane Kiffin had every Gator fan circle Sept. 19 on their calendar with his remarks soon after being hired. I'll admit that I wished time would speed up so these two teams could strap on the helmets and play the off the field antics in The Swamp.

As the offseason passed, Kiffin started changing his tune and toned down his actions, saying he was doing what he need to do to get his team back on the College Football map.

Here is where the genius of Kiffin comes into play. In the second week of the season, you have UCLA travel across the country and beat your team in Neyland Stadium. Sure, this would get your fanbase fired up and put some heat on you, but since most Tennessee fans don't know there is a world west of Memphis, this loss would soon be forgotten. 

By showing you couldn't beat a mid-level Pac-10 team, you got Vegas to put up a 30-point spread (which no SEC team should ever have). It's time to give the media an "ah shucks" and start talking about how great the Gators are.

Everybody is now set up for the blow out and only a 50-point win will satisfy most of the Gators fan base and media.

• ESPN.com's Pat Forde—Florida looks vulnerable in win, Tennessee looks tough in loss
• New York Times—A Letdown, but Not a Loss, for Florida
• Mike Strange—Loss, but not lost
• Orlando Sentinel, Mike Bianchi—Gators win but Kiffin's still laughing
• Palm Beach Post, Ben Volin—Tennessee frustrates Florida
• SI.com's Andy Staples—Florida scored more points, but this felt like a victory for Tennessee

So how do you keep from getting blown out by the Gators?

First, you clearly go into the game with no plans to throw the ball over five yards deep and hope your ground game can eat up clock. Somehow you knew you would catch a break with Deonte Thompson out due to a hamstring injury, and Jeff Demps, Aaron Hernandez, and Jermaine Cunningham all battling the flu.

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