Florida-Tennessee Game Thoughts and Preview

I will be out of town this weekend visiting with my fiancée who is in grad school in Ohio, so I will not be posting much this weekend. This likely will have to do until Monday at the earliest. We will be watching the game though.

I had an experience in Neyland Stadium in 2004, having visited while I was in the Gator Band. It was somewhat impressive, though it's not as loud as the Swamp is thanks to the architecture. That was the game where Dallas Baker got the penalty at the end that enabled UT to get down the field and score to win.

We began getting our stuff together as time was winding down, knowing it was over. James Wilhoit would make a field goal with six seconds to go to lock in the 30-28 final score. I wasn't even watching the scoreboard as those final six seconds, but I knew when it got to all zeros by the sound of the crowd. Then something hit us in the band.

Not an idea, or a thought, but an object. It was a stadium cup. More came, along with peanuts, a cheap foam seat cushion, and anything else that was small and throwable. The Vol fans were tossing garbage at us after they had won. I maybe could understand that if Florida had won on a cheap call or something, but a borderline call went their way at the end, and they won. Yet, stuff rained down on us from the fans above.

That as much as anything solidified Tennessee as the No. 2 team in the rivalry pecking order in my book, behind permanent No. 1 FSU. After all the good things I heard about the environment in Neyland, I got trash thrown on me.

The last time Florida went to Knoxville, I watched from a house in Gainesville since I had stopped doing marching band. Florida squeaked out the first in a long line of squeakers that season, 21-20. It was nerve wracking, but it was a win. It wasn't even the most excruciating win; that honor went to the South Carolina game.

Then last season's game happened. In many ways, the 59-20 score did more to affect the perception and expectations for Florida than any other game. The unproven secondary that had looked shaky against Troy did fine against future draft pick Erik Ainge, and the offense scored at will.

We would come to find out that the defensive performance was a fluke, and the offense only matched that production once more in the game against FAU. Nonetheless, the win over Tennessee sparked talk and hopes that Florida could repeat as national champions, and it would play into the perception that UT backed its way into the SEC title game.

Much is made of the running game in this series, as Rocky Top Talk has detailed here. I have never taken much stock in things like "the team with the most rushing yards nearly always wins in this series." The better team will have luxury of running more, while the lesser team will have to pass more thanks to having to come from behind. Correlation, not causation essentially.

This season though, stopping the run is the key for Florida in this game. The UT offense has only really flowed in the second half of the UAB game so far this season, and that was because they took the ball out of Jonathan Crompton's hands and gave it to the running backs. Crompton has not shown an ability yet to lead a truly cohesive offense, so making him win the game is the best bet for the Gators.

I fully expect Florida to struggle at the outset of the game. None of the numerous freshmen or sophomores on the Gators have played there yet, and only Percy Harvin, Phil Trautwein, and Jim Tartt have been starters there. This is still a very young Gator team, and some early-game jitters could be coming.

The positive is that Florida's rush defense has been the best in the SEC two years running. The Florida offense is still run by Tim Tebow, a guy the Vols had no answer for a season ago, and Percy Harvin is the healthiest he's been in years. Tennessee has also looked lackluster for six of the eight quarters they've played so far, and the coaches are still searching for their optimal level on both sides of the ball.

Tennessee wants this one badly. They didn't like the "Tennessee quit" talk and they thought Tebow was in the game too long (never mind the fact he stayed in as long as Ainge did). Florida needs this one badly to prove itself worthy of being considered a conference and national contender.

A slow start followed by the Gators distancing themselves the rest of the day sounds about right. I think Florida takes this by a couple of scores, but it could easily be closer than that.

Game on. Let's do this. Beat Tennessee.