Florida-Tennessee football rivalry? It's up to the Gators to restore the roar | Whitley
It’s Tennessee Week. Billy Napier wasn’t sure that would mean anything special to his players, so he set out to educate them.
Not just about the Volunteers, but the three other teams that fall into Florida’s “R” category. I’d spell out the word, but it has become something of a sore spot around here.
That’s what happens when you go 0-for-4 in such games, as the Gators did last year. For the first time since 1979. Ouch.
Even if that wasn’t looming over Saturday’s encounter, the R factor – heck, let’s go ahead and say it: Rivalry – can be a motivator.
“Look, we have several of these games, right? They all matter,” Napier said. “I think this one is unique because if you go back and look at the history of this game, the importance…. Yeah, I think there’s an element to it that’s a little bit different.”
The problem is the Florida-Tennessee rivalry has largely become ancient history, at least if you were born in the 21st Century.
Today’s players don’t remember how the SEC East crown always rode on the game. How Peyton Manning went 0-for-career against UF. How Steve Spurrier cracked, “You can’t spell Citrus without U-T.”
They didn’t anguish in 2001, when the Volunteers shocked the No. 2 Gators 34-32 in what turned out to be Spurrier’s last Gator game in The Swamp. By the time they were old enough to form memories, Tennessee was wandering the football desert.
Final East roundup: Last division race: Florida football enters final SEC East season a heavy underdog.
Does McNeese matter?: Three questions for Florida football coming off lopsided win over McNeese
"I trust Billy": Florida fans remain supportive of head coach and program before home opener
It was led by guys like Derek Dooley, Butch Jones and Jeremy Pruitt, none of whom would be mistaken for Moses. Florida’s been led by Will Muschamp, Jim McElwain and Dan Mullen, none of whom would be mistaken for Spurrier.
When it came to high-stakes football, the “Third Saturday in September” clash became just another weekend. This weekend is not.
A win would be a quick fix for Gators, silencing the noise that’s been echoing since the Utah game. The decibel level is partially due to that winless streak against Tennessee, LSU, Georgia and FSU.
If you go by rankings and conventional football wisdom, Saturday will be Napier’s best chance this year to get rid of the rivalry albatross. It won’t be easy.
“I’ve got a lot of respect for what they do,” Napier said.
And if given truth serum, Florida fans would probably say they have a bit of envy for what Tennessee has done. Josh Heupel isn’t just winning. His fastbreak passing attack crackles with a Spurrier-like panache.
Heupel has probably given his players a dose of the UF-UT rivalry this week, but he also has a team that’s won 13 of its past 15 games.
The Gators haven’t quite matched that. In fact, Napier is 1-6 against ranked teams. Tennessee, it must be noted, is No. 9 in this week’s AFCA Coaches Poll.
Given all that, it makes sense that Napier would crank up the rivalry angle.
“The second we got here, it was something we talked about,” Graham Mertz said. “Rivalry games, what it means, the history behind it.”
Napier’s staff made a video of UF’s rivals for players to digest. He’s had former players come in and bare their souls remembering how it felt to win (or lose to) the Volunteers, Seminoles and Bulldogs.
Napier would like his players to get in a Steven Harris state of mind. He played defensive tackle on Florida 2006 national championship team, which edged UT 21-20 at Neyland Stadium.
Harris posted a video this week of a guy being asked about Tennessee.
“I hate Tennessee,” he said. “Tennessee’s color is that throw-up orange. It’s not that orange you sit with. It’s that puke inside-a-pumpkin orange, and I don’t like pumpkins.
“I really don’t like Tennessee. I can’t stress that enough.”
Napier doesn’t necessarily want his players to hate the great state of Tennessee. As for its flagship football team? There’s some history there.
“Do you understand,” Napier said, “that this was The Game at one point in time in college football?”
One team in orange is doing its part to restore that. The other one needs to join the party.
For all the rivalry talk, nobody needs to tell Florida which team that is.
David Whitley is The Gainesville Sun's sports columnist. Contact him at dwhitley@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @DavidEWhitley
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Gators need to restore Florida-Tennessee rivalry
