The last seven times Florida and Tennessee have met, the winner has scored at least 31 points.
Last year, the Gators scored 35–in the first 19 minutes 54 seconds.
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With Peyton Manning quarterbacking the fourth-ranked Volunteers and Florida offensive genius Steve Spurrier drawing up his crazy “ball plays” for the No. 3 Gators, the point is that the winner is going to need a lot of points Saturday in the Swamp.
So why is everyone talking about defense this week? Maybe because the Volunteers, the best defensive team in the Southeastern Conference a year ago, have forced eight turnovers in two games. Maybe because the Gators have conceded a total of 70 yards rushing in their first two games. And maybe because turnovers, which often result from defensive pressure, have factored heavily in this contentious series.
“We don’t read much down here about the Tennessee defense, but they stymied us last year,” Spurrier said Tuesday from Gainesville.
The Vols’ defense is spearheaded by Leonard Little, a quick, tough, 6-foot-3-inch senior who moves between linebacker and rush end, the latter in probable passing situations. Little said the Volunteers hope to follow the blueprint for Florida State’s victory over Florida last November, when Seminoles pass rushers harrassed Gators quarterback Danny Wuerffel nearly every time he tried to throw.
“They were getting to the quarterback two out of three times,” Little said. “That’s what we have to do.”
Gators inspiration: It’s hard not to cheer for Florida’s Bo Carroll, a freshman reserve tailback. When Carroll was 16, his mother, Geraldine, suffered a debilitating stroke and sent her son to live with relatives. He never knew his father. Carroll soon found himself facing homelessness on the streets of Norristown, Pa.
“One day I was kicked out of a house, then was kicked out of a second one, being accused falsely of doing drugs,” Carroll told reporters in Gainesville this week. “I had nowhere to go. I had no one to talk to. I couldn’t take the pain and I thought about suicide.”
Carroll said he finally sorted out his problems on a 10-mile walk from Norristown to Philadelphia in the middle of the night. He eventually overcame academic-related eligibility problems and received a scholarship at Florida.
He quickly made a mark as a sprinter, finishing eighth in the 200 meters in the NCAA indoor meet. And while superstar Fred Taylor is the clear starter at tailback, Carroll has averaged 19.4 yards in nine carries this year, though seven came against Central Michigan.
On Saturday, his mother, who lives in a nursing home in Pennsylvania, will watch the Gators battle the Vols.
“The whole nursing home will have to watch,” Carroll said. “She’s a strong person. Still spanks me.”
Demise of Texas: It’s hard to tell when the fallout from Texas’ 66-3 drubbing by UCLA will end.
The few thousand fans who remained for the end of the game vented their displeasure. And on Sunday the humbled Longhorns awoke to find themselves greeted by ridicule in the morning papers. “ROUT 66” was the headline in the Dallas Morning News. The hometown Austin American-Statesman chimed in with “Total and Utter Bruin.”
While many of the Horns expressed shock–center Ryan Fiebiger said he couldn’t look his family in the eye after the game–head coach John Mackovic tried to take the long view.
“Last year, we won the (Big 12) championship and everybody lived with that,” said Mackovic, whose Texas teams are 10-10-3 in non-conference play. “They’ll just have to live with this, too.”
Mackovic expressed surprise when the Longhorns remained ranked, at No. 24, in the USA Today/ESPN coaches poll.
“I couldn’t believe it,” he said. “I didn’t vote for us. That was the USA Today/ESPN/CNN and Pravda poll, combined.”
Quiz time: What do Notre Dame, Texas, Texas A&M, Southern California and Brigham Young have in common?
Aside from long histories of success, they were unranked in this week’s Associated Press poll.
Kick this: After Alabama placekicker Brian Cunningham hit a career-best 48-yard field and a 45-yarder at Vanderbilt, Cunningham revealed why he felt comfortable kicking at Vanderbilt Stadium. Last summer he visited his girlfriend in Nashville, and while he was in town he went over to the stadium to practice.
His girlfriend held while Cunningham kicked. But she wasn’t around to celebrate Cunningham’s big game on the same field two weeks ago. “She broke up with me,” he said.
Sun shines on the Sun Devils: For a team that had a shot at the national title until the final minute of the Rose Bowl, Arizona State has enjoyed little respect this year. The Sun Devils were unranked in preseason, apparently because pollsters figured they couldn’t overcome the loss of star quarterback Jake “the Snake” Plummer.
“I thought it was more a vote against our program, showing the belief that we hadn’t established anything,” ASU coach Bruce Snyder said.
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The Devils slipped into the rankings, at No. 24, after an opening victory over New Mexico State. But the Devils jumped back into the national spotlight, and No. 14 in the AP poll, with a resounding 23-12 victory over Miami in the Orange Bowl.
“We proved we can play with the big boys, but we’ve got nine more games to go,” tailback Mike Martin said.
Big 12? Big deal: At the Big 12’s kickoff festivities in July, several coaches bristled at the suggestion that the league had underachieved in its ballyhooed debut season. Texas A&M coach R.C. Slocum summed up his colleagues’ view of the product of the marriage of the old Southwest and Big 8 Conferences: “I thought it was an exceptional first year. I think it will only get better.”
Maybe next year. Last weekend was another bust for Big 12, with powers Colorado and Texas losing to Michigan and UCLA, respectively, by a combined 87 points. Meanwhile, Nebraska had to sweat out a 14-point victory over Central Florida and Kansas State escaped Ohio University by a field goal.
“It may end up that the Big 12 has a pretty good record and does very well,” Nebraska coach Tom Osborne said. “Certainly, the start hasn’t been that impressive.”
The seventh-ranked Cornhuskers have a chance to make a statement on behalf of the Big 12 Saturday when they meet second-ranked Washington in Seattle.
Fourth and inches: Joliet Township High School product Eric Parker, a freshman Tennessee receiver, is recovering from an ankle injury but could see action Saturday at Florida. . . . Colorado coach Rick Neuheisel had second thoughts about excoriating John Hessler as the Buffaloes quarterback struggled through a four-interception afternoon in Michigan Stadium. “I’m not going to get in his face on game days any longer,” said Neuheisel, a former quarterback. “I felt badly about that. Obviously, he and I were both frustrated.” . . . New Kentucky coach Hal Mumme tried to loosen up the Wildcats as they prepared to meet border rival Indiana. At the end of practice last week Mumme called off drills and ordered a mock scrimmage between the coaching staff and the team managers, with Wildcats players serving as coaches. Mumme played wide receiver, while his former star at Valdosta State, Chris Hatcher, played quarterback. “When Hatcher got sacked by two female managers, then I knew we were in trouble,” Mumme said. . . . Former Miami wide receiver Jammi German, who was declared ineligible after lying to NCAA investigators about a gift from an agent, has been named an unpaid assistant coach on the Hurricanes staff. The move by coach Butch Davis gives German a chance to rehabilitate his reputation and could aid the development of the Hurricanes’ inexperienced receiving corps. . . . With Northeast Louisiana and Mississippi State visiting Athens in the next two weeks, Georgia has a strong shot at its first 4-0 start since 1991. Then comes the hard part: Tennessee in Knoxville.