Tennessee Vols vs Florida Gators Match Up Preview
Does anything come to mind that is synonymous with the third Saturday in September? You don’t have to think long if you are a Tennessee Volunteer or a Florida Gator. The Florida versus Tennessee football game is always played on the third Saturday of September. And it’s one of the biggest; most hyped and most anticipated games on the Southeastern Conference schedule. There is no easing into the conference slate for either of these teams in a series that has become a highlight of the SEC slate each September. Florida travels to Neyland Stadium in Knoxville to face rival Tennessee in the conference opener for both squads Saturday. The game will be televised nationally from Neyland Stadium beginning at 8 p.m. (EDT) by CBS Sports.
Thirteenth-ranked Tennessee leads the all-time series 19-16, but the perennial SEC East Favorites have split the last eight meetings, with the Gators taking the last contest 16-7 in Gainesville to give head coach Urban Meyer a win in his first try against the Volunteers. Commenting on the game, Meyer was excited about the game his players are facing. "I think this is a great match up, Meyer said. “ I think this is what college football is all about. This is why you get up in the morning, and go to work and shave and take care of yourself because you want to coach and play in a game like this."
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The seventh-ranked Gator football team raised its mark to 2-0 on Saturday night with a 42-0 shutout over Central Florida at the Swamp on Saturday. Senior quarterback Chris Leak was 19-of-29 for a career-high 352 yards and four touchdowns. Florida’s offense rolled up 637 yards and the defense pitched its first shutout since a 52-0 blanking of Mississippi State in 2001.
Leak would like to get things going early when he steps behind center Saturday. “One of the main things we need to do is to get started early and get into a rhythm,” Leak said. “ Especially when you are away from home. You don’t want to lose the momentum in the game. Getting off to a good start is very important to us.
Tennessee junior quarterback Erik Ainge set a new career-high for passing yardage for the second time in as many games this season by totaling 333 passing yards during UT’s 31-30 win over Air Force last Saturday. He currently ranks first among all NCAA Division 1-A signal callers with an impressive 226.63 passer efficiency rating. Ainge’s top go to receiver is junior Robert Meachem who ranks second among all NCAA 1-A players with a 148.5 receiving yards per game this season. His four Touchdowns place him in a national tie for ninth place on this years scoring list.
Florida Head Coach Urban Meyer knows the caliber of talent his Gators will be facing Saturday. “ The University of Tennessee is one of the most talented if not the most talented team in the SEC,” He said. “ Once again, I thought they were a year ago. They are really doing a great job on offense. That quarterback is throwing with much more confidence, accuracy and is just a much cleaner picture of them.”
The Gators are coming to Knoxville favored by a 3 ½ point chalk at most offshore sportsbooks and –3 with a total of 45 in Las Vegas. An offshore total has not been established as of this writing.
Urban Meyer seems to have the Gators hitting on all cylinders coming into this game. Tennessee was convincing in week one against California from the PAC-10 but narrowly escaped upset at the hands of the Air Force Falcons of the Mountain West Conference (Non-BCS) in week two. I am going out on a limb because who knows “What Tennessee will show up” but I am going with the Gators –3.
