Vols fans won't like Steve Spurrier's take on Saturday's Tennessee vs Florida game
This likely won't come as a surprise, but Tennessee Vols fans probably aren't going to like Steve Spurrier's take on Saturday's game between UT and the Florida Gators. The former Florida coach, in typical Spurrier fashion, made some quips about Tennessee during a recent podcast interview that will have some Vols fans rolling their eyes. […]
This likely won't come as a surprise, but Tennessee Vols fans probably aren't going to like Steve Spurrier's take on Saturday's game between UT and the Florida Gators.
The former Florida coach, in typical Spurrier fashion, made some quips about Tennessee during a recent podcast interview that will have some Vols fans rolling their eyes.
Spurrier joined "The Buddy Martin Show" on Wednesday evening and he was asked about the Tennessee vs Florida game and what he expects to see when the Vols visit the Swamp on Saturday night.
"I think they match up very evenly, I really do," said Spurrier when asked about Tennessee vs Florida. "I think the team that plays the best and the coaches that coach the best will win this game. I think talent wise [they're both] pretty even. And Tennessee has not been all that impressive and obviously we (Florida) haven't. So I really believe it's a toss-up game and we got an excellent chance to beat those guys. We gotta play better than them. We gotta coach better than them. It's as simple as that."
"This is the biggest game of the year right now," added Spurrier. "If we win it, then we'll have bigger games. If we don't win it, we may have to hope a bunch of guys lose to have bigger games. But this is a huge game. Billy (Napier) and his staff know that they gotta coach well and their players gotta play well. Tennessee, I think we're sort of close to even with those guys….talent wise I think we're pretty close to those guys. So let's go play better than them and we can win the game."
Florida obviously has talent — the Gators always have talent.
But aside from their respective "slow starts" to the season (Tennessee is 2-0 for the record and Florida is 1-1), these teams don't have much in common. The Vols are in their third year under Heupel and they have championship aspirations after winning 11 games last season.
Florida, on the other hand, is still finding its way under Billy Napier. The Gators have yet to truly develop an identity under Napier. That's not say they won't — it's still early in Napier's tenure at Florida and it's far too early to know how it will turn out — but for now, no one really knows what to expect from the Gators this season.
To suggest these two teams are "even" is a bit of a stretch. If Tennessee and Florida both play at their absolute best on Saturday night, the Vols will be the team leaving with a win.
Now, that's not to say that Tennessee will absolutely win on Saturday night. If they play like they did against Austin Peay and Florida plays better than they did against Utah, it could be a long plane ride back to Knoxville for the Vols. The Gators are more than capable of winning this game.
But if all things are even, it's Tennessee's game to lose.
Of course, good luck getting Spurrier to agree with that. The head ball coach is always going to find a way to slight Tennessee.
Tennessee HC Josh Heupel comments on ‘opening up the playbook’ against Florida
Tennessee Vols HC Josh Heupel comments on ‘opening up the playbook’ against Florida
Featured image via Lawren Simmons/Special to the Sun / USA TODAY NETWORK
