‘They don’t have any concerns about beating Tennessee’ – The loud message the Vols’ players need to hear before playing Florida
The Tennessee Vols are set to head to Gainesville this weekend to take on the Florida Gators.
“Come into this locker room after it’s over with absolutely zero regrets. Whatever is on that scoreboard, so be it. For 60 minutes, you lay it on the line every play that you’re out there, and you’ll win this football game in a big way” – Phillip Fulmer before Tennessee’s win over Florida in the Swamp in 2001
The Tennessee Vols will likely be walking into a hornet’s nest on Saturday night in Gainesville.
Which is why the Vols better be ready to play their best game of the season against the Florida Gators.
Otherwise, this game isn’t going to go well for Tennessee.
This isn’t the best Florida team that Tennessee has faced in recent years. Far from it, in fact. The Gators are 3-7 and they fired their head coach earlier this season. Two weeks ago, Florida lost by 31 points to Kentucky.
But none of that matters. The Gators will be as motivated as they’ve been all season on Saturday night when the Volunteers come to town.
“They don’t have any concerns about beating Tennessee, because they always beat Tennessee”
The Gators, as Vols fans are well aware, always have plenty of motivation when they play Tennessee.
But they may have a little extra juice on Saturday night as they honor former Gators head coach Urban Meyer (notably, Florida interim head coach Billy Gonzales has a long history with Meyer that dates back to 1990 when Meyer was Gonzales’ position coach at Colorado State).
VolQuest’s Brent Hubbs joined 104.5 The Zone’s Ramon and Will on Friday and he shared his thoughts on how Tennessee should handle the motivation factor going into the matchup against Florida.
“What you have to understand is this game is different,” said Hubbs. “They’re going to show. Florida is not rolling over. And I know some people have thought, ‘Well, they’re not going to be able to get bowl eligible, and look what happened at Kentucky.’ I’m just telling you right now — I will be stunned if Florida rolls over.
“They haven’t played a game down there since October 18. It’s a sellout. They’re going to honor Urban Meyer. I mean, they’re pulling out all the stops, as you’d expect them to do…There is no lay down in this rivalry game. They expect to beat you. They don’t have any concerns about beating Tennessee, because they always beat Tennessee. That’s how I would use it to motivate this team more so than, ‘Well, it’s been 10 tries since Tennessee has won down there. Some of you guys have played in this game. You know what you’re getting, blah, blah, blah.’ I would use it from a motivation standpoint to explain to them what they’re walking into, despite Florida’s record.”
I don’t think Hubbs could be more spot on. Hell, he’s got me ready to put on pads and go hit someone in Gainesville (at 40 years old, that would likely result in a litany of expensive injuries). But he’s right. Tennessee can’t go into this game intimidated by the environment, but they can’t ignore it either. They have to embrace it and use every ounce of hate that comes their way from the crowd as fuel to play a full 60 minutes.
It’s not going to be perfect. There will be missed throws, missed blocks, and missed tackles. The Vols, though, have to play free. They have to keep the focus on competing without worrying what the scoreboard says or what the outcome of the game will be. Play hard, play fast, play free, and see what the scoreboard says when the clock hits 0:00 at the end of the fourth quarter.
Outside of two games in the early 2000’s, this has been Florida’s game for over 50 years.
It’s time for Tennessee to flip the script. It’s time to change the narrative.
This is what college football is all about. It’s not playoff rankings, hypothetical arguments, or comparing strengths of schedules across conferences. The pageantry, the rivalries, the passion — that’s why we love college football.
No one in Gainesville is going to give a damn what either team’s record is on Saturday night. Everyone in orange and blue wants to see the team in orange and white go down in the Swamp for an 11th straight game.
It’s up to Tennessee to send those fans home disappointed.
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