heres beat writer Mike Griffiths take:
Ask Griff
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Florida wins the battle, but Vols win the war
Florida will win this battle, but Tennessee has already won the war.
Let me back up here...
First things first, these Florida Gators are so full of themselves, it's amusing.
The mighty Gators have the press eating out of their hand, from Urban Meyer and his almost comically intense stares and statements, to its braggadocios defense.
Florida quarterback Tim Tebow is one-of-a-kind, and Meyer is indeed a great coach. Linebacker Brandon Spikes is a future NFL All-Pro.
The rest of the moving parts, while well-oiled, are replaceable.
This is not an unbeatable team.
That said, Tennessee doesn't appear to have the horses to be the team that beats the Gators this season.
The Vols' offensive line is thin and banged up, and the UT linebackers are subpar compared with those of the past.
But the best interior defensive lineman in this game dresses out for the UT squad, and the best defensive back in the game wears the No. 14.
The Vols also have the top two running backs in this game, and if Gerald Jones is healthy I'd take him over the over-hyped Gator wide outs.
Percy Harvin is gone, and Florida doesn't have another one like him. Who does?
If those statements strike you as odd, it's important to consider I don't have the same agenda as the TV folks.
Of course CBS will pump the national title contenders for future broadcast purposes! ESPN is the most entertaining network on the dial every Saturday because of its ability to highlight/sensationalize college football's passion.
But these button-pushing predictions of the Gators winning by 50 or 60 points, are ridiculous. They are also necessary to get folks to tune into what should be a 21-point game.
The storyline of: "Who's going to win?'' won't sell this week.
So the game gets turned into a grudge match, with the underlying theme for the national fringe audience being that the bratty, silver-spooned Lane Kiffin is going to get his!
And maybe Kiffin will on Saturday.
But he's also getting recruits, and he's getting national attention, respect from his players and all the while laying the foundation for a new mentality for the Big Orange Nation.
I've seen this act before, and a quarterback that wore the No. 7 was the maestro.
The Swamp was a 100-yard long patch of grass to Casey Clausen. There was no intimidation factor or respect for Gator-Chomping-We-Are-The-Boys-From-Florida tradition.
All that was a big joke for the Vols' California Kid, who embraced his "Ice Man" nickname to the extent of spiking his hair like Val Kilmer.
Clausen's big-time mentality turned off a lot of folks in Knoxville at the time - but it was exactly what enabled him to lead his teammates to two wins at Florida in The Swamp. No other SEC quarterback had accomplished that feat since an LSU signal-caller in the late 1980s - pre Steve Spurrier.
True story: The night before Clausen's first start in The Swamp, in 2001, Phillip Fulmer was fidgeting nervously in an elevator at the team hotel.
Vicki Fulmer rubbed the head coach's back, trying to calm his nerves.
Clausen, in the back of the elevator, simply said to Fulmer: "Don't worry about it coach, I got this one covered.''
Anyone who has played or coached at a championship level knows that winning starts with confidence and a vision.
Kiffin is doing his best to provide it, but ultimately it will be up to the UT players.
Certain ones I've covered over the years, like Clausen, Cosey Coleman, Travis Henry, Fred Weary, John Henderson, Parys Haralson, Al Wilson and Deon Grant, have bought in.
Those players oozed confidence and believed - really believed - they were going to win every single game, and that enabled them to accomplish great things throughout their careers.
You can bet the Vols' defense that takes the field Saturday won't be intimidated by Tebow and the Gators.
Why would they be? Tennessee held Florida to 243 total yards. Tebow passed for 96 yards.
Oh sure, some will tell you the Gators took their foot off the gas...
If that was the case, ask yourself why: Answer -- Because they knew to continue to throw the ball into the Vols' secondary might get them beat.
That will be the case again Saturday.
Florida should be able to run the ball effectively on the perimeter - UT linebackers aren't what they used to be or need to be - and Tebow will have a key scramble or two.
But if you're looking for Tebow to make a living throwing the ball Saturday, forget it.
The Gators might hit a big play or two - Monte Kiffin needs to gamble with a great deal of man coverage and maybe even some Zero (no deep safety) in an effort to stop the run.
But this game will be close for a while, so long as UT avoids disastrous turnovers and special teams play.
The Vols, while too weak on the offensive line to sustain a run game, and too inexperienced at wide out to be consistent in the pass game, will make some noise.
In the end, the Gators will win this battle, I'd guess about 30-13.
But with all the attention this game has generated, and the mentality Kiffin is creating, the Vols have already won the war.
Tebow is gone after this year. There won't be another one like him.
In the meantime Kiffin keeps gathering recruits and strutting confidence. The Vols are one marquee quarterback commitment away from that vision becoming a reality in Year Three provided they avoid compliance issues.
Ask Griff
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Florida wins the battle, but Vols win the war
Florida will win this battle, but Tennessee has already won the war.
Let me back up here...
First things first, these Florida Gators are so full of themselves, it's amusing.
The mighty Gators have the press eating out of their hand, from Urban Meyer and his almost comically intense stares and statements, to its braggadocios defense.
Florida quarterback Tim Tebow is one-of-a-kind, and Meyer is indeed a great coach. Linebacker Brandon Spikes is a future NFL All-Pro.
The rest of the moving parts, while well-oiled, are replaceable.
This is not an unbeatable team.
That said, Tennessee doesn't appear to have the horses to be the team that beats the Gators this season.
The Vols' offensive line is thin and banged up, and the UT linebackers are subpar compared with those of the past.
But the best interior defensive lineman in this game dresses out for the UT squad, and the best defensive back in the game wears the No. 14.
The Vols also have the top two running backs in this game, and if Gerald Jones is healthy I'd take him over the over-hyped Gator wide outs.
Percy Harvin is gone, and Florida doesn't have another one like him. Who does?
If those statements strike you as odd, it's important to consider I don't have the same agenda as the TV folks.
Of course CBS will pump the national title contenders for future broadcast purposes! ESPN is the most entertaining network on the dial every Saturday because of its ability to highlight/sensationalize college football's passion.
But these button-pushing predictions of the Gators winning by 50 or 60 points, are ridiculous. They are also necessary to get folks to tune into what should be a 21-point game.
The storyline of: "Who's going to win?'' won't sell this week.
So the game gets turned into a grudge match, with the underlying theme for the national fringe audience being that the bratty, silver-spooned Lane Kiffin is going to get his!
And maybe Kiffin will on Saturday.
But he's also getting recruits, and he's getting national attention, respect from his players and all the while laying the foundation for a new mentality for the Big Orange Nation.
I've seen this act before, and a quarterback that wore the No. 7 was the maestro.
The Swamp was a 100-yard long patch of grass to Casey Clausen. There was no intimidation factor or respect for Gator-Chomping-We-Are-The-Boys-From-Florida tradition.
All that was a big joke for the Vols' California Kid, who embraced his "Ice Man" nickname to the extent of spiking his hair like Val Kilmer.
Clausen's big-time mentality turned off a lot of folks in Knoxville at the time - but it was exactly what enabled him to lead his teammates to two wins at Florida in The Swamp. No other SEC quarterback had accomplished that feat since an LSU signal-caller in the late 1980s - pre Steve Spurrier.
True story: The night before Clausen's first start in The Swamp, in 2001, Phillip Fulmer was fidgeting nervously in an elevator at the team hotel.
Vicki Fulmer rubbed the head coach's back, trying to calm his nerves.
Clausen, in the back of the elevator, simply said to Fulmer: "Don't worry about it coach, I got this one covered.''
Anyone who has played or coached at a championship level knows that winning starts with confidence and a vision.
Kiffin is doing his best to provide it, but ultimately it will be up to the UT players.
Certain ones I've covered over the years, like Clausen, Cosey Coleman, Travis Henry, Fred Weary, John Henderson, Parys Haralson, Al Wilson and Deon Grant, have bought in.
Those players oozed confidence and believed - really believed - they were going to win every single game, and that enabled them to accomplish great things throughout their careers.
You can bet the Vols' defense that takes the field Saturday won't be intimidated by Tebow and the Gators.
Why would they be? Tennessee held Florida to 243 total yards. Tebow passed for 96 yards.
Oh sure, some will tell you the Gators took their foot off the gas...
If that was the case, ask yourself why: Answer -- Because they knew to continue to throw the ball into the Vols' secondary might get them beat.
That will be the case again Saturday.
Florida should be able to run the ball effectively on the perimeter - UT linebackers aren't what they used to be or need to be - and Tebow will have a key scramble or two.
But if you're looking for Tebow to make a living throwing the ball Saturday, forget it.
The Gators might hit a big play or two - Monte Kiffin needs to gamble with a great deal of man coverage and maybe even some Zero (no deep safety) in an effort to stop the run.
But this game will be close for a while, so long as UT avoids disastrous turnovers and special teams play.
The Vols, while too weak on the offensive line to sustain a run game, and too inexperienced at wide out to be consistent in the pass game, will make some noise.
In the end, the Gators will win this battle, I'd guess about 30-13.
But with all the attention this game has generated, and the mentality Kiffin is creating, the Vols have already won the war.
Tebow is gone after this year. There won't be another one like him.
In the meantime Kiffin keeps gathering recruits and strutting confidence. The Vols are one marquee quarterback commitment away from that vision becoming a reality in Year Three provided they avoid compliance issues.
