For all of you out there eagerly anticipating a Tennessee beatdown in The Swamp on Saturday, I have a feeling you’re going to be disappointed at the end of the day.
I’m not saying Tennessee is going to win this game. I’m saying this game is going to be a lot more competitive than people think, including theoddsmakers, who have the Gators favored by almost 30 points.
That spread is too big. Way too big. If I were a betting man (I’m not) and if I had a bundle (I don’t), I’d take Tennessee and the points in a heartbeat. No question.
Here’s why: Monte Kiffin and the UT defense.
Tennessee has been gearing up for this game since Lane Kiffin became the head coach back in December, which means Monte Kiffin, the defensive mastermind, has been looking at tape and breaking down Urban Meyer’s spread defense for months. This game is like the Super Bowl forKiffin and the Vols. This is a chance to play the No. 1 team in the nation on the road in a game no one thinks they have a chance. A UT win would be huge forKiffin’s program.
The Vols do have a chance, and it rests with what appears to be a strong defense, one that is giving up only 134.5 yards a game. I know, UT hasn’t really played against a good offense yet (Western Kentucky was inept and UCLA was starting aredshirt freshman quarterback), but this is a fast, physical group and Monte Kiffin will have a plan to get after the UF offense with a variety of blitzes and zone blitzes.
My thought is that this game will play out a lot like last year’s Miami game. The UF offense struggled early in that game, Miami stayed in with defense, and the Gators didn’t start feeling comfortable until PercyHarvin scored a touchdown early in the fourth quarter to put UF up 16-3.
I see a similar scenario in The Swamp on Saturday, so I’m picking the same score: Florida 26, Tennessee 3.
I think you’re wrong. The Gators will have defensive scores in this game as well as special team scores. The defense and ST may score more than the offense. I think 45-3.
I also think you are in for an offensive surprise, Tennessee defense is overated and not fast enough to contain florida. score will be in the neighborhood of 52 to 13 if not worse. I live in NE Tennessee and my only regret is “boom” its the third game of the season already and this game will be over tooo sooon! I would prefer a slow and emotionally painful game for the Vol fans!
The score this Saturday is not the first priority for the Volunteers. All that matters is that we will bring the wood. Get ready for the most pysical footbal game you have ever seen. The hitting will be spectacular. We will hit florida so hard all day long that on Sunday morning the gators won’t care if they won or lost, because they will be too sore to get out of their beds. Your players will have smashed mouths and bloodied noses. Last week we broke the opponent’s QB jaw in two places, had him spitting blood by the pints, and knocked him out for three or four weeks. And we weren’t even trying to do it.
You can take comfort in the final score or not. It doesn’t matter to us. What matters to us is that a statment will be made Saturday: There’s a new kid in town, and he’s in the beginning stages of knocking the current king of the SEC hill off his hill. There is no more Mr. Nice Guy, Phil Fulmer, your former best friend. There will be no more turning of the other cheek after one of your beat downs and spurrier taunting. There’s a HUGE score to be settled here – one that goes back fifteen years.
Prepare for a good old fashioned smashmouth football game. You may win, but your players will be hit so hard they’ll be knocked into next week. And this will just be year one of the annual beatings we will administer to florida.
I think it will be closer if it’s raining like the forecast calls for. Due the Gator’s depth I believe we’ll leave the Vols in the dust in the second half.
I agree with you, unfortunately. Kiffin Sr is very good at shutting down a team’s strengths. If we don’t have a young receiver come out of nowhere it will be a long game. As the Vols keep it close the confidense will make it tough for us to separate. We must have a suprise player to take advantage of where Kiffin leaves soft spots in his defense. Plus he’ll have his d-line untying shoe strings! :-). We’ll win, but it will be a nail biter!
I agree it won’t be a blowout, but I see Florida producing a little bit more points due to the fact that UT’s offense and special teams is terribly bad compared to UF. This will give the Gators great field position all day and the chance to put up some points.
Florida 38
Tennessee 10
yea i agree with george i believe robbie is wrong as well. a few factors i do not believe that robbie has considered. 1)bonzai – kiffen hasn’t had not much time to prepare for this , nobody has seen this much from florida and i believe they will run this quite often to keep ut off balance.2) urban hasn’t shown many new plays , he has been using last years play book so ut don’t have a clue what they are in for. 3) tebow- i mean really robbie how do you prepare for timmy ? you consentrate on stopping his running his arm beats you ! 4) defense – our defense is going to stuff ut plain and simple ! 5)revenge facor – says it all ! im going out on a limb and saying 69 – 9 ut’s only scoring will come from FG’s and UF’s offense will score at will and the defense still don’t allow a TD !
Predictions:
1) With bad weather and lots of rain….UF 31-10 ut
2) WIth good weather………………….UF 45-17 ut
Glad to see that you’re coming around on our defense Robbie!
I agree that we have excellent potential to avoid giving up a TD against the Vols and hope that we can make large gains in field position over the course of the game. Based on those accomplishments provided by the strength of our defense and our special teams advantage I think we should be able to punch in a few more short field TDs than you give us credit for.
I see a relatively close game until late when our depth and conditioning establish our dominance to equal or surpass the spread.
GO GATORS!!!! Destroy the Vols!!
The one thing about Meyer teams at Florida…. when they stay nice and quiet all week and no one talks about revenge, etc. Florida tends to pound the ever loving crap out of whoever they play. See UGA last year. No matter how good the other team is supposd to be, a Meyer coached team tends to be seething with an undercurrent of power and adrenaline. If Spikes hits a UT back early in the game like he did Moreno last year and FLorida’s D-line does its job, UT won’t be able to score. And I don’t trust their QB not to make mistakes or their special teams not to give up a score or two. This is a UF in th mid 30s and UT in the single digits kind of game.
A BETTER line on this game would be UF 25.
I’m going to modify my comments now that I see it will probably rain. I think it will be even closer now. The Vols are probably praying for a down pour. I was hoping it would be a sunny, hot Florida day. The Vols would have been hurting late in the game, if it were to be hot-hot. Go Gators! .May Kiffin be made the fool he appears to be! Meyer is Spurrier’s hero.
This is a perfect example of why you and Dooley didn’t get more questions over on GSMB . Nobody takes your answers seriously.
[…] Monte Kiffin lightly.2. Robbie Andreu of The Gainesville Sun thinks Saturday’s game will be closer than a lot of people expect. So what’s it say that his pick is 26-3 Gators? 3. Urban Meyer continues to say that his […]
Having been a student in the late 40s and early 50s when times were tough; the first wish is for it to be a “W”.Then perhaps 38-3 ! GAP
I don’t know what the Florida offense can do to the Vols but I’ll bet the UT scores are all in 3s.
This is the first real test. Will our defense be as improved as everyone thinks? Will we have the patience offensively to take what MK’s defense gives us? I’m sure they will blitz and stunt and cheat. Will Tebow recognize where that leaves them exposed? We will not be able to simply physically dominate the Vols (much as I would love to see that!) I want to see what kind of grit this year’s OL has. I expect a win, but I am hoping to see great execution against a worthy opponent… who is about to get Rocky-Toppled! GO GATORS.
My Prediction: The Gator band plays Rocky Top all afternoon long. Gators 59-Vols 6.
I don’t agree that just because it’s Monte Kiffin’s defense that it will limit Florida. He needs athletes to run that defense and besides Berry that don’t have the talent. I was at the 2007 game 59-20. Gator team is better than that year, Tenn team is worse. Add the “cheating” motivation..
This one get’s out of hand, blow out by at least 50
I say it like it is. Florida has been humbled time and again. My mind drifts back to Arkansas, Lsu, and Ole Miss. Tennessee has the talent to win this game. After the first 5 minutes, comments don’t matter. Tennessee has been disrespected by the gators for years. I still choke at the thought of anyone in florida crying foul over any comments made by anyone. Florida is synonymous with egotistical trash talking. Please. At the end of the day, it will be a great win in Tennessee football history. Tennessee 27 Gators 23. The only painful thing about that is alabama might move up a spot or two. But, we’ll deal with them too. GO VOLS GO!
Just one comment for VolunteerLifer: We hit harder in our “Bloody Tuesdays” practices then your weak Volunteers will ever think about hitting. The only reason you broke a jaw is because that QB was a freshman…and even hitting that hard…YOU LOST THE FREAKIN GAME!!! Go back to your VOL blog and “Volunteer” to talk about your beating you will take!!!!!!!
Hey VolunteerLifer…hope you know the words to THE FLORIDA FIGHT SONG as it will be played long and hard after the vacuous vols lose tomorrow afternoon. Rocky Top will be a fading memory as Kiffin and company drag their weary buts out of the Swamp. GO GATORS GO!!
Volunteerlifer,
So you think hitting is what it is all about? You would rather hit hard but lose? No, it is all about winning and losing not laying the wood.
If you think UF UT has not been physical in the past just ask Marcus Nash, 2nd quarter 1995.
When one accepts the role of LOSER one becomes a loser and only a loser would say something like the Vol fan above. Just goes to show you the gap, that Kiffin only wishes to close, between the MIGHTY Gators and the Vols has become out of reach. We’ll see who is in the ice tub Sunday morning. The flea-bitten hound has a higher IQ!
GATORS 56-Vols 10.Nuff said and I rest my case.UM,Tebow,Spikes and the rest of the GATORS will see to it that Lame duck Kiffin eats his words.The game will be over with in the 3rd Qtr.The Vols can’t even compete with the GATORS 2nd team.Stafford and Moreno can attest to that.
i think yall all wrong gators are going to win
Hey, vulontearlifer the ucla quarter back lost a tooth,,,,, thats all. Get your facts straight.
Like I said above, it’s tough to get by that kiffin defense. Just what we didn’t want to see. It’s going to be a dogfight. We are not playing with any attitude. Did Meyer throttle them down too much?
No blowout Gators!!. No passing TD’s for Tebow, Eric Berry for Heisman – looks like he got the best of Tebow today. Look out Gayturd Nation – next year no Tebow, no James, and no Crompton. The run is over. Oscar Meyer will lose in Knoxville next year. The balance of power is shifting – I know you could all feel it today!!! Go Vols!!!
After watching the Tennessee game today one can only conclude that uf is not the number one ranked team in the nation. OU and Texas are both better. Your living off your laurels. As soon as Charlie gets fired in South Bend and Tim Tebo graduets, Urby is headed to Notre Dame. Tebo made Myers and he knows it. Strike while the iron is hot.
I want to hear gator fans tell me how they are going hang 100 on the voles again
Don’t worry it’ll happen. Next time we will have tape on the Kiffin defense and I doubt Meyer will” play it so close to the vest”. Plus, I doubt you will see us with so many players not able to go or with the flu.
Tenn. lost and UF won! That’s all that matters. We will be in the running for the NC while you (Vols) will be fighting to get in the Weed Eater Bowl. Only a loser can talk trash after losing! Amazing!
Robbie Andreu, you are a genius! Right on again.