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Florida Favored by 29 over Tennessee in Revenge Game of the Year
The Swamp will be Rocking
9/19/09
Urban Meyer has had September 19th circled on his calendar ever since Lane Kiffin was announced as the new Tennessee Head Football Coach. Kiffin told the Volunteer fans to be ready to sing Rocky Top all night long after beating Florida this year. Most coaches wouldn’t dare make a statement like that, but Lane Kiffin isn’t most coaches. Kiffin didn’t stop there either. He went on to accuse Urban Meyer of recruiting violations. He told a group of boosters at a signing day brunch that Urban Meyer had called a recruit while he was on his official visit and that Meyer cheated and still didn’t win. Unfortunately for Kiffin that isn’t a recruiting violation and all it did was stir the pot even more.
Florida opened as a 28 point favorite at the first sportsbook to post lines,
Bookmaker.com and the game
has been bet up to -30.
Kiffin has easily become public enemy #1 in the SEC. With coaches like Nick
Saban in the SEC that’s saying something. He has been cocky, arrogant,
obnoxious, but I’ll give him one thing he has people talking about Tennessee
football again, and without his personality this rivalry game this year would
just be another game since Tennessee is in rebuilding mode. Florida is coming
into the game off two dominant performances over Charleston Southern and Troy. I
wouldn’t say that Florida is about to get the acid test with Tennessee coming to
town, but it’s going to a tougher game then their first two have been. Obviously
with the extra bulletin board material that Coach Kiffin has given Urban Meyer
and his players, Florida will be more than ready.
Tennessee on the other hand has been streaky this season. In their first game
Tennessee came out and looked very solid against a lesser opponent in Western
Kentucky and it looked like Kiffin had his team going in the right direction;
until UCLA came to town last Saturday. UCLA exposed Tennessee and QB Jonathan
Crompton and were able to leave town with the victory and very well might have
left town with Tennessee’s hopes of singing Rocky Top all night this Saturday
night in Gainesville. Let’s take a look at how these two teams stack up against
each other.
QUARTERBACKS
We all know everything there is to know about Tim Tebow. He is as good of a
leader as there ever has been in college football and this Florida team goes as
he goes. If Tennessee is going to have any chance in this game they will have to
get to Tebow early and often and get him out of rhythm. Tennessee coaches and
fans both had faith that Jonathan Crompton was the man for the job and could get
it done at QB. He looked solid in their debut game against Western Kentucky, but
once they played an above average team Crompton just didn’t look capable of
leading this team. Maybe he just had a bad day and will rebound here, but that’s
a big MAYBE. Advantage – Florida
RUNNING BACKS
With the Spread Offense that the Gators run they don’t use a traditional running
back, but both Chris Rainey and Jeff Demps have game breaking speed and if you
give them a little daylight its lights out. Throw Brandon James and a healthy
Emmanuel Moody into the mix and that’s a deadly combination. Tennessee did a
great job of bringing in talent at the running back position in their recruiting
class with David Oku and one of the top recruits in the nation last year, Bryce
Brown. Bryce Brown will get his carries, but for Tennessee to have a chance
Montario Hardesty will have to be the work horse and move the chains so that the
Florida offense is on the sidelines as long as possible. I think Bryce Brown has
a very bright future and if Montario Hardesty can stay healthy he will put up
nice numbers, but Florida also has a ton of talented athletes at RB so I see the
running back position being very even. Advantage – PUSH
RECEIVERS
WR/TE) With the losses of Percy Harvin and Louis Murphy to the NFL Florida is
lacking the big name receiver that they have had in the past few years, but they
are Florida so you know they will ALWAYS have playmakers at the receiver
position. This year Senior WR Riley Cooper and Junior TE Aaron Hernandez have
taken over leadership of this receiver crew. Aaron Hernandez is one of the best
pass catching TE in college football this year and look for Tebow to use him
early and often. A good TE is a QB’s best friend. Like with the running backs
Kiffin also brought in some talented freshmen to help with the Volunteer’s
passing attack. Nu’Keese Richardson is a blur and if he gets the ball with some
room to run that will be all she wrote. Freshmen Marsalis Teague is the 2nd
leading receiver on the team and is avergaing over 14 yards per catch, and then
throw in leading receiver Quintin Hancock and you have a very capable group of
receivers. Advantage – Florida
OFFENSIVE LINE
Florida has to replace both Left and Right Tackle, but any Offensive Line with
the Pouncey’s anchoring it down is gonna be successful. Tebow and Florida’s
stable of athletic running backs will have no problem running behind this
Offensive Line. Offensive Line is one of Tennessee more obvious weaknesses. They
lack the depth needed to handle an SEC schedule and really cannot afford any
injuries. Their line is anchored by their two guards Vlad Richard and Jacques
McClendon, but when you are having to play walk-ons on the offensive line that
spells trouble. Advantage – Florida
DEFENSIVE LINE
Florida’s defensive line is anchored by the 6’6 290 pound pass rushing animal
named Carlos Dunlap. In my opinion this is one of the matchups to watch. Carlos
Dunlap and the Florida defensive line against the Volunteer offensive line. You
better believe Carlos Dunlap and the rest of the Gator defensive line knows the
weaknesses on the Volunteer offensive line and they plan and camping out in the
Tennessee backfield all night long. Tennessee has a very solid and underrated
defensive line. DT Dan Williams and DE’s Chris Walker and Gerald Williams are
all poised for a breakout season and I expect this to be one of the better
defensive lines in the SEC. While I really like Tennessee defensive line Florida
just has too much talent with Carlos Dunlap and company. Advantage – Florida
LINEBACKERS
Linebacker Brandon Spikes is the Tim Tebow of the Florida Defense. He doesn’t
get near the credit he deserves for being a leader on this team. In my opinion
he is as important leadership wise for the Gators as Tim Tebow. When he is on
the field the Gators play with a different swagger which makes them unstoppable.
Tennessee’s other glaring weakness is their Linebacker core. Outside of Senior
linebacker Rico McCoy this Volunteer linebacker crew lacks depth and experience.
I expect TE Aaron Hernandez and Florida’s shifty RB’s to have a field day
exposing Tennessee’s Linebackers all night long. Advantage – Florida
SECONDARY
As much as I love Florida’s Defensive Line and Linebacker’s in my opinion
Florida’s secondary is the strength of the defense. Joe Haden and Janoris
Jenkins are the argueably the best 1-2 punch at Cornerback in the nation. Throw
in safety Ahmad Black who hauled in 7 interceptions last year and this secondary
is as good as a secondary as you can ask for. Tennessee Eric Berry is the
definition of a STUD. Eric Berry can lay the wood but he also has great cover
skills. If there was ever a year where a defensive player could make a case for
the Heisman trophy I believe it would be this year with Eric Berry. As much as I
would love to give Tennessee the edge, Eric Berry alone isn’t enough. The
Florida secondary is just too talented. I’d put Florida’s secondary ahead of
anyone’s in the country. Advantage – Florida
The Verdict – Florida returns every starter
on defense from their national title defense, and Florida still has Tim Tebow.
Those two things alone make Florida the favorite in every game they play. As
amazing as Tim Tebow is it is the Florida defense that makes this Gator team
what it is. They are fast, tough, and relentless. I just don’t see many teams
being able to go score for score with Florida this year on that defense which
makes an undefeated season very possible. Florida lost talented skill players to
the NFL, but Florida always has talent ready to step up into the spotlight and I
expect Florida to have just too much fire power for Tennessee. Not to mention
throw in the fact that Lane Kiffin has given Florida enough bulletin board
material for a lifetime to keep them motivated. I see Florida coming out and
making a statement in their SEC opener and I also believe the Florida players
want to win this one for their Coach Urban Meyer after all that has gone on this
off-season. They are a solid play at a -29.
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