Gators, Vols out of the spotlight
For a solid, splendid decade, Florida vs. Tennessee was the Game of the Year in the Southeastern Conference. Every year.
Break the news to Steve Spurrier gently, but this time around it isn't even the Game of the Week.
Orange is not the "in" color this fall in the South.
Georgia vs. LSU hogs the headlines in Dixie. The teams that won the last two SEC championship games are the hot matchup. When Fowler, Corso and Herbstreit show up in Baton Rouge on the same day the Gators and Volunteers play, something has drastically changed.
The rivalry that once grabbed the cover of Sports Illustrated and gave us Faxgate, Darth Visor vs. the Great Pumpkin, Manning vs. Wuerffel, Gator Bait vs. Rocky Top, 10 straight SEC Eastern Division champions, six straight SEC title-game winners and two national champions is reduced to second billing this Saturday.
For the first time since before Spurrier arrived in Gainesville in 1990, neither team is ranked in the Top 10.
Rhetorical hostilities seem to be at a low ebb as well. The Florida coach no longer uses the Vols for booster-club punchline material, and Tennessee fans are still searching for a new Public Enemy No. 1. Ron Zook has crossed over to join Philip Fulmer on The Bland Side, where every coach has "Nothing But The Utmost Respect" for the other team.
Fallibility arrived with a rush for both Tennessee and Florida last year. The two kingpins combined for a stunning 10 defeats last year -- seven of them by 17 points or more.
"They lost a few games last year and so did we," Florida cornerback Kiewan Ratliff said. "I think everyone wants to see who is going to get back in the swing of things."
Personnel losses and lingering doubts pushed both teams uncharacteristically low in the preseason rankings, and neither has done enough yet this year to re-establish credentials as an elite team.
Tennessee defeated Fresno State and Marshall, a couple of programs a cut above the Sun Belt-level season-opening cannon fodder for most heavyweight programs. But the Volunteers were not awesome against either opponent.
Florida has crushed San Jose State and Florida A&M, producing nationwide yawns in the process. The Gators' moment in the national spotlight was at Miami, where their inspired play for three quarters was completely obscured by a fourth-quarter collapse and a blown 23-point lead.
So, yeah, you could say that this game is huge. The winner will take a major step toward rejoining the highest echelon, while the loser will be forced back to the unwelcome and unfamiliar periphery of the national and regional scene.
"From our standpoint, that's one of our goals, to be be one of the teams people are talking about at the end of the season and competing for a championship," Fulmer said. "We miss that right now. We're fighting like heck for our respect as a football team."
The Gators' upset stomping of Tennessee in the rain in Knoxville last year was one of the few high points in Year One for the Zooker. (Hard to believe a Florida coach could beat both Tennessee and Georgia and still have a bad year, but Zook did it.) And it started the injury-riddled Volunteers' slide to 8-5.
"The injuries complicated things ... and we just didn't have the kind of leadership we were accustomed to internally," Fulmer said. "And I think we had some people more concerned about their NFL future."
This year, Fulmer said, the leadership and cohesion is there. Now we'll see whether the talent and toughness are in place for a trip to The Swamp.
The Volunteers took Florida out of the national title hunt with an upset in Gainesville in 2001 -- and the Gators haven't forgotten. Walloping Tennessee in Knoxville last year hasn't completely erased the sting of the only home loss to the Vols of the Spurrier Era -- nor has it erased the image of Vols QB Casey Clausen conducting the Tennessee marching band after the game.
"Seeing Mr. Clausen conduct the band kind of burned my behind just a tad," Florida offensive tackle Max Starks said. "I've been waiting for this moment since then ..."
But that loss means nothing to the youngsters who will play quarterback for the Gators, since none of them played. Zook's continued dabbling with Ingle Martin, Chris Leak and Gavin Dickey works fine against the San Joses and FAMUs of the world, but it was problematic while trying to hold a lead against the Hurricanes. Tennessee is no FAMU, and Zook will have to hang his hat on one quarterback sooner or later.
Fulmer has no QB controversy, but there are some stubborn QB questions regarding Clausen. His quarterback rating, completion percentage and yards per attempt have all dropped each year he's been a starter, sophomore to junior to senior (so far). Playing through injuries were a big part of the problem last year, but this year's middling start against Fresno State and Marshall has not convinced jittery Big Orange fans that Clausen can beat the likes of Florida, Georgia, Auburn and Miami.
Clausen vs. Martin seems a bit removed from Manning vs. Wuerffel. And Tennessee vs. Florida seems a bit removed from its days as the SEC's Game of the Year.
Pat Forde covers college football for the Louisville Courier-Journal.
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