Gators View A Win Over FSU As Perfect Way To End Imperfect Season
Monday, November 21, 2011 | Football, Scott Carter
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Once the clock strikes 7 on Saturday night, little else outside of what takes place on Florida Field for the next four hours will matter to the two proud schools.
Florida and Florida State renew their annual grudge match at The Swamp. Neither team is playing for a BCS bowl bid, nor for the first time since 1986 is either team ranked entering the game.
This might not be your big brother's Gators-Seminoles rivalry, but it's still the kind of game that causes goose bumps when the teams run out onto the field.
“We're excited about playing the game and I'm sure they are to,'' Florida coach Will Muschamp said Monday.
His counterpart at FSU, second-year Seminoles coach Jimbo Fisher, echoed his longtime friend's sentiments.
“We won't have any problem with emotion for this game,'' Fisher said.
For the Gators Saturday's game is an opportunity to end the regular season with back-to-back wins for the first time since September. The Gators (6-5) had lost five of six games before coming back for a 54-32 win over Furman last weekend.
But it's more than that. Much more in terms of momentum and perception and recruiting and other factors added to the equation in a rivalry game.
“A win over FSU, no matter what your record is or anything, is always huge,” Gators quarterback John Brantley said. “For us, it's always a big game and we always treat it like both are undefeated teams.”
The Gators have dominated the rivalry in recent years, starting in 2004 when in his final game as Florida's head coach Ron Zook led the Gators to a memorable victory at Doak Campbell Stadium on the night FSU christened the playing field there in honor of Bobby Bowden.
Urban Meyer took over the Gators in 2005 and dominated Bowden's teams, going 5-0 and outscoring the Noles 182-58 from 2005-09. FSU snapped the losing streak a year ago in Meyer's final season, beating the Gators 31-7 in Tallahassee.
While both teams were highly ranked earlier this season – FSU reached No. 5 in the polls and Florida No. 12 – they struggled to stay there. The Seminoles lost three consecutive games during one stretch and Florida suffered a four-game losing streak.
A streak Gators senior running back Chris Rainey wants to avoid is ending his career with two straight losses to FSU. A victory over the Noles would do wonders for the Gators' psyche entering the bowl season according to Rainey.
“This win would probably override all the losses,'' Rainey said. “It would be a good thing for us. They beat us last year. All we're focused on is a win and leave here the right way and get ready for a bowl game.''
A Florida win on Saturday in the 56th all-time meeting between the schools would it a 7-5 record, the same as FSU. The Gators could also match last year's 8-5 record with a bowl win in Muschamp's first season.
Win or lose against FSU, Muschamp wants to see a better start than Florida had in the victory over Furman. The Paladins charged to a 15-0 lead and led 22-7 at the end of the first quarter as the Gators struggled to make defensive adjustments.
Once the defense regrouped and Brantley heated up – he threw for a career-high 329 yards and four touchdowns – the Gators easily avoided what would have been a headline-grabbing upset.
“We're certainly not pleased with the season in any respect,'' Muschamp said. “It's totally unacceptable here at Florida and I realize that. Our goal is to go to Atlanta so in all areas we need to improve.''
The win over Furman made the Gators bowl eligible for the 21st consecutive season, something that was not lost on the players. While a trip to Atlanta for the SEC Championship game has been out of the picture for some time, qualifying for a bowl game remained an important goal.
“Bowl games are a great experience,'' receiver Quinton Dunbar said. “We definitely didn't want to miss out on that.''
Saturday is also Senior Day and the last home game for players like Brantley, Rainey, Jeff Demps and Jaye Howard. They were part of a national championship team in 2008, an undefeated regular season in 2009, and then the struggles of the past two seasons.
“It's going to be emotional,'' Brantley said. “A lot of us have been through the ups and downs.''
