Gators Have Kentucky In Their Sights -- Streak Or No Streak
Monday, September 19, 2011 | Football, Scott Carter
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – When Florida's 2011 schedule was released, pundits immediately focused on the road the Gators must navigate during October.
Alabama at home. At LSU. At Auburn. Georgia in Jacksonville.
In other words, during Florida's first three games of the month, every team to win a national championship the past five years will be on the field. Once that rocky road is complete, all that's left is the annual Florida-Georgia clash on the banks of the St. John's River.
Whew! If first-year Florida coach Will Muschamp's hair is free of gray now, he might want to check again once November arrives.
But in the week-to-week microscopic world of an SEC football coach, October probably seems about three years away to Muschamp. After all, the Gators must travel to Kentucky on Saturday for their first road game of the season.
The game also marks the first away game for Muschamp as a head coach. After three consecutive wins at home, Muschamp doesn't plan to change anything before the Gators head to Lexington on Friday.
“We've got 16 players in our two-deep [roster] that will be making their first trip,'' Muschamp said Monday. “It will be interesting for some of those guys traveling and going through that process. Our preparation will not change. It's the same every week.
“All of our game-day stuff is the same; it's just a different hotel and a different stadium. We try to approach everything with a real methodical approach.''
The term often used for challenges like this is “trap game.''
The Gators are coming off an emotional 33-23 win over Tennessee before a sold-out crowd at The Swamp, their seventh consecutive victory over the Volunteers. While they might not talk about it publicly, like everyone else, they can read the schedule and know what's ahead in October.
Meanwhile, Saturday's game is the SEC opener for the Wildcats after three consecutive non-conference games. The Wildcats won the first two over Western Kentucky and Central Michigan. However, Kentucky lost at home to in-state rival Louisville, 24-17, to lose the Governor's Cup game for the first time in five years.
If that's not enough motivation for the Wildcats, there is this little cloud hanging over their heads: they haven't beaten the Gators in 25 years.
The last time the Gators lost to Kentucky was 1986, or about two years before 23-year-old Chris Rainey – Florida's oldest player – was born.
“You got to put that in the past,'' Gators quarterback John Brantley said. “That's a cool thing, but we just got to worry about this year, this weekend coming up.”
As expected, both coaches downplayed the significance of the streak on Monday. Second-year Wildcats coach Joker Phillips said from what he has seen on film of this year's Gators, they provide enough of a concern with or without the historic losing streak.
Kentucky's current 24-game losing streak to Florida is the nation's second-longest active streak against a major conference opponent, trailing only the Wildcats' 26-year losing streak to Tennessee.
“We have a huge challenge,'' Phillips said. “We've got to play a clean, fast game with no mistakes … to have an opportunity to win this game. I don't think you have to play perfect, but you have to play smart.''
“I told the guys this morning — it's a season of one-game series,'' Muschamp said. “Whatever you did the last time out really doesn't matter.”
The Wildcats have qualified for a school-record five consecutive bowl games but lost a lot of firepower on offense in quarterback Mike Hartline, running back Derrick Locke, and receivers Randall Cobb and Chris Matthews.
Muschamp sees a team that is “still searching for an identity offensively'' but is dangerous nonetheless. Kentucky quarterback Morgan Newton has thrown for 466 yards and four touchdowns, and receiver La'Rod King has scored a touchdown in all three games to give Newton a dangerous weapon. Josh Clemons leads the team in rushing with an average of 64.3 yards per game.
Gators linebacker Jon Bostic said he has Kentucky squarely on his mind coming off the big win over the Vols – not what's ahead in October.
“We're all focused on Kentucky,'' Bostic said. “They are a good SEC team. They've got a good quarterback, a good running back, a solid offensive line. Basically, we're just trying to get ready for this week and go out and get a win over Kentucky.''
Since recording his first SEC win over the Vols, Muschamp had time to review the film and assess where the Gators are after a quarter of the season. At 3-0, the record is where he wanted it to be.
He liked the way the Gators played defensively against the Vols, pressuring quarterback Tyler Bray into two second-half interceptions and limiting Tennessee to minus-9 yards rushing.
Offensively, Rainey was spectacular and Brantley efficient. The biggest negative for the Gators was 16 penalties, an area Florida plans to work hard at correcting in practice.
“The thing that jumps out at you when you watch the film is we played with great effort, toughness, passion, energy on both sides of the ball and special teams,'' Muschamp said. “I really thought our players played hard in the game. If we can continue to have that kind of effort, we're going to have a lot of success.''
