Gators Rise to Occasion, Beat Georgia in Meaningful Win for Muschamp
Sunday, November 2, 2014 | Football, Scott Carter
PHOTO GALLERY: Images of Florida-Georgia game from UAA photographer Tim Casey.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- It's a phrase his dad taught him a long time ago. And a phrase Will Muschamp has called on more than once the past two weeks.
"Ten percent of life is what happens to you, 90 percent is how you handle it."
The eyes of a national television audience on CBS, of a frustrated Florida fan base, and of a crowded EverBank Field on Saturday watched to see how Muschamp and the Gators would handle that 90-percent part.
The 10 percent happened Oct. 18 at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on Homecoming, a 29-point loss to Missouri. In the 14 days since a lot of noise echoed around Gator Nation.
Muschamp has prepared for a lot of big games during his coaching career, including a pair of national championship games, one when he was defensive coordinator at LSU and another as Texas' defensive coordinator.
But possibly none as important to his immediate future than Saturday's clash with his alma mater, Georgia, in one of college football's most intense rivalries.
Few gave Florida a chance to beat the No. 9-ranked Bulldogs. The Gators didn't care.
In a quiet locker room after most of his players had cleared out and boarded the team buses waiting outside, Muschamp seemed as pleased about Florida's 38-20 victory over Georgia as any during his four seasons at UF.
The Gators did what few believed they could. But they didn't just do it. It's how they did it. They did it with that gritty blue-collar style Muschamp preaches.
"It's awesome, a thing of beauty," Muschamp said with a wide grin. "This is very expected for me. In watching this film and preparing for this game, I felt very comfortable about our football team and what we were going to be able to accomplish.
"I never once blinked about our team or their effort or their preparation or how they were going to play in this game."
The Gators presented Muschamp with a game ball afterward.
In scouting the matchup, Muschamp felt Florida could win in the trenches. In his view, if the Gators won those battles, they could win the game and snap their three-game losing streak to the Bulldogs by using a punishing run game.
Asked if he coached harder the past two weeks than maybe at any other point in his career considering the circumstances, Muschamp balked at the idea. It was business as usual, blue collar circling the neck.
"Didn't change anything I've done,'' he said. "Just trying to find some answers to what we could do to be successful."
The Gators celebrate in the locker room after Saturday's 38-20 win over Georgia. (Photo: Tim Casey)
Muschamp did offer a disclaimer after freshman quarterback Treon Harris, in his first career start, threw only six passes, completing three for 27 yards.
"But we need to throw it better."
Maybe they do. Maybe they don't.
All that is clear is they didn't need to Saturday in a physically dominating performance.
"We got whipped, physically whipped,'' dejected Bulldogs coach Mark Richt said.
The Gators rushed for 418 yards, their largest output against an SEC team since 1975. Georgia took an early 7-0 lead but after momentum shifted on a fake field goal and 21-yard touchdown run by holder Michael McNeely. From there it was Florida's day as the Gators reeled off 31 consecutive points.
The Gators needed a win like this. Muschamp and his assistants needed it. The fans needed it.
"There's nothing more fun to be around than a victorious locker room,'' Muschamp said.
However, there was someone missing that could have made the day closer to perfection. Someone Muschamp began to think about on the sideline as the final minutes ticked off.
Herbert Larry Muschamp, his father, the man who taught him that phrase about life many years ago.
Six months ago to the day, May 1, on a Thursday evening at a hospital in Rome, Ga., Larry Muschamp passed away at 79.
The day after the funeral Muschamp hit the road for his annual spring speaking tour, making his first stop in Lakeland and facing some tough questions after the program's first losing season since 1979.
He flashed back to his father early Saturday evening while sharing hugs with players, coaches and others inside the program.
"I wish my father was here,'' Muschamp said. "That's what I thought about late in the game. You can imagine how tough it is. That's part of it."
In Muschamp's only other victory in Jacksonville as Florida's head coach -- a 24-17 win over Ohio State in the Gator Bowl in January 2012 -- his parents, Larry and Sally, were standing nearby as Muschamp addressed fans at midfield and received a game ball from his former Georgia teammate George Wynn, now Florida's director of football operations.
Larry Muschamp soaked it all in like a proud father should.
"It was a great win, a lot of fun,'' Larry said at the time. "First win of the year."
His father on his mind, Muschamp immediately shared Saturday's win in the locker room with a phone call to wife Carol. These last two weeks have been difficult on everyone who cares about the Gators, none more than the Muschamp family.
That's part of the reason why the Gators were glad to repay their coach with their finest performance of the season.
"Just to get people off his back,'' senior center Max Garcia said. "As a player that's what you want to do, because sometimes we feel like it's our fault that he's in the position that he's in."
As Muschamp celebrated the victory in the locker room with his staff and players, everyone could sense a huge weight was removed from his back.
He finally had a victory in the Florida-Georgia rivalry after seven losses -- four as a player at Georgia and three as Florida's head coach.
"I'm happy to win it," he said. "It feels a lot better than the other side. I don't think they are going to induct me into Florida-Georgia Hall of Fame or anything."
Junior defensive lineman Dante Fowler Jr. was one of the final players to make his way toward the team buses.
Fowler played one of his best games of the season. Several Gators did. And they finally got to see their coach enjoy a victory.
A long two weeks ended the way the Gators planned.
"When he's not happy, we're not happy,'' Fowler said. "As long as he's happy, we're happy."
Larry Muschamp would have been happy, too.
