GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Fitting for the week of Thanksgiving, the topic turned to food for Gators head coach Dan Mullen and Florida State coach Willie Taggart in the lead-up to Saturday's game.
First, Mullen recalled how former UF coach Urban Meyer used to make sure the team did not eat any pregame meals in Tallahassee unless prepared by trusted sources.
"I don't think we're eating out there,'' Mullen said.
Taggart was asked about his favorite Thanksgiving side dish.
"Gator meat,'' he said.
Of course.
Come Saturday at noon at Doak Campbell Stadium, both teams will have more on their mind than what was on their plates earlier. The Gators (8-3) look to cap Mullen's first season with their first victory over the Seminoles in six years. The Seminoles (5-6) seek to avoid their first losing season since Gerald Ford called the White House home.
In a rivalry that has featured momentum swings over the years, FSU's current five-game win streak over the Gators is unprecedented. No player on Florida's roster has tasted victory in the series, which is all the motivation the Gators need.
"It's going to mean a lot," UF defensive tackle Kyree Campbell said should the Gators win. "We hear them boys talking, but we don't talk. We talk with our pads, so we'll see 'em on Saturday."
Both teams have their own kind of desperation. The Gators are out to end FSU's recent dominance and perhaps make a New Year's Six bowl. The Seminoles are eager to keep alive their 36-year bowl streak.
"The whole country knows what's at stake,'' FSU quarterback Deondre Francois told reporters this week. "The whole [city of] Tallahassee knows what's at stake. Our fans, our coaching staff, trainers, teachers. Everybody knows we've got to win this game."
Next up: the Sunshine State's most storied rivalry, a feast for college football fans everywhere. THREE QUESTIONS WITH … DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR TODD GRANTHAM
Q: Concerned about Florida State's playmakers?
A: Absolutely. When you look at them, they've got talent outside. They've got a talented quarterback who can make some throws and when you look at their running backs, especially No. 3 [Cam Akers], he's a guy who can make some guys miss and create double-digit runs. Anytime you want it to be hard to score on, you've got to eliminate explosive plays. That's going to be a focus.
Florida is ranked 28th nationally in total defense (343.3 yards per game) in defensive coordinator Todd Grantham's first season. (Photo: Tim Casey/UAA Communications)
Q: Your thoughts on people saying Florida State is better than its record?
A: I think they've gotten better. Anytime you've got a transition, that's tough. Sometimes you can adapt quicker than others. If you go watch their games in continuity, over the last little bit they've gotten better. We understand that. We know we're going to have to play well.
Q: Has Jachai Polite been more active lately on film?
A: Yeah, I think it's shown up from a finish-the-play standpoint. If you go back, there were some plays that were close but they're not there. And that's the thing when you're a rusher, you gotta keep coming because sometimes it doesn't happen. But the more you come and continue, then those plays happen. I think it's a product of he's finishing a little bit more as of late and he's found that way to get that half-step or that extra half-second to finish the play.
THREE STORYLINES
Streaks, streaks and more streaks. The Gators have lost five in a row to the Seminoles, their longest drought in the history of the rivalry. FSU has not had a losing season in 42 years and needs to win to avoid its season being over. In addition, the Seminoles have played in 36 consecutive bowl games, the nation's longest active streak. They won't be bowling if they lose Saturday.
A new chapter in the rivalry arrived when former UF offensive coordinator Dan Mullen took over the Gators at the end of last season. The same scenario unfolded in Tallahassee as Willie Taggart replaced Jimbo Fisher. Both programs have a lot at stake Saturday and there's no better way for each coach to cap the regular season than with a victory.
In Florida's case, an opportunity to play in a New Year's Six bowl possibly hangs in the balance. Coming off a 4-7 season, few predicted the Gators to perhaps win nine games and play in a premiere bowl in Mullen's first season. However, after back-to-back losses to Georgia and Missouri stalled the Gators' rise, they have recovered with a comeback win over South Carolina and a runaway win over Idaho. Beating FSU would put Florida at 9-3 and keep them in the top 12 of the College Football Playoff rankings.
THREE PLAYERS TO WATCH
Gators tight end C'yontai Lewis caught three passes for a career-high 57 yards last week. However, Lewis is known mostly for his blocking and will be counted on Saturday to help tackles Martez Ivey and Jawaan Taylor slow down FSU's pass rush, primarily defensive end Brian Burns.
Seminoles quarterback Deondre Francois has come under fire in his career, but there's no questioning Francois has the potential of a big game each time he takes the field. He has four 300-yard passing games this season, including 322 yards in last week's win over Boston College. Francois threw the game-winning touchdown and also tossed two interceptions to fit his hot-and-cold nature.
Seminoles running back Cam Akers is 5-foot-10, 210 pounds and a bear to bring down. Florida rotates a lot of defensive linemen to stay fresh and that will be imperative for defensive tackles Adam Shuler, Kyree Campbell, Khairi Clark, Elijah Conliffe and T.J. Slaton as they try to limit Akers from breaking through the line and reaching the second level.
THREE DIGITS
418.7 –Yards per game for the Gators, ranked 56th nationally in total offense, an improved of 54 spots in the rankings from a season ago (110th, 335.9 ypg). 1960 –The last year a pair of first-year head coaches led Florida and Florida State into their annual rivalry game. Ray Graves opened his 10-year tenure at Florida and Bill Peterson his 11-year run at FSU. 2 –Touchdown catches of at least 70 yards this season for FSU freshman Tamorrion Terry, including a 74-yarder in last week's win over Boston College. Terry is the first FSU receiver to accomplish the feat since Peter Warrick in 1998.
"I think guys are getting more comfortable with what we're doing. I just wanted us to execute cleanly [against Idaho] and I think we did that. That's what I was most pleased with. That's carried over from the last 20 minutes of the South Carolina game into the first half of last week." -- Gators head coach Dan Mullen on team's offensive improvement
"You can tell he's improved from last year and I think Coach Mullen and his staff has done a great job of playing to his strength and he's doing that with the entire offense. That's helping them be successful and they're doing a good job of run and pass and running the quarterback as well. Coach Mullen hasn't really put him in position to hurt him. He put him in position to help him and it's helped him so far." -- Florida State coach Willie Taggart on Gators quarterback Feleipe Franks
"It's been really fun. I think everybody is buying in and seeing the success that we've had has made it even that much more fun, because going into the season everybody was kind of not really knowing what was going to happen." -- UF receiver Josh Hammond on team's turnaround after 4-7 season a year ago
"It's do or die at this point. We can't afford anything else but a win, so that's all we talk about. We're going to win and we're going to beat the Gators." -- FSU cornerback Stanford Samuels
"I heard it, but it doesn't matter to me. We're going to go out there and we're just going to play our game. It doesn't really matter what people think. We hear stuff like that all the time." -- Gators quarterback Feleipe Frankson Samuels' comments
This is the first Florida-Florida State game for Dan Mullenas Florida's head coach. Mullen was 4-0 against the Seminoles as UF's offensive coordinator from 2005-08. With Mullen set to take his first shot at the Seminoles, let's look at how previous Florida head coaches fared against FSU:
Florida leads the all-time series 34-26-2. Series is tied 13-13-1 at Doak Campbell Stadium.
Redshirt junior running back Jordan Scarlett did not have a carry in Florida's lopsided rout of Idaho but figures to get back into the action at FSU. Scarlett is averaging 6.2 yards per rush.
FSU quarterback Deondre Francois has nine career 300-yard passing games, which ranks fourth in school history behind Jameis Winston (14), Chris Weinke (14) and Danny Kanell (10).
In last year's win, Florida State returned an interception and a fumble for a touchdown, marking the first time in 62 meetings the Seminoles had scored twice on defense against the Gators.
UF quarterback Feleipe Franks needs only 32 yards passing to surpass John Brantley (2,061 in 2010) for the most yards in a season by at Gators quarterback since Tim Tebow in 2009..
The Gators now have 10 interceptions on the season and three pick-sixes after Chauncey Gardner-Johnson (26 yards) and Ventrell Miller (82 yards) returned picks for scores against Idaho.
Gators receiver Kadarius Toneyis averaging 10.9 yards per touch from scrimmage with 22 receptions for 239 yards and 18 rushes for 199 yards.
FSU has won 15 consecutive nonconference home games, its last nonconference loss at Doak Campbell Stadium coming to the Gators in 2012.
The Gators have eight wins, marking only the second time in school history they have won eight or more games following a sub-.500 season (8-4 in 1980 after 0-10-1 in '79)..
Gators defensive end Jachai Politehas 8.5 sacks, the most for a UF player since Dante Fowler Jr. had 8.5 in 2014.
THE OTHER SIDE
The most-discussed storyline in Tallahassee this week is the potential of Florida State's streak of 41 consecutive winning seasons coming to an end when the No. 11-ranked Gators visit on Saturday.
The Seminoles have had some close calls in recent years, but they have always managed to finish on the right side of .500. However, at 5-6, a loss to Florida on Saturday at Doak Campbell Stadium can deal FSU its first losing record since 1976, the year Bobby Bowden took over the program and turned it into a national power.
The last time an opponent secured a losing season for the Seminoles was on Oct. 30, 1976, on a drizzly afternoon in Tallahassee. Only 21,473 were in attendance as Clemson quarterback Steve Fuller threw for a score and ran for one in Clemson's 15-12 victory. Future Gators head coach Charley Pell, in his first season as Clemson's defensive coordinator that season, devised a plan that limited FSU to just 202 total yards in a defensive battle.
The game story below is from the late Bill McGrotha, a longtime columnist at The Tallahassee Democrat:
Dan Mullen wants to end Florida State's winning streak in the rivalry. The players want to snap it. Gator Nation really wants the Gators to win and avoid another year of Seminole satisfaction. Considering the circumstances, beating the Seminoles is bigger than any bowl win for UF in Mullen's first season. The time is right. The time is now. Florida ends the streak in a close one. Why? Similar to 2012 when the Gators won in Tallahassee, Florida's running game gets going and the defense comes up with at least one big turnover. The Seminoles will make some big plays, too, so it could be an entertaining game with some twists and turns, but with the Gators on top in the end.
Sun, Oct 31, 1976 – Page 57 · Tallahassee Democrat (Tallahassee, Leon, Florida, United States of America) · Newspapers.com
