They Said It, They Wrote It for Florida-Tennessee
Thursday, September 19, 2019 | Football, Scott Carter
It happened the night of Dec. 1, 2001, during a period when I wasn't paying much attention to college football. The game had been rescheduled from earlier in the season due to the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Saturday ➡ #GatorsWearBlue
— Gators Football (@GatorsFB) September 17, 2019
🔷 #GatorNation
🔷 #GoGators
📰 https://t.co/aGRTiV1lFA#TENNvsUF 🐊 #GatorsTogether pic.twitter.com/7ucsCSLRhw
I remember vividly being in Philadelphia that night in the press box at what was then called the First Union Center. I was in town covering a Tampa Bay Lightning road trip that included stops in Philly, New York and New Jersey.
In the NHL, players scratched from the lineup usually watch the game from the press box and on this particular night, Lightning forward Fredrik Modin and center Brian Holzinger were seated next to me way above the ice. The TV in the press box was on the Florida-Tennessee game and with the Lightning on the way to a uninspired 2-0 loss to the Flyers, the three of us locked in on a thrilling game at "The Swamp."
They didn't know I went to UF, and I didn't know they enjoyed college football as much as they did.
The Vols escaped with a 34-32 win over the second-ranked Gators, spoiling a bid for one of Spurrier's best Florida teams to perhaps play for the BCS National Championship. Instead, the Gators closed the Spurrier era a month later with a 56-23 dismantling of Maryland in the Orange Bowl.
To say a lot has changed in the rivalry since that thriller is an understatement of Rocky Top proportions. Tennessee (1-2, 0-0) makes its ninth visit to "The Swamp" since that night and other than a 2003 win, the Vols haven't won in Gainesville. They have lost seven in a row on the UF campus and 13 of 14 overall.
With the ninth-ranked Gators (3-0, 1-0) set to host the Vols once more, let's take a look at what they're saying and writing about the 49th all-time meeting between the schools:
THEY SAID IT, THEY WROTE (OR POSTED) IT
"As you all saw, but at the end of the day it's football. It is what it is. There's nothing I can do about it, so I'm just focused on Tennessee right now. That's all behind me." -- Gators quarterback Kyle Trask on whether he got his ankle twisted by Kentucky linebacker Kash Daniel as TV replays suggest ...
Shout out to @WYMT for the sideline angle - much clearer than ESPN's Skycam. Full piece from WYMT threaded pic.twitter.com/hP7sX8Bmd9
— libgator (@lib_gator) September 19, 2019
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"Nobody on my high school team thought of him as a backup. He was just one of the guys, one of the starters. It was kind of like 1A, 1B." -- University of Houston quarterback D'Eriq King, Trask's former teammate at Manvel (Texas) High ...
"Kyle is the reason." — D'Eriq King.
— Will Sammon (@WillSammon) September 17, 2019
Inside the journey of Kyle Trask from high school backup to Florida starter — with insight from Houston QB D'Eriq King, who he backed up in HS https://t.co/XCndcc324b
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"It's been such a dumpster fire for so long." -- CBS play-by-play announcer Brad Nessler on Tennessee's recent struggles ...
For #Gators-#Vols week, I got some help from @JimmyHyams to figure out why Tennessee is so bad. Spoiler: Hiring ex-#Bucs HC Greg Schiano probably wouldn't have made much difference. https://t.co/R8jGxsRufX
— Matt Baker (@MBakerTBTimes) September 19, 2019
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"I know what it's like being in his shoes, you know, dealing with a season-ending injury. That was tough to see for sure." -- Gators offensive lineman Brett Heggie on season-ending injury to UF starting quarterback Feleipe Franks ... Here is story by Robbie Andreu of the Gainesville Sun.
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"Tim Tebow is not a racist." -- Orlando Sentinel columnist Mike Bianchi ...
In case you hadn't heard, #TimTebow is NOT a racist. Here's my column on Tebow having the audacity to say he doesn't like the idea of college athletes being paid: https://t.co/nWMgmitrkO pic.twitter.com/55MMQplk4n
— Mike Bianchi (@BianchiWrites) September 18, 2019
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Trask is ready to show off the talent that teammates and coaches are already familiar with in this story by Edgar Thompson of the Orlando Sentinel ...
Kyle Trask's 4th-quarter heroics at Kentucky did not surprise those who have watched him work over the years. 'I've just seen what he just did over and over' https://t.co/gfJariehB4 pic.twitter.com/Mq7uCm9XIT
— Edgar Thompson (@osgators) September 19, 2019
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"I don't know what the impact would be. The guy has not done much in several weeks." -- Tennessee coach Jeremy Pruitt on potential return of Bryce Thompson to Vols defense on Saturday ...
Everything Jeremy Pruitt said about Tennessee football, Florida on Wednesday https://t.co/IH6iz4mx9P
— GoVolsXtra (@GoVolsXtra) September 19, 2019
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The Gators' struggles in the running game has remained a topical item heading into the Tennessee game writes Nick de la Torre of GatorCountry.com ...
The #Gators need to get the running game going. We asked Dan Mullen and John Hevesy how they can do that. https://t.co/IwAlDTpZCZ pic.twitter.com/YMOFdmXvZ3
— Nick de la Torre (@NickdelaTorreGC) September 18, 2019
***
This is the 20th anniversary of "The Alex Brown Game" writes John Adams of the Knoxville News-Sentinel ...
Tennessee football, Tee Martin might have Alex Brown flashbacks in The Swamp https://t.co/RV491fr7tb via @knoxnews
— John Adams (@johnadamskns) September 19, 2019
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