Florida Gators

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – To say it has been a vexing week for football fans in the Volunteer State is an instant candidate for understatement of the year in college football. If you need proof, just check out the University of Tennessee's football page on Facebook.

The Vols visit "The Swamp" on Sept. 21, time perhaps to put some distance from their shocking 38-30 loss to Georgia State on Saturday in the season opener at Neyland Stadium. In two days, another University of Tennessee football program visits Ben Hill Griffin Stadium: the Skyhawks of UT Martin.

An FCS program located in Martin, Tenn., the Skyhawks opened their season with a 42-20 victory over Northwestern (La.) State. Much like Tennessee's matchup with Georgia State a week ago, Florida is the Southeastern Conference heavyweight taking on an undermanned opponent this week.

The Gators, coming off their 24-20 win over Miami, are favored by more than 40 points. Head coach Dan Mullen and several players spoke Wednesday about not taking UT Martin lightly despite the perception that this is a classic "cupcake" game before the Gators enter the heart of the SEC schedule starting Sept. 14 at Kentucky.
 

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Quarterback Feleipe Franks was asked if he was surprised by SEC East teams Tennessee, Missouri (at Wyoming) and South Carolina (vs. North Carolina) taking a tumble in their openers.

"For us, I know that it's important to not take any team lightly,'' he said. "At the same time, I think you prepare the same week-in and week-out no matter who you are playing. I think that's the most important kind of takeaway I got from it."

Tennessee's loss was the most surprising, providing fans, the media and even the Head Ball Coach an opportunity to weigh in with his unique candor.

"They just thoroughly beat Tennessee," Steve Spurrier told TheAthletic.com. "It wasn't any fluke. There weren't any fluky plays. They were 26-point underdogs, is that right? Rocky Top might be Rocky Bottom for a week or two until they win one, I guess."

Tennessee fans vented. Everyone else chuckled.

This is the Gators' first meeting with UT Martin. In researching the Skyhawks' game notes, there is a chart titled "Battle for the Volunteer State," which opens with "football has been a storied part of the state of Tennessee's history for decades."

The chart lists the records of the state's 10 Division I universities on the football field this decade and UT Martin ranks fourth with a 54-49 record. UT Chattanooga (62-46), Middle Tennessee State (60-56) and Tennessee State (53-46) are the top three. Tennessee is fifth with a 57-56 record since 2010.

This got us to wondering how the Gators have fared all-time against schools from the state. Of course, they face the Vols and Vanderbilt annually as SEC East foes. While they haven't faced every football-playing school from the Volunteer State, when they do, the Gators usually win.

Especially since 1990 when Spurrier, who grew up in Johnson City, Tenn., took over the program and built the Gators into a national power. Florida has played 58 games against Tennessee schools since '90, winning 50 of them: (22-7 vs. Tennessee, 26-1 vs. Vanderbilt and 2-0 vs. Middle Tennessee State).
  CHARTING THE GATORS
 
Here is a look at the Gators' history against the Volunteer State:
 

OPPONENT	W	L	T	LAST MEETING	RESULT
Maryville College	1	0	0	1913	Florida 39, Maryville 0
Memphis State*	1	1	0	1989	Florida 38, Memphis State 13
Middle Tennessee State	2	0	0	2004	Florida 52, MTSU 16
Sewanee**	7	2	0	1938	Florida 10, Sewanee 6
Tennessee	28	20	0	2018	Florida 47, Tennessee 21
Vanderbilt	40	10	2	2018	Florida 37, Vanderbilt 27

 
* Changed named to University of Memphis in 1994
** Former member of SEC now called University of the South
 

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