The Opening Kickoff: Florida vs. No. 11 Tennessee — Napier Knows This Rivalry's Place - Florida Gators (2024)

Florida Notes | TennesseeNotes |Broadcast Information| Need To Know

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Billy Napier had much to learn about the University of Florida and about the football program's history when he took over following the 2021 season.

What nobody had to tell Napier about was the importance of the Florida-Tennessee rivalry.

"My dad's family is from Tennessee,'' Napier said this week. "I've got a couple of uncles and cousins that have never missed a Tennessee game. They've flown all over the country to watch them play.

"Well-versed in this one."

Napier was born in Cookeville, Tenn. He grew up a couple hours away in Chatsworth, Ga., where his late father, Bill Napier, was a longtime successful high school football coach.

Florida-Tennessee, Gators-Vols, Spurrier-Fulmer, Wuerffel-Manning — Napier knew all of that. In Napier's first taste of the rivalry as a head coach, Tennessee won a 38-33 shootout a year ago at Neyland Stadium.

As he prepared for his second season, Napier and his staff began teaching Florida's young roster about the program's biggest rivalries, including how once upon a time the annual Florida-Tennessee game not only set the tone in the Southeastern Conference East Division, but oftentimes, atop the national rankings.

"One thing I truly appreciate is the second we got here, it was something we talked about,'' Gators quarterback Graham Mertz said of rivalry games. "What it means, the history behind it. My notebook was filled with just the history of it. For me, it's understanding the emotion behind it."

Captains for Game 3. 🐊 #GoGators | #jOURney pic.twitter.com/sHQOOvRkGb

See Also

Ranking Florida's 15 future SEC rivals by importance of having on the scheduleDooley's Dozen: Florida football's 12 biggest rivals right nowFlorida Gators recruiting mailbag: August 21st editionOPINION: Who can the Florida Gators consider a rival?

— Florida Gators Football (@GatorsFB) September 15, 2023

While the days of Florida-Tennessee impacting the national championship picture each season have been absent in recent years, with the Vols on the upswing under third-year head coach Josh Heupel, and Napier trying to rebuild a Gators program that has suffered back-to-back losing seasons, Saturday night'smatchup against the No. 11 Vols at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium is considered by many pundits a statement game for the Gators.

The message has not been lost inside the Heavener Football Training Center.

"It's a big game,'' Napier said. "Any time you play a rival, it's a big game. Eastern Division opponent, SEC game, home opener when it comes to the SEC. There's magnitude here as a program."

Heupel appeared to downplay the matchup in his public comments this week. He knows anything other than Tennessee's first win in The Swamp since 2003 will be met with harsh criticism in Big Orange Country.

What Heupel knows is that his team faces a critical challenge trying to win a night game in front of 90,000 fans in arguably the loudest stadium in the country.

"The communication, in particular, on offense is a huge deal,'' Heupel said. "There's things that we do during training camp. We actually have portions of our training camp where we work on the mechanics of playing in this type of environment. Guys have been good this week. You try to create crowd noise and simulate those things but obviously the environment is tough to entirely simulate here in practice. We work through all those things. We have to handle it in a really positive way here on Saturday night."

In this week's edition of The Opening Kickoff, here is a closer look at the Florida-Tennesseematchup:

THREE QUESTIONS WITH … GATORS RB TREVOR ETIENNE

Q:What's it like to learn about the Florida-Tennessee rivalry?

A: We have Rivalry 101 Week during camp, and that's kind of like — since they played the video during camp —all the teams prior to us being here and how the rivalry is. The teams like Georgia, Tennessee, Florida State, LSU, those SEC teams. We kind of have a chip on our shoulder right now. That's just something we want to focus on moving forward. We have to dominate in every aspect of our game from here on out.

Q:What have you seen from QB Graham Mertz in his first two games?

A:He's dialed-in. He's a leader. Guys know they can come to him and we have a lot of young guys playing. That's why I say that. They can come to him and ask him anything and he's willing to help. He will go the extra mile. He will sit in a personal film session with you and make sure you understand everything so you can play at your best and as quickly as possible.

Q:What does the return of C Kingsley Eguakun do for the offense?

A:He's kind of the field general when it comes to the offensive line. He's communicating every play. Just having him back, you know we have somebody on the field that I can say going to make things more comfortable for them. So they communicate more and he can have their backs when they mess up somewhat, and vice versa. Just having him back on the field is great.

THREE STORYLINES

• Tennessee has experienced a revival under Josh Heupel, who has a 20-8 record with the Vols. The Gators are seeking the same under head coach Billy Napier, who is 7-8 in his first 15 games at Florida. This is a classic barometer game for the Gators, who could perhaps speed up their rebuild with a win over the 11th-ranked Vols.
• The quarterback matchup features Florida's Graham Mertz and Tennessee's Joe Milton III. Both started their careers in the Big 10, Mertz at Wisconsin and Milton at Michigan. They play different brands of football, and the one who plays better Saturday night is likely going to leave Ben Hill Griffin Stadium with a win.
• The Gators and their fans have viewed Tennessee, LSU, Georgia and Florida State as primary rivals for decades. Florida went 0-4 a season ago in those rivalry games. The Gators have not lost to Tennessee at home in 20 years and look to keep that streak intact.

THREE PLAYERS TO WATCH

• There has been a lot of chatter around the return of veteran Gators C Kingsley Eguakun, who has 26 career starts. Eguakun missed the first two games with a ankle injury. He is the glue guy up front and directs communication for UF's young offensive line. Backup Jake Slaughter received praise from Napier this week, so Slaughter's improvement combined with Eguakun's return is a positive sign for the unit.
• Tennessee has 11 sacks in the first two games, with senior LB Aaron Beasley the main disruptor. Beasley dominated in last week's win over Austin Peay with nine tackles, two sacks and five tackles for loss, the most TFLfor a Vol since Jesse Mahelona had five against Notre Dame in 2004. Florida must know where Beasley is at all times.
• Both teams have a pair of experienced andtalented ball carriers. Florida has Montrell Johnson Jr. and Trevor Etienne, and Tennessee has Jaylen Wright and Jabari Small. If either of these duos control the game, one of these defenses is going to have a long and tiring day.

THREE DIGITS

257.5 — Yards rushing per game for Vols in first two games, which leads the SEC and ranks fourth among FBS schools.
150—Yards allowed by Florida's defense over the last six quarters.
18 — Combined SEC Championship Game appearancesfor Florida (13) and Tennessee (5) in final season of SEC divisional play.

INJURY REPORT

GATORS — OUT: DB Ja'Markis Weston (upper body), TE Tony Livingston (upper body), DL Justus Boone (knee, out for season), RB Cam Carroll (knee, out for season), TE Keon Zipperer (knee), OL Caden Jones (foot). QUESTIONABLE:WR Thai Chiaokhiao-Bowman (lower body). TENNESSEE—OUT: RB DeSean Bishop (ankle), LB Keenan Pili (upper body), DL Tyree Weathersby (undisclosed, out for season), LB Kwauze Garland (undisclosed, out for season). QUESTIONABLE: DL Elijah Simmons (knee). PROBABLE: C Cooper Mays (upper body).

THEY SAID IT

• "High-paced. They're going to try to beat you to the ball, and I feel like that's where most of their explosives come from, not being set, not communicating. I feel like in order to beat a team like Tennessee you've gotta communicate, you've gotta execute." — Gators LB Scooby Williams on facing Tennessee's fast-tempo offense
• "What they're able to do with their front to stop the run game, with their pressure packages to load the box. But they played well on the perimeter. Second and third level in the pass game, too. They're big, strong, physical up front. They're athletic out on the perimeter. It's a difficult Florida defense." — Tennessee coach Josh Heupel on his view of the Gators defense
• "We did have one. We just talked about how we have to continue to approach the week. We can't change our preparation. We know it's a big game, first SEC game of the year, it's a rivalry game. We just don't need to change what we do." — Tennessee senior DL Omari Thomas on a players-only meeting on Sunday

THEY WROTE IT

• Steve Spurrier chimes in on Gators-Vols and nicknaming The Swamp writes Blake Toppmeyer of the USA Today Sports Network.
• Why Florida's rivalry with Tennessee is different for Gators coach Billy Napier writes Matt Baker of the Tampa Bay Times.
• Vols QB Joe Milton III has a big arm, which has spawned legendary tales writes Alex Scarborough of ESPN.com.

CHARTING THE GATORS

The Gators enter Saturday night's SEC rivalry game against Tennessee having won nine consecutive over the Vols at "The Swamp." They are seeking a perfect 10. Here is a look at UF's home winning streak over Tennessee:

NEWS, NOTES, NUGGETS

• The Gators lead the all-time series against Tennessee 31-21, including 16 wins in the last 18 meetings.
• Florida has won nine consecutive home games against the Vols, last losing in 2003. UF is 16-5 all-time against Tennessee at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.
• Florida is unranked and Tennessee ranked for the first time since 1971 in the series. Over that span, both teams have been ranked 23 times, while Florida has been ranked/Tennessee unranked11 times. Only three times have both teams been unranked (2014, '15, '18).
• The Gators have only two starters — C Kingsley Eguakun and CB Jason Marshall Jr. — who started the last time Tennessee visited in 2021
• In its first two games under coordinator Austin Armstrong, the UF defense has allowed 191 yards per game, which ranks third among FBS schools.
• Florida's offense responded to a mistake-filled performance at Utah by scoring on its first seven possessions in the win over McNeese, the first time the Gators have done that since the 2008 season against the Citadel.
• Former Gators OL Gerald Mincey, who transferred to Tennessee prior to last season, has played 75 snaps in the first two games. Mincey started seven games a season ago for the Vols. Mincey made his college debut in 2020 Cotton Bowl for Gators and then played in 10 games in 2021 as a reserve.
• Gators true freshman WR Eugene Wilson III became the first true freshman receiver to start in the home opener since Antonio Callaway in 2015. Wilson had four catches for 36 yards.
• Saturday's game marks the final one as SEC East Division foes for Florida and Tennessee. The league is moving away from divisional play in 2024 with the addition of Texas and Oklahoma. However, the Gators are scheduled to play at Neyland Stadium in 2024. UF is 24-7 against the Vols since the SEC East formed in 1992.
• Vols LB Aaron Beasley(mentioned above as a player to watch) leads the country with six tackles for loss. Tennessee has 25 TFLas a defense, and is tied with Nebraska with a FBS-best 11 sacks.

THE OTHER SIDE

A story in the Knoxville News Sentinel this week started this way: Jackson Ross, the ambidextrous punter for Tennessee football, is a polarizing player among Vol fans after on two games.

What? A punter is a headliner on the 11th-ranked team in the country.

Evidently, Tennessee fans have varied opinions on Ross, a rugby style punter from Australia who shifts between the left and right. Ross trained at Prokick Australia, the same place Gators punter Jeremy Crawshaw developed his technique before packing up and heading to America.

Since he shanked two of his first three punts in the season opener against Virginia, Ross has punted six times for a 43.8-yard average. The Vols have allowed minus-1 yard on punt returns, the fewest in the SEC.

The Vols see Ross as a weapon. Some UT fans see him as an embarrassment.

"It all works because we have the best punter in the country,'' Tennessee's Warren Burrell told the News Sentinel. "Jackson Ross, man, that guy is crazy. He can put the ball anywhere."

Why Tennessee football fans disagree on ambidextrous punter Jackson Ross for Florida game https://t.co/Lnd2Xjjv5o

— Knox News (@knoxnews) September 14, 2023

BOTTOM LINE

Tennessee hasn't won in The Swamp in 20 years. Las Vegas is picking the Vols to end that drought. I'm not so sure. This is an important game for the Gators for several reasons, primarily as an opportunity for Napier to get a signature win against a ranked opponent. The Gators won their first game with Napier by upsetting Utah. They have suffered their own drought since then in rivalry games. Meanwhile, the Vols are 2-0 with wins over Virginia and Austin Peay. They are more experienced than the Gators, but the talent difference might not be as wide as some think. Gators squeak out a win and make it 10 in a row over Tennessee at home.