No room for error
It’s only Week 3, but it’s a must-win game for Gators.
GAINESVILLE — Most teams aren’t facing a must-win game in Week 3.
Unlike most teams, coach Jim McElwain’s Florida Gators already have lost any room for error.
A season-opening beatdown by Michigan followed by the cancellation of an SEC warm-up game against Northern Colorado have turned Saturday’s visit from rival Tennessee into a game with farreaching impact and long-term implications.
A win would restore the confidence of a young team, calm an agitated fan base and avoid the program’s first 0-2 start since 1971. A loss further would intensify the pressure on embattled offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier and heighten concerns about the direction of a program unable to consistently win big games under McElwain.
“You could look at this game as almost like a do-or-die type of game,” sophomore linebacker David Reese said. “It’s like a real big point, a fork in the road. So we’re excited.”
Meanwhile, a nervous energy percolates within Gator Nation.
Since the McElwain era began 10-1, the Gators have beaten two ranked teams in 10 tries and have not delivered an explosive offense or developed a game-changing quarterback.
Redshirt freshman Feleipe Franks is the next hope under center for the offensive-minded McElwain. But the 19-year-old is coming off a third-quarter benching against Michigan and now will make his second career start on another big stage against a top-25 foe.
Franks has won the locker room, but now must prove he can win the games the program’s top quarterbacks have over the years.
“I feel like he’s a winner. He wants to compete,” Reese said. “He’s a competitive guy, so I feel like no role is too big for him. It’s just Florida. That’s what it is.
“We’re gonna be a young team and we’re just gonna have to come and play.”
The Gators’ callow roster features 13 of 22 starters who are freshmen or sophomores, including seven on offense.
Michigan exposed UF’s youth, limiting the Gators’ offense to 192 yards and no touchdowns. But Tennessee’s defense could be the perfect remedy for Nussmeier, Franks and a struggling unit.
Coach Butch Jones’ Vols have yielded more than 600 yards to four of its past five opponents from the Football Bowl Subdivision.
A season ago, the Gators’ attack appeared poised for a huge day of its own. UF raced to a 21-0 lead in Knoxville but became conservative, allowing Tennessee to respond with 38 consecutive points.
The Gators managed a first down on just one of eight second-half drives as the Vols torched a worndown UF defense and ended an 11-game losing streak in the series.
“We definitely know this year it’s going to be a fourquarter game,” UF sophomore receiver Josh Hammond said. “We can’t get ahead of ourselves.”
Tennessee fans clearly sense a shifting tide in a series that began in 1916.
Earlier in the week, UF sophomore safety Chauncey Gardner posted a picture of a Tennessee flag planted next to Steve Spurrier’s statue outside the Swamp.
“To me it’s a sign of disrespect,” Gardner said. “Even though a fan did it, that’s something you don’t do regardless of the rivalry. It’s our property. You don’t vandalize what we earned and what we did.”
The Vols players, though, are quick to remind the Gators who now holds the upper hand.
“We know how it is to beat Florida, and now, Florida knows how it is to lose to us now,” fifth-year senior defensive tackle Kendal Vickers said. “So it’s going to be fun.”
The past 10 days in the state of Florida have been anything but fun and games thanks to Hurricane Irma.
The devastating storm forced UF to cancel last weekend’s game and dispitting rupted the Gators’ preparation for Tennessee. By Wednesday, the team had resumed its routine and turned its attention to Saturday’s game in the Swamp, where the atmosphere should be electric.
At one time the Florida-Tennessee rivalry had more juice than any in the SEC, the league’s top two coaches — Steve Spurrier and Phillip Fulmer — and programs that won nine of 11 conference titles from 1990-2000.
Now the matchup features two programs with question marks on both sides of the ball, two head coaches losing fan support and in need of a big win.
“It’s very critical, man,” junior defensive tackle Khairi Clark said. “Just knowing that we’re down, we just have to prove ourselves and that we can accomplish anything we wanna accomplish if we just play together.”