Randy Smith
This is Tennessee-Florida week. A few years ago when we reached this particular week on the schedule, I couldn't wait until game time. All week long I would analyze every position on the field and try to figure out who had the advantage. When the actual game started, turnovers or mistakes in the kicking game usually decided the victor, and most of the time it was the hated "swamp lizards." Florida and Tennessee was always on CBS or was the featured game on ESPN. Both teams were usually ranked and several times they were both in the top ten in the polls. The game would always draw national attention and most years it would live up to the great pre-game hype.
This year, the Vols who have lost two in a row on the road at Oklahoma and at Georgia are a two point favorite over the Gators. (What.....?) That's right Tennessee is favored to end Florida's nine game winning streak this Saturday at Neyland Stadium. Can it happen? Yes it can! Will it happen? I have no idea. I have picked Tennessee so many times in the past to win this game, only to watch the Gators pull out a close one on a weird play or an even weirder call by the officials. Or there were several times when the Gators would just blow the Vols off the field.
A few years ago, restaurants all across the Volunteer state would serve fried alligator just because it was Tennessee-Florida week. I have never eaten fried alligator and have no intention of trying it now, but it was always fun to know there were people in Tennessee enjoying it. (I'll stick to more basic tailgate food, like chicken wings, bar-b-que, hot dogs and chips and dip.)
When Phillip Fulmer was coaching at Tennessee, it seemed every year that Coach Steve Spurrier would get under our skin with his classic quips of disrespect toward our Vols. Fulmer often referred to it as "getting all puckered up" when it was time to face Florida. Though Coach Fulmer would always deny that his team was really "all puckered up" it would appear that way because of the many mistakes Tennessee would make in the game. Florida has had the Volunteer's number since Spurrier came to the Gators from Duke in 1990. Since 1990, Florida is 17-7 against Tennessee. The Vols haven't won in this series since the 2003 season. Since 1996, the Gators have also won three National Championships; so hardly any team had an edge over them. Even though it has been mostly Gators it was a more fun and enjoyable series a decade ago.
Going into this game, Florida Coach Will Muschamp's seat in Gainesville is as hot as any in the country, including Brady Hoke's at Michigan. A Tennessee win on Saturday afternoon would likely place another nail in the coffin or simply expedite things at Florida. While the Volunteers were losing a heartbreaker last week at Georgia, Florida was off having two full weeks to prepare for Coach Butch Jones' crew.
I hope I'm not getting carried away with excitement over the fact that Tennessee is favored on Saturday. I picked the Vols to win against Florida in the pre-season; just as I have many times before in the past, only to be terribly disappointed. I will reserve my official pick for this Thursday when I make my SEC Picks this week, but it's time to end this nine year drought against the Gators!
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Randy Smith has been covering sports on radio, television and print for the past 45 years. After leaving WRCB-TV in 2009, he has written two books, and has continued to free-lance as a play-by-play announcer. He is currently teaching Broadcasting at Coahulla Creek High School near Dalton, Ga.
His career has included a 17-year stretch as host of the Kickoff Call In Show on the University of Tennessee’s prestigious Vol Network. He has been a member of the Vol Network staff for thirty years.
He has done play-by-play on ESPN, ESPN II, CSS, and Fox SportSouth, totaling more than 500 games, and served as a well-known sports anchor on Chattanooga Television for more than a quarter-century.
In 2003, he became the first television broadcaster to be inducted into the Greater Chattanooga Area Sports Hall of Fame. Randy and his wife Shelia reside in Hixson. They have two married children, (Christi and Chris Perry; Davey and Alison Smith.) They have four grandchildren, Coleman, Boone, DellaMae and CoraLee.
To contact Randy: rsmithsports@epbfi.com