It used to be that Gators-Vols was the classic collision for the SEC East title
(in much the same way that LSU-Auburn has come to be the defining SEC West game
of the year these days), matching the two teams with power and potency far
beyond anything Georgia or anyone else in the division possessed. That has
clearly changed these days, as the Bulldogs have become the beast of the East by
winning three of the past four division titles. So while Florida-Tennessee isnt
quite the main event it used to be, its significance to the two programs is
still substantial, only in a different way.
In the current college
football climate, coaches will often mention something along the lines of "noise
in the system." This phrase is a reference to the deafening chorus of angry,
frustrated, fed-up voices--on talk radio and on message boards, from both
boosters and the student body--that emerges when a big-time football school
loses a game it cannot afford to lose. When championship hopes die, the noise in
the system is heard loud and clear. This dimension of the college football
subculture didnt exist--or at least not on so massive a scale--ten to fifteen
years ago, when the Internet and other advanced communications technologies were
still in their embryonic stages.
At any rate, the noise in the
system--part of the brave new world of college football--has created an
emotional climate in which early-season losses create exponentially more
psychological weight than they used to. A culture of negativity so quickly
enfolds the losers of early-season conference showdowns that it becomes very
hard to climb all the way back to the top. The noise in the system "shouts down"
losing football teams, eroding their confidence and planting the seeds of future
failures. The recent years of the Florida-Tennessee rivalry offer
proof.
Ever since Steve Spurrier left this affair (in 2001), Gators-Vols
has acquired an eerie dynamic in which the loser of this game--while perhaps
picking up an easy SEC win against a Kentucky or Ole Miss in
September--eventually tumbles in October and November. In 2002, a Gator win in a
rain-soaked Neyland Stadium sent the Vols reeling to a five-loss season
(including a Peach Bowl drubbing at the hands of Maryland). In 2003, a Volunteer
win in Gainesville temporarily dented Floridas confidence... at least to the
extent that an uncertain and wobby Gator team lost at home to Ole Miss a few
weeks later. This loss prevented Florida from winning the SEC East that season.
In 2004, a painful loss for Florida--on a night when Chris Leak performed
incredibly well in Knoxville--had such a negative aftereffect that Ron Zook
would be fired midway through the season, which spiraled downward after the
crushing 30-28 loss to the Children of the Checkerboard. And last year,
Tennessees uninspired 16-7 loss at the Swamp was so bad that the Vols--clearly
shaken by that game (especially at quarterback, the position that would hound
both Smokey and Phil Fulmer all season long)--would have their first losing
season in quite some time.
As you can see, while the winner of this game
still has to contend with Georgia, the loser suffers a death blow. Winning this
game keeps the Gators or Vols in contention for the East title until the final
weekend of conference play. The Gators--after their win over Tennessee last
season--had a chance to wrap up the East, but lost to South Carolina in their
final league game. But as wrenching as that defeat was for Florida, coach Urban
Meyer still had a much more enjoyable 2005 than did Fulmer, the Tennessee boss
who encountered a march through gridiron hell that no national champion coach
ever expects to experience.
Call it the noise in the system, or call it
the Curse of Spurrier. Whatever it is, it cant be denied: if youre on the
losing side in the Florida-Tennessee game, the rest of your season turns out to
be miserable. For two programs, teams and (especially) quarterbacks intent on
playing--and winning--in Atlanta on the first Saturday of December, its not
just a recommended career move to win in Neyland Stadium this Saturday night, in
Gary Danielsons CBS broadcast debut. Its an outright job requirement. Losing
will not be an option when Florida and Tennessee stage the
