Tuesday, September 20, 2011

BEATING TENNESSEE NOW LIKE BEATING KENTUCKY OR VANDY TO YOUNGER GATORS

GATOR GRIDIRON
ROGER FRANKLIN WILLIAMS

As Gator Gridiron continues to bask in the afterglow of the Florida's 7th consecutive win over Tennessee, we have noticed a perceptable air of nonchalance on the part of a few too many Gators.

The Old School Gators' first observation is that many younger generation Gators are much too blase about this monumental development. Any win over Tennessee is huge and a record 7th in a row qualifies as absolutely historic! For proper perspective, when the famed '69 Gators upset SEC Regular Season Champion Tennessee in the '69 Gator Bowl, an event that was highlighted on last Thursday's Old School Gator program on 540 WFLA, that monumental victory made the all-time series Gators 2--- Tennessee 11. Now Florida not only holds the edge, but dominates the series.

As with scores of Florida Football achievements associated with the rise of Gator Football as an elite Top Ten program, Steve Spurrier should get the lions share of credit for turning the tables on Tennessee. When Spurrier took over the Florida program  in 1990 Tennessee held a substantial all-time edge over the Gators. Now thanks to Spurrier, and, of course, also, to Urban Meyers' perfect 6-0 mark against the Vols, we are in an era where legions of Gator fans look at a victory over Tennessee something more akin to a win over Kentucky or Vandy than the highly significant cause for celebration that it should be.

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