LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) -A week ago, it would have been deemed another salvo from Urban Meyer to an opposing SEC coach.
This week, it just sounds like the truth.
The Florida coach didn’t exactly mince his words when asked how much progress Kentucky has made under Rich Brooks since Meyer began coaching the Gators five seasons ago.
“With all due respect, they really weren’t good,” Meyer said. “When we first got here, they were bad.”
Meyer isn’t being disrespectful. He called Brooks “a good friend” who has elevated the talent at Kentucky into the “upper third” of the Southeastern Conference.
s for the first time – there’s been one considerable boulder he and the Wildcats been unable to move: beating Florida.
The top-ranked Gators (3-0, 1-0 Southeastern Conference) enter Saturday’s game at Commonwealth Stadium riding a 22-game winning streak against Kentucky (2-0).
Good Gators. Bad Gators. Mediocre Gators. Doesn’t really matter when Florida plays the Wildcats.
Florida wins. Kentucky loses. And so it goes.
Only a handful of players on either side were even born the last time the Wildcats prevailed, a 10-3 victory in 1986. Back then Brooks was still trying to build Oregon and Meyer was in his first season as an assistant at Ohio State.
The coaches and players know the Wildcats are fighting more than just the Gators and superstar quarterback Tim Tebow, they’re taking on history.
“None of the players on the team that I came in to coach had had those kinds of significant victories,” Brooks said. “In the last 3 1/2 years, we have. As infrequent, unfortunately, as they have been, we have had them.”
Perhaps none bigger than a stunning overtime upset of then-No. 1 LSU in 2007. The game-clinching tackle has become a part of Kentucky lore.
ators can be had.
“They’re not the ’64 Packers,” said Kentucky defensive coordinator Steve Brown.
Maybe, but the Gators seem to play like it whenever they face the Wildcats.
Florida’s average margin of victory is 23.2 points. Only three of the last 15 meetings have been decided by less than 10 points.
The Gators, however, are treading lightly. Their aura of invincibility took a considerable shot when the beat Tennessee by “only” 10 points at the Swamp.
The Volunteers gave Florida a variety of different looks defensively and managed to hold Tebow to under 200 yards of total offense. The quarterback turned folk hero expects future opponents like the Wildcats to try and duplicate Tennessee’s success.
“I’m sure we’ll see a lot of what (Tennessee) did,” Tebow said. “We just have to get ready for it. We have to go in there with our ‘A’ game. We have to be ready.”
Even if the Gators aren’t healthy.
A flu epidemic has swept the campus and the football team hasn’t gone unscathed. Tight end Aaron Hernandez, wide receiver Justin Williams and running back Jeff Demps are among those slowed by illness and it’s possible several of Florida’s impact players could be slowed or sit out against Kentucky.
For all the progress Tennessee seemed to make against Tebow and company, Brooks figures all the Volunteers really did is make the Gators angry.
em when they’re mad,” Brooks said.
Florida’s 63-5 mauling in the Swamp last year came shortly after Tebow’s famous pledge following a loss to Ole Miss to play harder, a vow that spurred the Gators to their second national championship in three years.
There were no such proclamations last week. At this point, they’re probably unnecessary. The Wildcats know what to expect. Well, everything except a loss.
“You can’t say a team is going to destroy somebody,” said offensive guard Christian Johnson. “If you do, then there is no reason to practice. Florida is a great team, but we can’t say we don’t stand a chance.”
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AP Sports Writer Mark Long in Gainesville, Fla., contributed to this report.
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