NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -The fourth-ranked Florida Gators aren’t about to let up now.
Making the trip to Music City after the emotional rivalry game with Georgia has led to some tight games with Vanderbilt, and the Gators are coming off a 49-10 rout that has them in position to clinch the Southeastern Conference Eastern Division title for the second time in three seasons.
Letdown? No way. Not now.
“We have so much at stake we know we can’t have a letdown,” Florida cornerback Joe Haden said. “That’s why we’re playing this game like a championship game.”
Beating the Commodores (5-3, 3-2) on Saturday night puts Florida (7-1, 5-1) into the SEC championship game on Dec. 6 even with a final league game left against South Carolina. A win also keeps the Gators in the BCS mix for a second national championship in three seasons. Quarterback Tim Tebow calls it a huge deal.
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Florida coach Urban Meyer can’t imagine a chance for his Gators to experience a letdown in this game.
“How does that happen? It does, and I shouldn’t say those things because, sure, it can happen. But how? It’s why you get up in the morning. It’s why you eat. It’s why you brush your teeth. It’s why you shave, to go play in these games. Why else do you do this? It’s not fun. The only thing that’s fun is going and winning,” Meyer said.
This hasn’t been much of a series between these charter members of the SEC. Florida is 30-9-2 overall and has won 17 straight, and Meyer brings a team that simply has been dominant since Mississippi squeezed out a 31-30 win Sept. 27 in Gainesville.
The Gators have won four straight, the last three by an average of 54.3 points per game. They haven’t allowed an opponent to score in 18 of the last 30 quarters and haven’t allowed a touchdown rushing over the past two games.
Vanderbilt coach Bobby Johnson, who watched the Gators beat his team 49-22 last year in Gainesville, said his Commodores will have to play as well as they possibly can play to win.
“You don’t want to be on the bad end of one like we were last year against them, and I think that motivates your guys to get out and learn the game plan and get prepared to play them. They don’t have a lot of weaknesses, but you never know what’s going to happen in a football game,” Johnson said.
mpressive as Florida has been this season, the Commodores have something more than just pride to play for in this game. A Vandy win creates a three-way tie atop the SEC East in the loss column with Florida and Georgia, and the Commodores still have to play Tennessee and Kentucky.
“We know it’s a huge game for this program, for the SEC East standings,” Vanderbilt center Bradley Vierling said. “We hold our destiny in our hands and we’re excited about that opportunity. We lost to Georgia. If we beat Florida, who knows what can happen?”
Florida leads the SEC in scoring defense allowing 11.63 points per game and is 13th nationally giving up 103.1 yards rushing per game. The Gators rank seventh nationally scoring 42.88 points per game, and Tebow has only been intercepted twice in 177 passing attempts.
“The speed is the key to their program because of their offense and the things that they do,” Vandy safety Reshard Langford said. “But, we’re in the SEC and everyone’s fast. We’re a fast team, and we’re going to go out there ready to compete with them on Saturday.”
Vanderbilt is trying to snap a three-game skid that has erased most memories of a 5-0 start that had been the school’s best since 1943. The Commodores have been stuck at five wins since downing Auburn 14-13 on Oct. 4 but had an open date last week after losing to Duke 10-7.
ck and is coming off a career-best 210 yards passing against Duke. But Vandy is averaging only 254.6 yards offensively, leaning heavily on a defense that leads the SEC with 25 sacks and is third in turnover margin at plus five.
But history is not on Vandy’s side.
The Commodores still are trying to snap a 25-year drought of not being bowl eligible, and this program has not won four SEC games in a season since 1982. But their wins over South Carolina and Auburn have earned the Gators’ attention, and Florida safety Ahmad Black said having lost three straight makes Vandy dangerous.
“Those are the teams you worry about the most. Ole Miss, we had the edge on them all the way through, in every aspect of the game, and they came out on top of us. We don’t take anybody lightly,” Black said.
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