In the back corner of UF's newly renovated weight room, just off the indoor sprint track, there is a cinderblock wall with paper strewn across it.
Here rests the proverbial bulletin board, which the Gators can stroll past to drum up hatred for Tennessee, LSU, Georgia and the "Team Out West" (Florida State), as the board reads.
It says "BEAT" at the top and has sections for UF's four biggest rivals, each of which contains a countdown of the days left until kickoff along with pictures, newspaper articles and clips from preseason college football magazines.
When I saw the board this summer (with 65 days left until the LSU game) the Tigers' section was sparse. Since then, I presume, it has been filled with mementos from last season's heartbreaking 28-24 loss in Baton Rouge and reminders of how important this game is for the Gators' national and Southeastern Conference title hopes.
This week, LSU defensive tackle Ricky Jean-Francois cemented his place on that board.
Jean-Francois told the Orlando Sentinel, "If we get a good shot on (quarterback Tim Tebow), we're going to try our best to take him out of the game. With his size and his heart, it's hard to get a clean shot."
LSU released a clarification from Jean-Francois on Tuesday afternoon, with the 6-foot-3, 281-pounder saying his comments were misinterpreted, and that they don't reflect the Tigers' brand of football.
"We never go into any football game trying to hurt a player from the other team," the statement read. "We have great respect for Tim as a player and a competitor. By taking him out of the game, I meant as a defense we are going to try to make him ineffective."
Translation: Whoops.
Tebow couldn't help but grin when asked about the comments after Tuesday's practice.
He has read this script before.
Last season, Florida Atlantic safety Taheem Acevedo told reporters, "I don't care how it happens, we just have to get [Tebow] out of the game. He carries that team."
The result: 338 yards and three touchdowns passing along with a rushing score for Tebow, who led the Gators to a 59-20 rout of the Owls.
The next week, Florida State linebacker Geno Hayes claimed Tebow was "going down," and the Seminoles would ruin his chances of winning a Heisman Trophy.
Instead, Tebow accounted for five touchdowns as Florida piled up 541 yards in a 45-12 win. Hayes finished the game with one tackle.
In those games, the Gators were better than their opponent, so the trash talk probably didn't swing the outcome. But making a comment before a game like this is a much bigger mistake.
The teams are evenly matched, and the winner will probably be the squad that wants it the most - see last season's contest when the Tigers fought their way to tough yardage on fourth downs during their late, game-winning touchdown drive.
So why give the Gators anything else to think about?
LSU realized the mistake quickly, barring Jean-Francois and several others from speaking with reporters for the rest of the week.
UF coach Urban Meyer said. "There's no place for that," in regard to Jean-Francois' comments, but added that he didn't expect them to have any effect on the game.
Tebow disagrees.
"I don't think it's ever really a good thing to talk trash because all it does is fire your opponent up," Tebow said. "At least that's how it is for me."
If all goes according to plan for Tebow, maybe the LSU section of the "BEAT" board will be even emptier next season.
