Skip to Content, Navigation, or Footer.
We inform. You decide.
Friday, March 29, 2024

In its quest to repeat as national champions, there is one thing Florida hopes not to duplicate.

A loss.

The No. 1 Gators (5-0, 3-0 Southeastern Conference) have lost to an SEC West foe at least once during each of their last 10 seasons.

A year ago, Ole Miss came into The Swamp unranked and left with one of the biggest upsets of 2008.

This time it will be Arkansas (3-2, 1-2 SEC) trying to catch UF in a "trap game," a week after Florida's primetime win at then-No. 4 LSU.

"I think you're dealing with 18-to-22 year olds, so if you don't have a lot of good leadership and a lot of focus on your team, I think you can have letdowns," quarterback Tim Tebow said. "That happens all the time in college football. You have a more talented team that loses to a team that should never beat them. That happens a lot."

It will be more difficult for the Razorbacks to have the element of surprise this year, though.

Arkansas upset then-No. 17 Auburn 44-23 last week.

Last year, Ole Miss came to Gainesville on Sept. 27 with a 2-2 record and directly on the heels of a home loss to Vanderbilt. Florida had won 30-26 at Tennessee the week before.

That experience should help keep UF focused as well as the fact that coach Urban Meyer says this Arkansas team has shown its talent, as opposed to 2008 Ole Miss that hadn't hit its stride yet.

"I'd believe (it's a trap game) if it was a Ole Miss," Meyer said. " We knew they were good, but you watch film and they're not playing very well yet. I don't think this one falls into that.

"This is a team that's good enough to compete for the West (Division) Championship."

Enjoy what you're reading? Get content from The Alligator delivered to your inbox

The game also will feature SEC leaders in two opposing categories.

The Razorbacks boast the conference's best passing offense, led by first-year transfer starter Ryan Mallett and love to throw it around with an average of 37 pass attempts per game.

The Gators feature the nation's top passing defense and can't wait for a shot at stopping Arkansas' aerial attack.

"We like teams that air it out," Florida cornerback Joe Haden said. "We don't look at it like a bad thing. We look at it like a good thing from all the chances for us to make plays.

"We're just trying to get our interceptions up."

When UF has the ball, it looks like much more of a mismatch.

Florida ranks No. 2 in the country in rushing offense (284.6 yards per game) while Arkansas checks in at No. 73 nationally in stopping the run.

Last year, the Gators faced the Razorbacks a week after a loss and began to heat up offensively.

UF had a pair of 100-yard rushers (Jeff Demps and Chris Rainey) in a 38-7 victory that included 21 unanswered points in the fourth quarter in Fayetteville.

This year, Meyer expects a tougher matchup.

"We're playing one of the hottest teams in the country right now," Meyer said. "We're playing a team that physically beat Auburn basically every which way.

"We saw this coming last year. We saw the improvement happening through the year."

Support your local paper
Donate Today
The Independent Florida Alligator has been independent of the university since 1971, your donation today could help #SaveStudentNewsrooms. Please consider giving today.

Powered by SNworks Solutions by The State News
All Content © 2024 The Independent Florida Alligator and Campus Communications, Inc.