Urban Meyer’s biggest concern about Saturday’s road game in Neyland Stadium is simple — don’t break routine.
With so many players set to make their first start in a Southeastern Conference road game, Meyer wants his guys focused on business as usual when they take on the Vols on Saturday at 3:30 p.m.
“We just can’t mess up the routine,” Meyer said. “All great players, all great teams have routines, and when they’re disrupted, that’s when you get lack of concentration.”
Meyer wants his players to be in the right place at the right time, go through normal pregame rituals and avoid distractions.
But something else has become part of the routine when Florida faces Tennessee — a UF victory.
The Gators have beat the Volunteers in each of Meyer’s five seasons at the helm, with 2006’s 21-20 contest in Knoxville, Tenn. being the closest call.
UF has outrushed UT in each of those contests, and the other four games were decided by a combined 82 points.
This week’s focus has been on making sure this group of Gators picks up this rivalry where those other teams left off.
“There’s probably going to be some wide eyes,” Meyer said. “But if we can get through the first couple minutes of that game, we’ll be fine.”
Meyer is pleased with how far the young players have come on special teams since the start of the season, proof that the underclassmen are developing.
“That is the sign,” Meyer said. “It’s always been that way, and it’s the only thing I really look at. I can see the development.”
Senior punter Chas Henry grew up as a Vols fan going to games in Neyland Stadium with his family. He always knew what the atmosphere was like as a spectator, but it isn’t the same when you’re on the field and the crowd noise is drowning out communication with your teammates.
This is a very young team, I think 60 or 70 percent of the guys are freshmen or sophomores,” Henry said. “A lot of these guys, this is their first away game and their first rivalry game that they’ve ever played in. Even guys that were here last year, they may have redshirted and weren’t a part of this. So this is a huge game and a lot of guys are going to get welcomed into the SEC and welcomed into rivalry games by 107,000 people. This is a hostile crowd.”
The last time UF traveled to Knoxville, the Gators got out to a 17-0 first-quarter lead before the game settled into a relatively uneventful 30-6 win.
Last season, former UT coach Lane Kiffin pushed the game back to national prominence thanks to his offseason promise of beating Florida and his perceived beef with Meyer.
Saturday, there will be no Kiffin. Nor a crowd- pleasing clash between UT safety Eric Berry and UF quarterback Tim Tebow.
Those distractions are gone, so this game might be a little more boring. Routine even.
