Two bitter rivals from the SEC will be facing off in The Swamp Saturday when the no. 19 Florida Gators hosts the Tennessee Volunteers.
With the hard times that the Volunteers have experienced lately it's easy to forget just how much vehemence exists within this rivalry. The meeting between the two in 1996 when the fourth ranked Gators held off Peyton Manning and the second ranked Volunteers is one of the greatest games in college football history.
And who can forget when notorious trash talker Steve Spurrier said that "you can't spell 'Citrus' without UT," making a reference to the bowl the second place team in the SEC went to? No one in Knoxville forgets, that's for sure.
"Our players understand the rivalry, what is at stake," Butch Jones, coach of Tennessee, told the Associated Press. "I think they understand what has gone on before them. The only thing we can control is our preparation and how we play on Saturday."
Tennessee is coming off of a pounding at the hands of the Oregon Ducks while Florida had a week off but is still smarting from a loss to Miami.
Florida fans may be a bit worried about their quarterback situation, during the loss to Miami Jeff Driskel turned the ball over three times and sprained his knee. While he says he is good to go for Saturday, Gator fans might be a little more concerned about his play than whether or not he can play, the Associated Press reports.
"No one's been able to stop us when we haven't had a turnover or a penalty, so just worry about us first and then taking care of the other team second," Driskel said. "If we can handle us, we'll be fine."
Florida is looking to avoid their first loss to the team from "Rocky Top" since 2004, and as 14.5 point favorites they should be able to cruise to victory. Yet, when these two rivals get together you're never sure what will happen. Perhaps all of the bad blood will fuel Tennessee to its first victory over a ranked opponent in its last 18 attempts, according to CBS Sports.
The game kicks off at 3:30 p.m. ET and a live stream of all of the action can be found here.
