Florida’s 48-14 trampling of Kentucky last Saturday was minutes old when the Gators began admitting their obsession with this week’s trip to Alabama.
“This offseason was dedicated to beating Alabama,” defensive tackle Jaye Howard told reporters. “We’re just going to go out there and let it all hang out.”
Alabama and Florida are meeting in the regular season for the first time since 2006 but have become annual rivals thanks to that December destination known as the Southeastern Conference championship game in Atlanta. The Gators rallied past the Crimson Tide 31-20 in 2008 and went on to win the national championship, and the Crimson Tide returned the favor last year with a 32-13 triumph and won the national title as well.
Tide players said the ’08 title loss served as motivation entering last year’s matchup. The Gators are making similar comments entering this Saturday night’s game at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
“I think it carries over a lot,” Alabama safety Mark Barron said. “That first year when they beat us, it carried over for us because we remembered what they had done to us and we wanted to get them, so It’s probably going to be the same way for them this year. They’re probably going to have some kind of revenge-type of mindset and will have a good week of practice and will come here ready to play.”
That would give the Gators a notable advantage then, right? Not necessarily, according to Barron.
“We’re just going to do what we do,” he said. “We have a motivational edge regardless of the situation, because we want to come in and win every game and dominate every opponent we play. I don’t feel like they have any kind of motivational edge.”
Alabama has won 28 consecutive regular-season games dating back to a 2007 loss at Auburn. Florida has won 24 straight regular-season contests dating back to a 2008 loss to Ole Miss.
The Gators are underdogs this week for the first time since Oct. 6, 2007, when they lost 28-24 at eventual national champion LSU, a game remembered for the Tigers converting five fourth downs. That was the second road start for former Florida quarterback Tim Tebow.
“This is a game with obviously a lot of national attention, and it’s a game a lot of people are asking if there is payback,” Florida coach Urban Meyer said. “I think a good majority of our team right now wasn’t even with us last year during this game.”
Alabama jumped on Florida quickly last December, but the Gators got going just before halftime to pull within 19-13. Florida got the ball to open the second half, but the Gators ran eight plays for 14 yards in the third quarter, while the Tide ran 19 for 152 and blew the game open.
The 19-point loss was Meyer’s worst with Florida since 2005, when his first Gators team traveled to Bryant-Denny and got thumped by Mike Shula’s Tide 31-3. That game has since been vacated due to NCAA sanctions.
In the past 15 years, Alabama and Florida have played eight times and split the meetings.
“I have nothing but the utmost respect for the Florida team and their players and their coaching staff,” Tide tailback Mark Ingram said. “When they beat us my freshman year, I remember for a whole year that was all we could think about, getting back to the championship game and playing them, so I’m sure they have the same mindset after last year’s championship game.
“It’s always a great matchup, and it’s always clean with good sportsmanship.”
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or (423) 757-6524.