Russell Smith helps preview Tennessee vs. Florida Gators: Podcast

Gator Country brings you our midweek Florida Gators podcast as Russell Smith of Fox Sports Knoxville joined us to preview the Tennessee game this Saturday afternoon in Knoxville.

Andrew Spivey and Nick de la Torre talk with Smith about the keys to the game, plus get his feeling on what each team needs to do in order to win.

Andrew and Nick also continue the break down, plus give their keys on both sides of the ball and continue talking about quarterback Austin Appleby.

TRANSCRIPT:

 

Nick:                         What’s going on, Gator fans? Tennessee week. College Game Day in Knoxville. Rocky Top not as confident as they were when they were collecting preseason championship trophies. Andrew, you’ve gotten a couple days to get over the last game. Are you finally ready for Tennessee week, the week you’ve been waiting for since last Tennessee week?

Andrew:                 Hell, yeah. It is time.

Nick:                         Can I get a Rick Flair woo?

Andrew:                 Woo! We got it. It is probably my, well, Opening Day is my favorite day of the year in baseball.

Nick:                         Stop lying.

Andrew:                 That is my favorite day of the year.

Nick:                         Opening Day of baseball.

Andrew:                 Opening Day of baseball is my favorite day of the year. I don’t hide that, but outside of that day this is probably my favorite day and week of the year, this Tennessee game. The despise that I have for that program, for that city, just for everything up there, is just awesome. The retards up there in Knoxville are already talking about Florida’s defensive stats don’t mean anything, because they haven’t played anybody. Guess what? Who have you played? You beat App State, Ohio, and VA Tech, who’s rebuilding. Come one. No. They’re idiotic, and for them to start already mailing in the bag, if they think that’s going to pull me off of them, get real. I’m still coming.

Nick:                         This is a very telling week for Tennessee. This is the kind of game that can completely demoralize you. Losing to this Florida team again, and then you’re at Georgia, at Texas A&M, and then host Alabama. That four week stretch is harder than any other team will play in the entire country, and if you start it off with a loss at home to Florida, your 12th in a row, good luck. Good luck over the next month.

Andrew:                 Don’t they play A&M next week and then Georgia after Alabama, or is Alabama next?

Nick:                         No. They host Florida, and then October 1 at Georgia, October 8 at Texas A&M, and then October 15 Alabama.

Andrew:                 Wow.

Nick:                         Then they get to play at Boom, so that’ll probably be a win.

Andrew:                 Ask me if I care.

Nick:                         They get a bye week and then Boom.

Andrew:                 Ask me if I care.

Nick:                         I won’t even bother.

Andrew:                 I don’t care. It’s great. We’re about to be joined, Nick, by our good friend up in Knoxville. Okay, I lied. I lied, maybe not our good friend, but someone we’re going to talk to up in Knoxville. I don’t know if I can be friends with enemies.

Nick:                         I like Russell. Great guy.

Andrew:                 Russell Smith from Knoxville, host of The Drive on FOX Sports up there. He’s about to join us here in a minute and give us his take of the Tennessee side. Nick, I didn’t want to bring him. I didn’t want to bring anyone on from Knoxville, because I don’t like talking to Knoxville people, but you wanted it. So we’re going to bring him on.

Nick:                         We’ve got a schedule. The people expect certain things from us. We got to stick to our schedule.

Andrew:                 I mean, if you say so. Sometimes schedules are made to be broken.

Nick:                         No.

Andrew:                 Yes. Schedules are made to be broken.

Nick:                         That’s not even how the saying goes.

Andrew:                 No, but in my world it is. That’s kind of how we roll. We’ll see. We’ll see what he has to say here. Real quick, Nick, before we go to Russell, let’s get some housecleaning updates here. Del Rio out, like we said. Callaway, Mac says he’s questionable. He ain’t questionable. He’s playing football on Saturday.

Nick:                         Sell.

Andrew:                 Yeah. He also says Tyrie Cleveland is coming back. I personally think that Mac has gotten over him being in the dog house a little bit, and is like it’s Tennessee week, tired of punishing him, let’s go.

Nick:                         I’m not ready to buy or sell on that yet. Maybe I will be, maybe we’ll have something about that on Friday.

Andrew:                 Okay.

Nick:                         I’m not ready to buy or sell on Tyrie Cleveland’s impact this Saturday.

Andrew:                 I don’t know. They could use him. There’s no doubt they could use him. So that’s all the housecleaning notes, right?

Nick:                         Yeah.

Andrew:                 Kylan Johnson was out yesterday. He’ll play. Chris, okay, we’re done. Alright, Nick, let’s go to Russell. He’s waiting on us. Let’s go to Russell real quick. We’ll talk to Russell for a few minutes, get his take. We’ll come back, and we’ll get the real Gator talk.

Welcome back. We’re joined now by Russell Smith, host of The Drive on FOX Sports Knoxville, from up in enemy territory in Knoxville this week. Russell, Nick and I appreciate you coming on. How’s the scene up in Knoxville this week?

S3                               Guys, you could cut the tension in the air here in Big Orange country with a knife. Tennessee’s season has become pretty much a one game season the past couple of years. Every loss to Florida has just compounded the pressure, whether it’s Phillip Fulmer or even Lane Kiffin for the one year he was there, what a Florida game that was. Obviously, Derek Dooley, and now Butch Jones. The time to win is now. It was really a couple of years ago, but to say the atmosphere in Knoxville this week is tense is a huge understatement.

Nick:                         Just the way the last two in particular have ended, a kicker who was basically run out of Gainesville makes a game winner on the road, the first time the stadium’s ever checkered, and then a 4th and 13 63-yard touchdown out of nowhere. That kind of heartbreak probably maybe even pours a little more salt into the wound, just the way that those two games have ended.

S3                               No doubt about it. It’s interesting. I heard somebody else from Florida talking about the 2014 game, I guess it was, the 10-9 game where there was a kick at the end. It’s interesting how the two fan bases view those games, because Tennessee fans don’t think about the Florida kicker who got ran out of town making a field goal. They don’t think about Callaway making a great play to win that game. Tennessee fans look at it as their team just completely collapsing, a total choke job. They feel like they had that game won at 9-0 in 2014, to feel like they probably should have been up 17-0 or something like that at that point, as if it should never have come down to that. They feel like last year they had 419 yards of total offense, 250 yards rushing, they feel like they had the game won. So it’s interesting.

Probably the truth lies somewhere in the middle. You have to give Florida credit for taking advantage of those situations that Tennessee put themselves in, but I do think that at the end of the day this comes down to a mental block. Everything’s pretty much even. I think Tennessee and Florida are more less even from a talent perspective. I don’t think one coaching staff has some sort of significant strategic advantage over the other. Obviously, the game’s in Knoxville, but that hasn’t seemed to bother Florida for quite some time. This is going to come down to, in my opinion, does Tennessee believe deep down in their heart of hearts that they can beat Florida? I don’t think they do. If they can get that belief, if they can just get the one win, you feel like the series would be on even footing again, but they have not been able to make those plays. To me, I feel like they lack confidence, and they lack belief in themselves when it comes to this series.

Andrew:                 When were at Media Days Nick and I actually had this conversation, and I said that it might be good if Butch Jones admitted this was a big game. We had this same talk when Will Muschamp was at Florida. He would never call a big game a big game. He was just saying it was another game. Jim McElwain is big on there’s some big games that are bigger than others. Do you think that Butch going out of his way not to mention Florida by name is something that the fan base doesn’t like and something maybe he should start doing?

S3                               I haven’t noticed that he hasn’t mentioned Florida by name. He certainly would not buy into the hype and talk about it being a big game. He said immediately after Tennessee squeaked out its win over Ohio last week, the SEC Network crew stuck a camera in his face and asked him the first thing, “What about Florida?” He said, “It’s the next game.” I think there is a segment of the fan base that wishes he would just go ahead and embrace the hugeness of this game and say, “It’s time for us to win. It’s time for us to make this rivalry a rivalry again,” but that’s just not Butch Jones’ makeup. That’s not who he is. He is never going to be a guy who give a colorful quote, and that might be frustrating to some fans, maybe even some media at times, but the simple fact of the matter is if he goes out there and wins this week and puts together the kind of season that Vol fans and a lot of media expect them to have this year, then all that stuff doesn’t matter. People don’t care about the juicy quote if you’re winning.

Andrew:                 Right. We’ve kind of been starting to break this game down, and me, personally, and Nick as well, we think that the big matchup for Florida on defense, Tennessee on offense, is going to be how well they control Josh Dobbs’ running game. We believe Florida’s going to go man, have a spy on Dobbs as well. Is that kind of where you think things are going to happen as well? Dobbs’ running game could be the X factor in the game.

S3                               Yeah. I think that’s a key factor, certainly. I do not think Tennessee can beat Florida if Josh Dobbs doesn’t have a huge game. Tennessee the first couple of games this year I think they’ve tried to limit Dobbs’ exposure to keep him healthy, which is understandable, but I also think that’s led to some of the offensive struggles that you’ve seen Tennessee have to deal with so far this year. If Tennessee is going to live up to its potential, they’ve got to unleash Dobbs. They can’t worry about protecting him and him not getting injured. I would expect that Butch Jones and his staff realizes that, and they’re going to completely unleash him this weekend against Florida. I mean, he had a big game down there last year. He’s had big games generally when Tennessee has won, and big games against Georgia last year and in their bowl games. Josh Dobbs has to play well. He’s not a super accurate passer. I would agree Florida will probably go man and force Josh Dobbs to beat them. That’s not something that he’s shown he can do a lot. He can do it a little bit.

Josh Malone has emerged as a big play wide receiver for Tennessee this year. I expect them to take some shots down the field to keep them honest, but you guys are right. I mean, Josh Dobbs is going to have to make plays with his legs. If he doesn’t, if he takes a lot of sacks, if he has negative rushing yardarge, I can’t imagine any scenario where Tennessee would win, unless it’s just a thing where Florida’s offense is so anemic that they can’t move the ball at all.

Nick:                         That is always an option, especially when you look at quarterback. Purdue graduate transfer, Austin Appleby, who will start this week, he’s just 1-5 on the road, 7 touchdowns to 11 interceptions. We asked him on Monday about playing in big venues, and he mentioned Penn State and some of the other Big 10 venues that Purdue had played at, but he didn’t play at them. Didn’t play at Michigan State, at Penn State. Didn’t play at Wisconsin. So he’s been there, but hasn’t seen a crowd like he will see that is probably, frankly, just thirsty for blood on Saturday in Neyland.

I wanted to ask, Tennessee’s pass defense has been pretty good this year, right behind Florida, 2nd in the SEC, but when you look at the running yards that they’ve allowed, and more specifically the average. Appalachian State averaged over 4 yards a carry, as did Virginia Tech. Florida with a backup quarterback and four strong running backs will probably try to get that running game going. When you look at Tennessee, especially with Reeves-Maybin and his status questionable, Kirkland I think is out this week, is this an area where Tennessee needs to be concerned, stopping the Gators on the ground?

S3                               Absolutely. I mean, Tennessee’s defense has been decimated by injuries at this point. Everybody knows about Cam Sutton, who’s probably one of the best players on the team. He’s out probably for the rest of the year with a broken ankle. Actually, as good as he is, I think that is a position where they might be able to overcome that, because they do have some depth there in the secondary, but their depth at linebacker is practically nonexistent. With Kirkland out you’re going to be looking at a former walk-on, Colton Jumper, starting there. He struggled in his playing time against Florida last year, and quite frankly he struggled in his playing time for Tennessee this year. So with Jalen Reeves-Maybin a little bit banged up who knows how effective he’s going to be if he’s able to go at all. Tennessee, when those two are healthy, Kirkland and Reeves-Maybin, Tennessee has great linebacker play, but without them there is a significant drop off. So that has to be a huge concern for Tennessee.

When you talk about them and their struggles in the running game, they really started very slowly against Appalachian State and Virginia Tech, but after a rough first quarter or two in both those games they really tightened the screws, shut out Appalachian State in the second half, pretty much shut down Virginia Tech from the 2nd quarter on in that game. One wonders if maybe that might be attributable to a new defensive coordinator in Bob Shoop, and just some early season growing pains. Tennessee has terrific talent in its front four. They have terrific depth in its front defensive line. They have terrific talent and depth in the secondary, but that linebacker spot is something to keep an eye on, and certainly it’s going to keep Vol fans up as we move closer to this game.

Andrew:                 My final question for you, before we get you off, is in your opinion if Florida wins, what will it be because, and if Tennessee wins, what will it be because?

S3                               That’s a great question. Long time followers of this series probably will point to, I think, ever since they started playing every year, and it’s been what? Over 25 years now I think. All but two or three years the team that runs the ball for the most yardage wins. So that’s obviously something to keep an eye on. I think generally it’s just controlling the line of scrimmage. Who can whip who on both sides of the ball and impose their will, because both teams like to run the football. I think that’s always key in this series.

I think turnovers are key, especially with a new quarterback for the Gators. Tennessee would love to be able to pick a ball off here or there, rattle him, cause some turnovers. That would help. The kicking game is always critical. So I would point to those three things. Who wins the rushing battle? Who wins the turnover battle, and who wins the kicking game? Whoever does two of three of those things I think would be a pretty safe bet.

Nick:                         We always ask if you’re ready to make a prediction. If you want to, you can predict who wins this game. Will it be 12 in a row, or does Butch get the biggest win, his marquis win, at Tennessee?

S3                               Sure. I think, and I’ve said this for a number of years, I believe after maybe that first Butch game in 2014, where I just said, I can’t reasonably pick Tennessee to win a game in this series until they show they can do it. So I’m not picking Tennessee to win, even though they are, I think last I checked, about an 8.5 point favorite. I’ll pick the Gators to win. I would imagine it’s going to be ugly, low scoring. Florida has a terrific defense. Tennessee has problems on the offensive line. I think it’s going to be very difficult for Tennessee to move the ball, but I think Tennessee is pretty good defensively, and I don’t think Florida, particularly with their quarterback issues, is that great an offensive team.

So I think it’s going to be a very close game. I think it’s going to be an ugly game, as I said. I think it’s going to come down to the little things, turnovers and the kicking game, but until Tennessee does it and walks off the field either at Neyland Stadium or in Gainesville with a victory over Florida, I just can’t pick the Vols. I’ll pick Florida to win a close game, 17-13, something like that.

Andrew:                 That’s kind of what we did as well. I’ve told people as well that I couldn’t predict them to win until they did, but, Russell, we appreciate it so much. Tell everyone where they can find you this week for your coverage, and we’ll get you out of here.

S3                               Yeah, guys, thanks a lot for having me on this afternoon. Really enjoyed it. I do a radio show in Knoxville on FOX Sports Radio, FOX Sports Knoxville. It’s called The Drive. We’re on from 3:00-6:00 Eastern Time. You can listen online at FOXSportsKnoxville.com. If you’re in Knoxville you can listen on 101.5 FM or 1340 AM, but FOXSportsKnoxville.com your safest bet. We got a great mobile site if people want to stream it and get a little bit of the Tennessee flavor of the rivalry this week. On Twitter @RussellTheDrive as well. We post links to our daily podcast and everything up there, if folks want to check it out.

Andrew:                 Awesome. Thank you so much, Russell. We’ll see you in Knoxville this weekend.

S3                               Looking forward to it.

Nick:                         Thank you. See you up there.

Andrew:                 Alright, Nick. We’re back from Russell. That was good talk. What’s interesting to me is this, Nick, and when we talked on Sunday their secondary I don’t think can afford to lose Cam Sutton. He says they can. I’m going to refer to him. He’s the expert up there, but I don’t know. I think they’re concerned about that.

Nick:                         You don’t just bat an eye at losing an All-SEC player, certainly not someone as good as Cam Suttong. You don’t bat an eye to that. That’s a big loss to me though. Losing Kirkland and maybe Reeves-Maybin might be just as big of a loss.

Andrew:                 A walk-on is going to be playing in this game.

Nick:                         That’s not good.

Andrew:                 No.

Nick:                         That’s not good.

Andrew:                 Here’s the thing. We joke about the walk-on with Del Rio, but that was a different situation. This guy just wasn’t good enough to get a scholarship, so he walked on. That’s the difference. I’m going to say this, and that is that Florida, excuse me, Tennessee’s offensive and defensive line has been pushed around a ton. Florida’s offensive line’s been pushed around some. Florida’s defensive line ain’t been pushed around none. They’ve been pushing people around.

Nick:                         Nobody’s pushing Florida’s defensive line around, and certainly not anyone on Tennessee’s line.

Andrew:                 Yeah. For him to say Dobbs is inaccurate, that’s exactly right. Dobbs, he says they’re going to take deep shots. Well, if they’re taking deep shots, Nick, I’m picking Quincy and Jalen Tabor on Friday, because if Dobbs is taking deep shots, Quincy and Jalen are having big days.

Nick:                         Tennessee is so one dimensional because of how bad of a passer Joshua Dobbs is. He is a very intriguing prospect when you look at him as far as his running ability and his size. His running ability and his size you don’t find that. He’s basically like a running back, but, to me, the passing is so bad they’re almost running wildcat with Dobbs. You can kind of just say, like we’ve said already on this podcast, you play man. You spy somebody on Dobbs, and you sell out to stop the run.

Andrew:                 Yeah. Here’s the thing.

Nick:                         Show us that you can beat us with your arm, because you barely showed us that you can beat Ohio with your quarterback’s arm, and you threw for 91 yards against Virginia Tech.

Andrew:                 Here’s the thing, and that is, well Virginia Tech also has a really good secondary, so that kind of shows you probably what they were doing as well. Florida’s going to play man against 90% of the teams they’re going to play this year, but they play what they call man free, which is where they have one of their safeties spying over the top to help. I don’t know if you even spy your safety over the top to help this week. Maybe 3rd and longs.

Nick:                         For what?

Andrew:                 I mean, you’re not. Here’s the thing. I don’t know what, whoever is doing the game planning for Tennessee has something against Jalen Hurd like Lane Kiffin has against OJ Howard. It’s like Hurd doesn’t exist for them, just like OJ Howard doesn’t exist for Bama.

Nick:                         OJ Howard needs to exist.

Andrew:                 I know he does.

Nick:                         I agree with you. He doesn’t, but he needs to. Come on, Lane.

Andrew:                 Look what happened in the Clemson game when he did.

Nick:                         Come on, Lane.

Andrew:                 Come on, Lane. Leave Nick’s daughter alone, and just go to…

Nick:                         Let OJ flourish.

Andrew:                 Yes. Let OJ be OJ. He’s not OJ from USC; he’s OJ Howard.

Nick:                         Here’s something we disagree on.

Andrew:                 Okay.

Nick:                         I love the smoky gray uniforms that they’re breaking out. First off, Butch Jones refuses to admit that this is a big game, but they continue doing these gimmicky things. Two years ago in Knoxville it was the checkerboard Neyland.

Andrew:                 And it’s coming back this year.

Nick:                         They’re checkerboarding Neyland again?

Andrew:                 They’re trying.

Nick:                         It’s going to be 0-3. I love these smoky gray uniforms. They add that gray helmet into it, into the mix. Love them.

Andrew:                 I just think it’s the smoke before the fire of the ass whooping. That’s what they’re coming out. They’re bringing the smoky gray before the ass whooping.

Nick:                         It very well could be, but I love…

Andrew:                 If you say that wasn’t a good joke, you’re full of shit, because it was. The smoke is coming, boss. It’s coming.

Nick:                         Let’s talk about Florida football and smoke. It’ll get people antsy.

Andrew:                 That’s true. That cloud is still over because of Boom, but Russell talked about Butch not admitting it, that’s not his person. He says he hasn’t noticed the non Florida talk. Nick, you and I said it at Media Days, and I continue to hear him say it. He will not reference Florida. He does not. It’s like his vocabulary will not say Florida. It is literally what is going to get him continued to be beat. You can’t defeat an opponent if you don’t recognize the opponent. It’s the world. It’s everything we live in. You have to recognize the opponent in order to beat the opponent. What Russell also said was, I don’t know if they mentally believe they can. There is a shadow of a doubt in Tennessee’s mind that they believe. There’s no chance they believe. They can’t believe. Their coach doesn’t even believe.

Nick:                         Did you just drop some Sun Tsu, the Art of War, on us?

Andrew:                 Yes. I did.

Nick:                         Look at you.

Andrew:                 Yes. I did. When it comes to Tennessee, war is what we call it.

Nick:                         You are bringing, no, I’m impressed. You’re dropping some ancient knowledge.

Andrew:                 Behind this good looking person is a smart man.

Nick:                         Some Ancient Chinese war knowledge.

Andrew:                 Yes. Here’s the thing though. All jokes aside, and I really am, Nick, you just have to admit that there is a big uncertainty in that locker room of, can we really beat those guys? Florida has their number.

Nick:                         Florida has their number. Let’s look at the game last year.

Andrew:                 Okay.

Nick:                         Last year Tennessee threw the ball, where is it? 19 times. They ran the ball 51 times. They ran it well. A lot of that goes to the missed tackles, 51 attempts for 254 yards. That’s almost 5 yards a carry.

Andrew:                 How many did Dobbs have?

Nick:                         Dobbs, rushing, hold on a second. My question to you was, while I get that number, is that what we’re expecting? Dobbs ran 18 times for 136 last year.

Andrew:                 I expect that they’re going to have to run the ball, I mean, that they’re going to try their hardest, because, Nick, and this is a truth.

Nick:                         Here’s something to look at. So when you look at Tennessee’s biggest games, it seems like the coaching staff knows what their bread and butter is, what they do well, and it’s not throwing the ball. Look at Florida, Dobbs tied for a season high 18 carries. Georgia, tied season high 18 carries. At Alabama, 16 carries.

Andrew:                 You got to do what you got to do. I just don’t know. Even the best passers, and I say this being as serious as I can be, Drew Barker was not a bad passer when it came to Gainesville the other day. Drew Barker is actually a decent passer. He looked like shit. Whoever Florida faces at quarterback is going to look bad because of the secondary. So a bad quarterback is going to look even worse. My thing is this, and, Nick, you know I’m a big Jon Bullard fan. I’m a big Antonio Morrison fan. The Gators are better in those two spots, and they have the missing link in Alex Anzalone. Dobbs is going to have a hard time making those big runs.

Nick:                         I agree. I think the big difference is Alex Anzalone, and you didn’t have him last year.

Andrew:                 Yes. Absolutely. It’s 100%. Anzalone is a more athletic guy that can roam sideline to sideline. Am I going to say he’s Josh Dobbs, athletic and fast? No. But he’s pretty damn athletic. Remember, he was a high school running back, and he’s a guy that can do some very good things. I’m not underestimating what Alex Anzalone can do against this team. I think he can do really well. I’m thinking that they throw the ball very little, and, for me, I think it’s this. Tennessee wants this game to be very close, or low scoring, if it’s high scoring I think Tennessee’s afraid, because I don’t think they can score on that. I will say this as well. Remember what Tennessee had to do last year to score. That was the trick play to Dobbs.

Nick:                         Yeah. Like I said, that was your leading receiver, rusher, and passer at half time last year. I’m going to spring a little comment from Kahlil McKenzie on you.

Andrew:                 Oh, brother.

Nick:                         He was asked about the trash talk that Florida has engaged in. Marcell Harris on Saturday said that Florida comes out every year and dominates the Vols. Butch Jones kind of just brushed that off, said, “It’s clutter. It’s distraction, and you shouldn’t need that to motivate you.” McKenzie said, “It’s just something that they can do, and they can try and do whatever they do with all those things, but we’re not posting those statements anywhere or anything like that. We all know what they have to say, just come 3:30 on Saturday. It’s about that action. That’s it.” Buy or sell that Tennessee doesn’t have any of the tweets or any of the things that Florida has said around their locker room, around their football facility, this week?

Andrew:                 Sell. Actually, they’re all over the place. They’re all over the place. I say that, intimidation can be fearful. If they’re intimidated, maybe they don’t. Maybe they don’t remind themselves Jalen Tabor is a Gator. Maybe they don’t, but it’s got to be there. My thing is this, and I do think there’s bulletin board material that can lead one way or the other, but to not accept that you’re going into a big game is almost preparing yourself to fail, is almost preparing yourself that when we lose we don’t have to take nothing back.

Nick:                         Kind of something Jim McElwain has talked about where you get into situations where guys don’t want to give 100%, because then you have the excuse of I didn’t try that hard, and if I would have done more, if I would have tried harder, the outcome would have been different.

Andrew:                 Yeah. It’s in their head. Here’s the thing too, Nick.

Nick:                         Is Andrew Spivey in the Vols’ head?

Andrew:                 I’m sure. I’m sure. Those clowns don’t even come up in the mentions no more. They’re clowns, bro. Clowns. Here’s my thing, Nick, and this is something for when Gators are on offense. Tennessee does have some big bodies up front, but they’ve been pushed around, and with big Fred playing guard now I’m really feeling this offensive line. Nick, I’m telling you I think Martez Ivey comes back pissed off this week.

Nick:                         He was pissed off the last time we saw him.

Andrew:                 I think he shows that Saturday. I really do.

Nick:                         He hasn’t cooled down?

Andrew:                 I think it’s one of those things that there’s always a turning point in people’s career, and I think this is going to be that turning point. I really do, Nick. I think it’s going to be that turning point where when look back we’re going to say, when he took that shot it was what got his motor going.

Nick:                         Maybe. We will see about that. I know I am excited for this game. I know you’re excited for this game. What do you make of practice being closed this week?

Andrew:                 Love it. Nick, I told you before. I think every football practice should be closed. It is nobody’s business what is going on there. If you and I can’t do our job without being able to go out there and see it, we’re shitty reporters. We’re shitty at what we do. We shouldn’t have to. Jim McElwain should close practice off. You don’t get to see the President working in what he does. You don’t get to see this. Me and you disagree on this, and that’s perfectly cool, but you should not get to see practice. I love it. I don’t think there’s a conspiracy theory that Luke Del Rio’s playing. I think it’s simply Mac wants things focused. He wants to keep things closed, and it’s time to get to business.

Nick:                         Time to get to business. I don’t think there’s any kind of conspiracy theory. Honestly, we’ve stopped doing what did we learn at practice, stuff like that. I learned that the offensive line is really flexible, because what are we watching? We’re watching stretching. We’re watching fast ball, which is four quick plays 11 on 11, and then individual drills, and then we’re kicked out. Sometimes we don’t even get those individual drills, and we’re just watching stretching and fast ball. Sometimes fast ball is punt and kick return.

Andrew:                 Right.

Nick:                         So to me it takes me longer to get from my house to get to practice than I’m actually spending at practice. Close it. The only thing I’m getting out of practice is getting a chance to get a head count and say, Tyrie Cleveland’s been injured; is he at practice today? No. Is he at practice today? Yep. He’s back at practice. That’s the only benefit I’m getting of practice, and maybe Jim McElwain doesn’t want us to have that head count heading into a week like this.

Andrew:                 Would you agree though that if you can’t do your job without going out to practice, then you’re doing it?

Nick:                         Yeah. You have to be able to do your job without being able, not a chance.

Andrew:                 I mean, like summer. It’s like fall camp. It is what it is. I love it. I’m ready to see what comes out of it. May not be nothing. Maybe something. I don’t know what it will be. I’m ready to see whatever it is. I think that there is no doubt in my mind Jim McElwain knows what big games are, and he pulls out the stops at big games. Greg McElroy told us last year, and I believe it was Garrett Grayson that told us as well, that McElwain always saves special plays for big games.

Nick:                         I would be interested to see that. Remember, Florida had that kind of ugly fake reverse pass last year that didn’t go so well, but yeah, maybe.

Andrew:                 Wasn’t it McElroy? I think it was. I believe it was McElroy that told us that.

Nick:                         McElroy and Grayson, no, yeah, McElroy said that.

Andrew:                 Right. Yes. So we’ll see what that is there. I don’t know. Eddy Pineiro’s going to be big in this game. There’s no doubt about that. Special teams are going to be big in this game. It always is. I’m going to really go out on a limb and say that Appleby does some good things, because they’re going to key in, they’re going to make him go one on one, and I think Antonio Callaway is better than any DB they got.

Nick:                         Yes.

Andrew:                 Yeah. So we’ll see. Nick, let’s try to wrap this up real quick. Anything else you really want to get in on this podcast before we hop out of here?

Nick:                         Yeah. I do want to, how much do we think will be asked of Austin Appleby? I guess that you have to kind of figure out how well is Florida running the ball, because if you can run the ball effectively, then you can trust Appleby to throw some play action, get the defense to bite in, suck the defense in, maybe hit some things, but I just don’t know how much I trust Austin Appleby to run the kind of plays that Luke Del Rio was running. Florida comes out against a team that’s giving up 5 yards per carry, runs on the first play 11 yards, and then you throw three times. I don’t think that happens. If Florida comes out and runs the ball for 11 yards on the first carry, Austin Appleby’s not throwing on the second play of the game.

Andrew:                 I would be willing to bet you a large sum of money that the first play Florida runs on Saturday is a pass.

Nick:                         We will have a bet, because Florida’s first play will be a run.

Andrew:                 We’ll see. Here’s the thing, and it goes back to our conversation on Monday. I think that we’re looking too much Purdue Austin Appleby. I think we are looking at Purdue Austin Appleby too much. I do think that he did learn a little bit from Nuss, and I do think that he’ll be able to be manageable. I do think that. Something we haven’t thought about is his athleticism to run if need be, so we’ll see that as well.

Nick:                         Then how much do you allow him to run, given the state of your quarterback situation behind him?

Andrew:                 Once again, it’s Tennessee. You kind of just got to go. I mean, it’s really all it is. You can’t look ahead to Vandy next week if you can’t beat Tennessee.

Nick:                         That’s true, but I don’t know how much you run him.

Andrew:                 I’m just saying I think that Appleby, I’ll say this. I think Appleby throws for 200.

Nick:                         That’ll be a buy/sell for Friday. Before we sign out, I will give you some quick stats. Florida is 11-0 versus Tennessee in the last 11 years. Florida’s averaging 29 points a game to Tennessee’s 16.3.

Andrew:                 Okay.

Nick:                         Tennessee has double the amount of turnovers, 28 Tennessee turnovers to 14 by Florida. Just a little stat section.

Andrew:                 Gators dominate, my friend.

Nick:                         That’s pretty dominating right there.

Andrew:                 It’s not a rivalry if the other team doesn’t win. I got to throw a little joke at you, Nick. Are you ready for it?

Nick:                         I don’t know. Maybe. Is it going to get us kicked off iTunes?

Andrew:                 Maybe. It’s the joke I sent you on the phone the other day. Should we say it or not?

Nick:                         Hit me.

Andrew:                 Why does the Alabama…

Nick:                         Oh, no.

Andrew:                 Football player not cross the Tennessee cheerleader?

Nick:                         I’m not associated with this.

Andrew:                 Why, Nick?

Nick:                         Why?

Andrew:                 Because even Alabama fans avoid Tennessee.

Nick:                         I think you said it wrong.

Andrew:                 I think I did. Anyway, it’s still a good joke. Nick, tell the people where they can find us. We’ll get out of here, and we’ll continue this rocky top blasting on Friday, because the Vols suck.

Nick:                         www.GatorCountry.com. Andrew and I will both be in Knoxville this weekend, so stay tuned to the message boards as we take pictures, and you can watch me eat my way through Knoxville. @GatorCountry on Twitter and Gator Country on Facebook. It’s TheGatorCountry on Instagram. I’m @NickdelaTorreGC. He’s @AndrewSpiveyGC. Follow me on Instagram as well. Wish my dad happy birthday today. Andrew already did.

Andrew:                 There you go. We’ll be there. I’m planning on taking a photo in Neyland. I’m looking for some one liners that I can take a good shot at the Tennessee fan base. So if you got one of those, let me know, because we all know 12 is continuing. That big 12 is continuing on. So, guys, we appreciate it. See you guys on Friday. As always, chomp, chomp, and go Braves.

Nick:                         You stay classy, Gator Country.

Andrew Spivey
Andrew always knew he wanted to be involved with sports in some capacity. He began by coaching high school football for six years before deciding to pursue a career in journalism. While coaching, he was a part of two state semifinal teams in the state of Alabama. Given his past coaching experience, he figured covering recruiting would be a perfect fit. He began his career as an intern for Rivals.com, covering University of Florida football recruiting. After interning with Rivals for six months, he joined the Gator Country family as a recruiting analyst. Andrew enjoys spending his free time on the golf course and watching his beloved Atlanta Braves. Follow him on Twitter at @AndrewSpiveyGC.

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