Tennessee - Florida Preview
Tennessee - Florida Preview
In a game that often features two of the nation's best quarterbacks, Tennessee and Florida go into their meeting this week loaded with uncertainty under center.
The Volunteers offense benefited from having a quality quarterback through most of the 1990s, from Andy Kelly to Heath Shuler to Peyton Manning to Tee Martin.
But the Vols looked shaky two weeks ago in a season-opening win over Southern Mississippi, and the kinks better be worked out by the time the Gators come to town for the nationally televised contest.
Redshirt freshman A.J. Suggs figures to get the nod to start, but true freshman Casey Clausen, who battled shoulder pain throughout training camp, also has been declared ready by coach Phillip Fulmer.
Game 1 starter Joey Mathews hurt his knee in practice last week and is questionable. If he is unavailable, the load will fall on the shoulders of Suggs and Clausen.
"It might be that we try to get him in the game somewhere," Fulmer said of Clausen. "But our thoughts right now are that A.J. is our quarterback until we need something different to happen or if we just get an opportunity. Casey's doing better and has a lot of things going for him."
Suggs was happy to see a familiar face at practice earlier this week when Martin, now with the Pittsburgh Steelers, stopped over to offer some encourage.
"I just told him to relax and don't doubt yourself," Martin said. "Don't ask yourself if you can do it, just know that you can and go out and do it."
Suggs said Martin must have been reading his mind.
"I was going to call him, and it's funny that he showed up," Suggs said.
If Suggs, who took most of the snaps with the first team during the week, can't get it done, though, it sounds as if Fulmer is prepared to give Clausen a shot. Clausen says he feels better now than at any time during camp.
"I feel good out there throwing the ball, real relaxed and just having fun and playing catch," said Clausen, recovering from tendinitis in his shoulder. "Every day, I feel like I'm improving, and the ball is going where I want it to go."
It'll be interesting to see if he can stay relaxed with the likes of Florida defensive linemen Alex Brown and Gerard Warren bearing down on him.
Florida's Steve Spurrier is reluctantly sticking with Jesse Palmer at Quarterback despite having pulled the senior last week in the first half of a 55-0 rout of Middle Tennessee State. Palmer was 15-of-23 for 193 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions for the Gators (2-0), but struggled with his timing on deep routes for the second straight game.
Redshirt freshman Rex Grossman relieved Palmer and looked solid, throwing for three touchdowns while completing nine of 14 passes for 95 yards with an interception.
"Rex probably will play, but we will start with Jesse just like the other games and see how it goes," Spurrier said. "Rex definitely will get a lot of snaps during practice and hopefully we'll have two ready to play."
Tennessee is expected to set another school record by packing around 110,000 fans into Neyland Stadium for Saturday's matchup.
The Volunteers, who own a 16-13 lead in the all-time series, have won 23 straight home games since a 35-29 loss to the Gators in 1996.
Even though the focus has been on the quarterback situations, the running games could again be the deciding factor Saturday. The team that has won the rushing battle has taken the last 10 meetings in the series, and that trend seems to favor Tennessee this year.
Doak Walker Award candidate Travis Henry had 19 carries for 135 yards against Southern Mississippi, the ninth 100-yard rushing game of his career and fourth in his last five regular season contests.
"Travis Henry is one of the best running backs in the country," Spurrier said. "He runs hard, is fast and tough."
Spurrier's top tailback may be unavailable Saturday. Robert Gillespie, who had 17 carries for 112 yards in a season-opening win over Ball State, missed last week's game with turf toe and is questionable for this week.
Sophomore Earnest Graham received most of the work, running 12 times for 85 yards and a touchdown.
"They are just like us in the fact that they'll have extra people in there trying to stop the run," Fulmer said.
