DEL.ICIO.USFlorida linebacker calls out Tennessee
Brandon Spikes says Volunteers ‘quit playing’ during last season’s game
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Given the long and bitter history of the rivalry, Tennessee does not need any extra motivation to get ready to play Florida.
AP
Florida wide receiver Percy Harvin gets a step ahead of Tennessee defensive end Wes Brown to score a touchdown in last season’s game in Gainesville.
But Brandon Spikes, a senior linebacker for the Gators, decided to be generous this week and give the Volunteers some bulletin board material.
Spikes basically used Monday’s post-practice session with the media to call out Tennessee, whom he said “quit playing” in last year’s 59-20 win by Florida in Gainesville.
“They kind of gave up,” Spikes said of the Volunteers, who play Florida on Saturday at Neyland Stadium (3:30 p.m., CBS). “They quit playing.”
Tennessee doesn’t quite see it that way. The Volunteers remember a game where they trailed 28-6 and rallied to within eight, 28-20, when Fairburn’s Eric Berry returned an interception 96 yards for a touchdown.
Tennessee had the ball and a chance to tie when running back Arian Foster fumbled and Florida’s Dustin Doe returned it 18 yards for a touchdown. The dam broke and Florida scored 31 unanswered points to create the blowout.
After the game Florida special teams player Derek Baldry said that after one of the late Gator touchdowns, a Tennessee player told him that he wasn’t even going to try to block an extra point attempt.
“That kind of surprised me, for him saying I don’t want to rush,” Spikes told reporters. “But I know they are not really as tough as us.”
Needless to say that in the world of instant communications, that word got to Knoxville in time for Tuesday’s weekly press conference.
Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer, who has been in a pretty foul mood since the Vols lost to UCLA (27-24, OT on Sept. 1), insists that his players did not quit during last year’s game.
“It probably came from the (Florida) coaches because the players tend to repeat things that are said,” Fulmer told reporters during his Tuesday press conference. “But I try to look at things realistically. The fact is that we were just on the field way too long in the third quarter and we got gassed. (But) if they don’t respect us then why are they practicing?”
Tennessee’s players, as you might imagine, disagree with the assessment of Spikes.
“It’s complete disrespect,” Foster told reporters. “It’s probably made to provoke and get a rise out of us.”
“He’s entitled to his own opinion,” linebacker Rico McCoy said. “It’s a new year and a new ball game. We’ll see on Saturday.”
Spikes may have used bad judgment in calling Tennessee out, but the jury is still out on whether or not Tennessee has the wherewithal to do anything about it.
This is a big game for Tennessee and not just because the Volunteers want to shut up Brandon Spikes. Tennessee football needs a big win after losing to a UCLA team that clearly did not have as much talent as the Volunteers. And it didn’t help the psyche of the Big Orange Nation when that same UCLA team was destroyed 59-0 last Saturday by BYU.
And Fulmer, the dean of SEC coaches, needs a big win in the worst possible way.
Despite going 10-4 last season and reaching the SEC championship game Fulmer, in his 17th season as head coach, still has his critics. The Volunteers have not won an SEC championship since 1998, when Tennessee also won the national title. In the 10 years since Tennessee’s last SEC championship, Georgia (Mark Richt), Florida (Urban Meyer), and Alabama (Nick Saban) have hired new coaches and energized their programs. Fulmer’s critics point out that he is 3-4 against Richt, 1-4 against Saban (at Alabama and LSU), and 0-3 against Meyer.
Despite the fact that Tennessee has averaged about 9 wins per year and gone to six New Year’s Day bowls since 1998, there are Tennessee fans who feel the Volunteer program has grown stale and is falling behind the other rising stars in the SEC.
“Fulmer’s biggest problem is that he hasn’t won an SEC championship in 10 years,” said Jimmy Hyams, who has been covering Tennessee football for newspapers and radio in Knoxville since 1985. “No single coach in Tennessee history has gone that long without winning an SEC championship. That’s the main thing.
“But there are also people who say they are just tired of Phillip and want a change. I try to tell those people that in this kind of situation change is not always good.”
Since 1968 Fulmer has spent all but five years as a player, assistant coach, or head coach on the Tennessee campus. His roots in Knoxville are deep. He got a new contract over the summer that gives him an automatic extension for eight wins or more. The critics have said that rewards mediocrity. Fulmer appreciates their passion.
“I understand that our people have high expectations. That’s a good thing. That’s what we want at Tennessee. I have high expectations too and nobody wants to win more than I do,” said Fulmer, who needs just 26 wins to become Tennessee’s all-time winner, surpassing the legendary General Bob Neyland. “I know how hard our players and our coaches work.”
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