Re: Florida Gators
Posted: Mon Oct 17, 2011 1:48 pm
2008: "A Big Deal"
Before the 2008 Florida–Georgia game, both coaches repeatedly stated that the previous year's incident would have no bearing on the contest. Florida coach Urban Meyer went so far as to issue a gag order to his players, instructing them not to talk about the 2007 game with the media.[56] In his authorized biography, published following the season, Meyer said: "That wasn't right. It was a bad deal. It will forever be in the mind of Urban Meyer and in the mind of our football team. We'll handle it, and it's going to be a big deal."[57]
Coming into the game, the Bulldogs and Gators were both ranked in the top-10, and the winner would have the inside track in the SEC Eastern Division race and a possible shot at a national title. Some commentators went so far as to call it the biggest match-up in the history of the series,[58] or at least the previous 20 years.[59] After the Bulldogs missed two field goals and failed to recover an onside kick after their first score, the Gators took a 14–3 halftime lead. In the second half, the Bulldogs turned the ball over four times and the Gators turned the game into a 49–10 rout. Tim Tebow accounted for five touchdowns and Percy Harvin added a pair of scores in the Bulldogs' second worst loss of the series (the Bulldogs lost 47–7 to the 1996 Gators).[60]
In a move widely assumed to be a response to the Bulldogs' endzone celebration of the previous year, Meyer used both of his remaining timeouts with less than a minute to play, giving his team and their fans more time to celebrate the victory and prolonging the painful loss for Georgia players and fans.[60] After the game, he broke his pre-game silence on the 2007 celebration. "Was it motivation for our players? Yeah, it was. Losing doesn't sit well with our players, and it was the only rivalry game we lost last year."[61]
Before the 2008 Florida–Georgia game, both coaches repeatedly stated that the previous year's incident would have no bearing on the contest. Florida coach Urban Meyer went so far as to issue a gag order to his players, instructing them not to talk about the 2007 game with the media.[56] In his authorized biography, published following the season, Meyer said: "That wasn't right. It was a bad deal. It will forever be in the mind of Urban Meyer and in the mind of our football team. We'll handle it, and it's going to be a big deal."[57]
Coming into the game, the Bulldogs and Gators were both ranked in the top-10, and the winner would have the inside track in the SEC Eastern Division race and a possible shot at a national title. Some commentators went so far as to call it the biggest match-up in the history of the series,[58] or at least the previous 20 years.[59] After the Bulldogs missed two field goals and failed to recover an onside kick after their first score, the Gators took a 14–3 halftime lead. In the second half, the Bulldogs turned the ball over four times and the Gators turned the game into a 49–10 rout. Tim Tebow accounted for five touchdowns and Percy Harvin added a pair of scores in the Bulldogs' second worst loss of the series (the Bulldogs lost 47–7 to the 1996 Gators).[60]
In a move widely assumed to be a response to the Bulldogs' endzone celebration of the previous year, Meyer used both of his remaining timeouts with less than a minute to play, giving his team and their fans more time to celebrate the victory and prolonging the painful loss for Georgia players and fans.[60] After the game, he broke his pre-game silence on the 2007 celebration. "Was it motivation for our players? Yeah, it was. Losing doesn't sit well with our players, and it was the only rivalry game we lost last year."[61]