vs. LSU UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA SATURDAY, OCT. 11, 2008 BEN HILL GRIFFIN STADIUM (88,548) GAINESVILLE, FLA. 2008 GATOR FOOTBALL 8 p.m. ET WEEKLY GAME NOTES RELEASED: OCT. 5, 2008 THE GAME GATOR STORYLINES Florida and LSU meet for the 55th time in the history of the series on Saturday, Oct. 11, at 8 p.m. ET Florida won its last game against a defending in Gainesville. UF holds a 28-23-3 lead in the all-time series and is 13-10-3 at home against the Tigers. national champion on Sept. 18, 1999, with a 23- The Gators enter the game with a 4-1 overall record and a 2-1 SEC mark. LSU is 4-0 overall and 2- 21 win over Tennessee. UF is 3-11-2 against de- 0 in league play. fending national title winners. The other two wins came against Alabama in 1927 (13-6, Nov. 12) and against the Crimson Tide in 1993 (28-13, THE PLAN TO WIN Dec. 4). The following four items outline Coach Meyer’s Plan to Win: PLAY GREAT DEFENSE The game will be the 45th time Florida has faced Scoring defense (T4th, 11.4) a defending SEC Champion. In the previous 44 Passing defense (18th, 165.4) meetings, the Gators have gone 14-28-2. How- Total defense (19th, 265.0) ever, UF has won six of the last eight against teams that won the SEC the previous year, and Rushing defense (20th, 99.6) eight of the last 12. Interceptions (T26th, 7) UF has not trailed in four of five games this year and has not allowed an opponent to score in 13 Coach Meyer enters the game as the third- of 20 quarters. winningest active coach in college football, with a UF has allowed just one first half touchdown all season and is outscoring opponents 88-10 before 74-17 (.813) record, among individuals who have the half been a head coach for at least five full seasons. TURNOVERS GAME SETUP UF was the last team in the nation to turn the ball over in 2008 THE POLLS UF LSU UF has not turned the ball over in three of the five games it has played in and five of the last seven Associated Press 12th 3rd Four turnovers this season are tied for the second-lowest total in the nation with three others USA Today Coaches’ 13th 2nd (Oklahoma, Central Michigan, Georgia) Harris 11th 2nd Florida’s +8 turnover margin this season is third nationally (Sept. 28 Polls) One of eight schools in the nation to throw one interception this year (Georgia Tech, Georgia, Louisiana-Monroe, Missouri, Penn State, Vanderbilt, Washington) THE RECORDS UF LSU Overall 4-1 4-0 SCORE IN THE REDZONE SEC 2-1 2-0 Scored on 17-of-18 trips inside the redzone this season and has been perfect in four of five games. The one time UF did not score was at the end of the Tennessee game, when the Gators ran on fourth TELEVISION and nine from the UT 12-yard line. There was less than five minutes remaining in the game and UF led, The game will be broadcast on CBS. Verne 30-6. Lundquist (play-by-play), Gary Danielson (color) and Tracy Wolfson (sideline) call the action. WIN THE KICKING GAME One of Florida’s five opponents this year has started a drive in UF territory. Overall, UF has DELAYED TELEVISION started 11 drives in opponent territory this season and the Gators have scored on nine of those. Sun Sports, with David Steele (play-by-play), Nat UF averaging 19.8 yards per punt return (ninth nationally) Moore (color) and Steve Babik (sideline) will air 37.6 net punt avg. (T33 nationally) the game at 8:30 a.m. on Sunday, Oct. 12, on Sun Punt return defense allowing 5.43 yards per return (T33 nationally) Sports’ “Breakfast with the Gators” and again Tuesday, Oct. 14 at 11 p.m. (replays available in LAST TWO NATIONAL CHAMPIONS TO MEET (BASED ON AP RANKINGS) SEC territory). The game will mark the first time in nearly two decades and the 10th time in history the last two national champions will meet the year after they both won it. The last time it happened was when Notre THE GATOR RADIO NETWORK Dame (1988 champions) defeated Miami (Fla.) (1989 champions), 29-20, in South Bend, Ind., on Oct. The Gator Radio Network team of Mick Hubert 20, 1990. The home team has never lost when this happened (7-0-1, one game played on neutral (play-by-play), Lee McGriff (color) and Steve Babik site). The defending national champion has lost three in a row and is 4-4-1 in these games: (sideline) will broadcast the contest. Scot Brantley Meetings National Champions Location Outcome and Travis McGriff join Babik as co-hosts of pre- Oct. 19, 1940 TCU (38)-Texas A&M (39) College Station, Texas Texas A&M, 21-17 game. WFXJ radio (930-AM in Jacksonville) serves Nov. 10, 1945 Notre Dame (43)-Army (44) New York, New York Army, 48-0 as UF’s flagship station. The pre-game show be- Nov. 8, 1947 Army (45)-Notre Dame (46) South Bend, Ind. Notre Dame, 27-7 Nov. 30, 1968 Notre Dame (66)-USC (67) Los Angeles, Calif. Tie, 21-21 gins two hours before kickoff. There is also a 90- Nov. 30, 1974 USC (72)-Notre Dame (73) Los Angeles, Calif. USC, 55-24 minute show following the conclusion of the game. Oct. 14, 1978 Pittsburgh (76)-Notre Dame (77) South Bend, Ind. ND, 26-17 Sept. 6, 1982 Georgia (80)-Clemson (81) Athens, Ga. Georgia, 13-7 SATELLITE RADIO Nov. 25, 1989 Miami (87)-Notre Dame (88) Miami, Fla. Miami, 27-10 Oct. 20, 1990 Notre Dame (88)-Miami (89) South Bend, Ind. Notre Dame 29-20 Florida football can be heard on XM Satellite Ra- dio. Fans can log on to www.xmradio.com each week for information regarding specific channels. 2008 FLORIDA FOOTBALL WWW.GATORZONE.COM WHAT’S NEW WITH THE GATORS... NEED FOR SPEED 2008 SEC STANDINGS (as of 10/4/08) Coach Meyer has stated he wants Florida to be the “fastest team in America.” UF has a dozen EASTERN DIVISION players who have clocked a 40-time of 4.4 or less (seven on offense, five on defense). Each of Team SEC Pct. Overall Florida’s five touchdowns scored in its last game against Arkansas was by a player with a time of 4.4 Vanderbilt 3-0 1.000 5-0 Florida 2-1 .667 4-1 or lower. Of UF’s 23 touchdowns this season, 16 have been scored by players that are among the Georgia 1-1 .500 4-1 fastest 12 on the team. South Carolina 1-2 .333 4-2 Kentucky 0-1 .000 4-1 FLORIDA IN THE FOURTH QUARTER Tennessee 0-2 .000 2-3 Against Arkansas, 246 of UF’s 514 yards of total offense came in the fourth quarter. In addition, UF WESTERN DIVISION has allowed three teams only one first down in the fourth quarter this year (Miami, UT, Ole Miss). UF Team SEC Pct. Overall also had 187 of its 443 total yards against Ole Miss in the fourth quarter. Alabama 3-0 1.000 6-0 LSU 2-0 1.000 4-0 Auburn 2-2 .500 4-2 SERIES NOTES Ole Miss 1-2 .333 3-3 LSU is the only SEC opponent which Florida has never faced at a site other than the schools’ Arkansas 0-2 .000 2-3 campus. Mississippi State 0-2 .000 1-4 The SEC foes have met on an annual basis since 1971, with Florida holding an 20-14-2 series edge THIS WEEK IN THE SEC over that 36-year time span. OCT. 11 Tennessee at Georgia LSU remains an annual opponent for Florida, as the SEC switched to one permanent interdivisional South Carolina at Kentucky game per season in 2002. Arkansas at Auburn Vanderbilt at Mississippi State THE TEAM Florida is the only school in the SEC that does not have a senior starting on defense. Overall, four TRACKING THE OPPONENTS upperclassmen start on defense for the Gators, which is the lowest total in the league. HAWAII (2-3) vs. Louisiana Tech Last week: W, 32-29 (OT), at Fresno State The team by class: Next week: at Boise State (Oct. 17) 11 Seniors 12.9 pct. 14 Juniors 16.5 pct. MIAMI (2-3) vs. UCF 31 Sophomores 36.5 pct. Last week: L, 41-39, vs. Florida State 9 Redshirt Freshmen 10.6 pct. Next week: at Duke 20 True Freshmen 23.5 pct. at Tennessee (2-3) at Georgia Sixty of the 85 scholarship players on the UF roster are either a freshman or sophomore. Last week: W, 13-9, vs. Northern Illinois Next week: vs. Mississippi State The chart below shows how UF has jumped ahead in each of its wins this season: OLE MISS (3-3) Idle Opponent Note Last week: L, 31-24, vs. South Carolina Hawaii Led 56-0 before Hawaii scored Next week: at Alabama Miami Scored on its opening possession before UM FG in second qtr. Tennessee Led 27-0 before UT scored in the fourth quarter at Arkansas (2-3) at Auburn Arkansas Outscored Razorbacks 21-0 in the fourth quarter Last week: L, 38-7, vs. Florida Next week: at Kentucky This season, Florida defeated Tennessee for the fourth-straight year to improve Coach Meyer’s record vs.