vs. #12 TENNESSEE #17 UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA SATURDAY, SEPT. 20, 2003 BEN HILL GRIFFIN STADIUM (88,547) 2003 GATOR FOOTBALL GAINESVILLE, FLA. Noon (ET) WEEKLY GAME NOTES FOOTBALL CONTACTS: STEVE McCLAIN, ZACK HIGBEE, ALECIA PYNN RELEASED: SEPT. 14, 2003 (352) 375-4683 ext. 6100 - FAX (352) 375-4809 GATOR STORYLINES UF BEGINS SEC PLAY WITH DIVISION BATTLE n The 2003 Florida roster features 52 freshmen, including 31 who have seen their first career game THE MATCH-UP action this year. nThe top two teams in the SEC’s Eastern Division over the last decade will meet for the 33rd time on Saturday, Sept. 20 at Noon. The Gators and Volunteers each have claimed national titles in the last n Overall, 41 players have seen their first action in seven years and have represented the East in 10 of 11 SEC Championship Games as they have a Gator uniform this fall. combined for eight SEC titles. The Gators enter the game with a 2-1 record after defeating Florida n Ron Zook looks to remain unbeaten against A&M a week ago, 63-3. The Volunteers will be making their first road trip of the season as they come teams from the SEC East. to Gainesville with a 2-0 record with wins over Fresno State (24-6) and Marshall (34-24). Today’s game will kick off at noon, which is the earliest start time in the series since 1992. n Florida enters the game with the nation’s top scoring offense as the Gators are averaging 53.7 SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE OPENERS points per game. nFlorida looks to win its 12th SEC opener in the last 13 years. For the seventh time in eight years, a GAME SETUP streak only interrupted by the September 11 attacks, Florida will open its SEC slate against Tennes- see. UF is 37-9-1 in league openers since 1954. UF islooking to improve on its 41-24-3 record in SEC THE POLLS UF TENN openers all-time. Associated Press 17 12 ESPN/ USA Today Coaches 17 12 SERIES NOTES THE RECORDS UF TENN n In 11 of the last 13 meetings, the team that rushed the ball for more yards won the game. Last year Overall 2-1 2-0 was an exception to this when the Gators defeated the Volunteers, 30-13, in Knoxville despite gaining Conference 0-0 0-0 only 94 yards on the ground. In addition, the squad committing the fewest turnover, is 9-3 (equal turnovers in 1994). TELEVISION The annual September showdown will air on CBS nIn the last four years of the series, the cumulative score is Florida 129, Tennessee 111. Four of the for the eighth consecutive year. Calling the game last five games have been decided by four points or less, and 14 of 32 have been decided by seven will be Craig Bolerjack (play-by-play), Spencer points or less. Tillman (color) and Tracy Wolfson (sideline). nThe Gators have won 13 of the last 17 meetings between the schools, including eight of the last 10. DELAYED TELEVISION Sunshine Network with David Steele (play-by-play) nFlorida has won seven of the last eight games against Tennessee in the Swamp. Nat Moore (color) and Steve Babik (sideline) will show the game at 8:30 a.m. on Sunday, Sept. 21 PLAYING AFTER A VOLUNTEER BYE WEEK on Sunshine’s “Breakfast with the Gators.” The show will also air on Tuesday, Sept. 23, at 10:30 nFlorida has played Tennessee following a bye week for the Volunteers nine times. In those games, p.m. Florida owns a 7-2 record, as six of the last seven meetings in the series have come after UT bye weeks. Neither of Tennessee’s wins over UF following a bye week have come in Gainesville and none NATIONAL RADIO have come in a day game. The Westwood One Radio Network will broad- cast the game to a national radio audience. John ZOOK VS. FULMER Tautges and Fran Curci will call the action. nRon Zook played a role in handing Phillip Fulmer his first SEC loss as the Volunteers came to Gainesville on Sept. 18, 1993 and dropped a 41-34 decision to the Gators. Zook, who was the THE GATOR RADIO NETWORK defensive coordinator and defensive back coach at the time, guided a unit that held Tennessee to only Mick Hubert (play-by-play), Scot Brantley (color) 76 rushing yards. and Steve Babik (sideline) will team to broadcast the contest. WFXJ radio (930-AM in Jacksonville) serves as UF’s flagship station. Pre-game show nLast year, Ron Zook joined Nick Saban (LSU), Mark Richt (Georgia) and Jackie Sherrill (Mississippi State) as the only head coaches in the SEC to have ever beaten a Phillip Fulmer led Tennessee team two hours before kickoff. 90-minute show follow- in their first try. He also joined Ray Graves, Doug Dickey, Galen Hall, and Steve Spurrier as the only ing the conclusion of the game. DID YOU KNOW? nGator head coaches ever to win their conference opener in their first season. With a win today, Zook would join Richt as the only coaches in the SEC to defeat Fulmer the first two times they’ve met. In Florida has not given up an offensive touchdown addition, Zook would join Graves, Hall and Spurrier as the only UF coaches to win their first two SEC in the Swamp in nine quarters. In addition, the openers. Gators have not given up a passing touchdown in 12 quarters at home. It has been 312 days since an opposing offense has crossed the goal line in nTennessee head coach Phillip Fulmer is 3-8 against the Gators all-time and has only won once in Gainesville. Fulmer owns a 33-20 (.623) record against ranked teams, winning 16 of the last 27. the Swamp. 2003 FLORIDA FOOTBALL VS. TENNESSEE WWW.GATORZONE.COM 1 SERIES NOTES AND A LOOK AT THE VOLS... nFlorida head coach Ron Zook has never lost to an opponent from the SEC East after going 5-0 2003 SEC STANDINGS against the division a season ago. However, Tennessee is the only SEC Eastern Division team to EASTERN DIVISION defeat Florida at home since 1990. Team SEC Pct. Overall Georgia 1-0 1.000 3-0 A PIPELINE TO THE NFL Florida 0-0 .000 2-1 Tennessee 0-0 .000 2-0 n Since 1984, a combined 108 players from the University of Florida and the University of Tennessee Kentucky 0-1 .000 1-2 have been selected in the first three rounds of the National Football League Draft. Of the 108, 50 South Carolina 0-1 .000 2-1 went in the opening round, the second highest between two collegiate programs in the country. Vanderbilt 0-2 .000 1-2 When combined with Miami, the Gators and Hurricanes total 62 first round picks since 1984, which WESTERN DIVISION leads the country. Florida and Miami are the only two schools in the nation ever to have a first-round Team SEC Pct. Overall draft choice nine years in a row. Florida was the first to do it (1983-91), while Miami is at nine following Auburn 1-0 1.000 1-2 the 2003 NFL Draft. Ole Miss 1-0 1.000 2-1 Arkansas 0-0 .000 3-0 LSU 0-0 .000 3-0 n The 1984 game featured 44 future pros combined who went on to play in the National Football Mississippi State 0-0 .000 0-2 League. UF had 21 on its sideline that day, while UT featured 23. Alabama* 1-0 1.000 2-1 SERIES NOTES - FLORIDA VS. TENNESSEE * - Not eligible for conference title nThe Gators and Volunteers are both charter members of the Southeastern Conference, but have THE SEC THIS WEEK met just 26 times in the regular season since the conference began play in 1933. The two teams met five times from 1916-32 and one other time in the 1969 Gator Bowl. Florida holds a slight 14-12 Sept. 20, 2003 edge in regular season games since the SEC’s inception in 1933 and the Vols hold the overall series Alabama vs.Northern Illinois edge, 17-15. Arkansas vs. North Texas LSU vs. Georgia Kentucky at Indiana nThe 1969 Gator Bowl saw former Tennessee athletic director Doug Dickey in his last game as Mississippi State at Houston head coach of the Volunteers prior to taking over the same duties at Florida in 1970. Dickey, a South Carolina vs. UAB Florida graduate who coached from UF from 1970-78, is one of several ties to both schools. Bob Vanderbilt at Texas Christian Woodruff, who was UF’s head coach from 1950-59, served as athletic director at Tennessee from TRACKING OPPONENTS 1963-85. Ray Graves, who was UF’s coach from 1960-69 and athletic director from 1969-79 is a Tennessee graduate. Ron Zook coached the Tennessee defensive backs from 1984-86. Tennes- SAN JOSE STATE (0-2) vs. Nevada on Sept. 18 see assistant coach Jimmy Ray Stevens played at UF from 1972-76 and coached the Gators’ Last week: Bye Next week: Bye offensive line from 1993-2002, while UT defensive line coach Dan Brooks was on the Florida coaching staff from 1983-87. Florida quarterback Chris Leak and Tennessee quarterback C.J. Leak at MIAMI (3-0) at Boston College are brothers. Last week: W, 38-3, vs. East Carolina Next week: Bye nThe last three meetings in the series have been notable as Florida’s 27-23 win at Tennessee in FLORIDA A&M (1-2) vs.