Gators heavy favorites over Vols
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - Lane Kiffin has never been as big of an underdog as his Tennessee Volunteers are against No. 1 Florida.
Continue reading the rest of "Gators heavy favorites over Vols" by Athens Banner-Herald
"I think I kind of like it for our players because it kind of takes the pressure off of them," the coach said Tuesday. "It's like that (UCLA) game Saturday has taken some of the pressure off of this game for them and the buildup for it."
After a 19-15 loss to the Bruins in Knoxville last week, Tennessee (1-1) is a four-touchdown underdog against Florida (2-0) on Saturday.
Florida has dominated the annual matchup with Tennessee under coach Urban Meyer. The Gators won the last two games by a combined 63 points and have won four straight.
Kiffin added spice to the matchup when he said in the offseason he couldn't wait to sing "Rocky Top" all night long after beating Florida this year.
Kiffin said he didn't think making such a guarantee would give Florida any extra ammunition on the field, but the Gators plastered the quote around the team's training facility during this summer.
And it's been - and will likely continue to be - the main topic of discussion this week.
Still, the coach sees no reason to use the underdog status to motivate his players.
"I don't really believe in the underdog role for motivation," he said. "If you're not motivated for this game, something's wrong with you.
"It's Tennessee versus Florida, and regardless of what the spread is and who's the favorite and who's the underdog
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