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Florida Football: Fun facts ahead of the Gators taking on Tennessee

By Benjamin Henderson

GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA - OCTOBER 08: A general view of Ben Hill Griffin Stadium before the start of a game between the Florida Gators and the Missouri Tigers on October 08, 2022 in Gainesville, Florida. (Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images)
GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA - OCTOBER 08: A general view of Ben Hill Griffin Stadium before the start of a game between the Florida Gators and the Missouri Tigers on October 08, 2022 in Gainesville, Florida. (Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images) /
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It’s Tennessee week for Florida football, and it is a rivalry steep in tradition and hatred. Of course, using the term rivalry is a relatively loose term considering the recent history, but no matter what the record is, these are two teams where zero love is lost.

Here are some fun facts we here at Hail Florida Hail found in the Gators Media Guide, among other sources, ahead of the game.

Florida Football: Facts are fun

  • Billy Napier’s first season as a graduate assistant coach with Clemson in 2003 culminated with a win over Tennessee in the Peach Bowl.
  • Napier’s birthplace, Cookeville, Tennessee, is 90 minutes from Knoxville, TN.
  • Strength and conditioning assistant coach Karmichael Dunbar spent the 2018 season with Tennessee.
  • In case you haven’t heard, Florida football has won 16 of the previous 18 matchups.
  • Joe Milton was the 9th-rated pro-style QB out of the class of 2018. The top five QBs from that class, including top-rated Trevor Lawrence, have all already made their way to the NFL.
  • The last time a Gator QB passed for 300 yards in back-to-back games was when Kyle Trask did it in 2020 against Tennessee, followed by LSU.
  • Florida safety R.J. Motten and Tennessee QB Joe Milton were teammates at Michigan in 2020.
  • Peyton Manning never beat the Gators. He did, however, win a game once in Gainesville. Tennessee beat Virginia Tech in the 1994 Gator Bowl, which was held at The Swamp while Jacksoville’s stadium was undergoing renovations.
  • Kingsley Eguakun and Jason Marshall are the only two starters still on the team for Florida that played in the 2021 game.
  • In fact, according to Florida’s media guide, only 11 players total remain from the 2021 game.
  • According to urban legend, the original president of Tennessee puked into a pumpkin during Halloween one year. He really liked how the color looked and opted for that to become their color scheme.

Next. What happened last time Joe Milton played in The Swamp?. dark

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