It was late in the spring when I climbed the stairs to Will Muschamp’s office for my yearly pilgrimage to see what the Florida head coach (at the time) could do for our golf tournament.
There, Muschamp was making notes as he watched tape of the Baltimore Ravens.
Why? Because Cam Cameron was the Baltimore offensive coordinator on the tape and was moving on to become the coordinator for LSU.
“Will, I thought coaches are never supposed to look ahead,” I said with a smile.
Florida held LSU to 17 points later that year, but that team was offensively deficient and lost 17-6.
But that’s not the point.
The point is that everybody looks ahead this time of year. The players do. They are asked about future games a lot. Billy. Napier does. Everybody does.
The key is to not look ahead once you get into the season. But we have a ways to go so we’re going to look ahead with a pair of Dooley’s Dozens. The first today will be to rank the heat of the 12 games Florida will play and use warp factors as the measurement. I’m not a big Star Trek guy but I like saying warp factor.
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You may disagree but there are so many different layers as to why I believe this is the biggest game of the season. One, it’s on the road, which is the only place the Vols have beaten Florida in the last two decades.
Secondly, it is the start of a Murderer’s Row on this schedule over the last seven Saturdays.
And third, it’s Tennessee and no matter how many times Florida beats Rocky Top there are fans who believe they still haven’t suffered enough.
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I really could have put this one first and may regret not doing it. The season opener at home is not a place you want to lose a game.
These teams have similar talent and the Swamp will need to be in full throat for this game. That won’t be difficult because this is the biggest rivalry game for Florida where the teams don’t play all the time.
If that makes no sense, go to a Miami tailgate before the game and see how you feel about “The U” after 10 minutes.
Bottom line: Napier has to win this opener.
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Here is a stat you won’t like – Florida has lost three in a row to Kentucky and in those three games has scored only 43 points.
Whatever happened to 63-5? 65-0? 73-7? Ah, the good old days.
Look, the Kentucky game is at home and is sandwiched between Tennessee and an open date, followed by Georgia.
This is the game Florida needs to win badly for numerous reasons.
Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Ok, it’s a tie on the warp factors because LSU always find a way to win in Gainesville taking four of the last five (although one of the wins was vacated last year).
And the Tigers have beaten Florida five straight times.
Man, how many teams own Florida right now?
Anyway, LSU has become one of Florida’s three biggest rivals in my opinion and it has more to do with the hurricane game than the College World Series.
Corn dogs vs. Jorts. It doesn’t get any angrier.
Matt Pendleton/Gainesville Sun
Whoa, whoa, whoa. Slow down here. Why would this game be this low on the scale?
Of course, Napier needs to find a way to beat Georgia. But it doesn’t always guarantee anything, especially when you are going to Austin the following week.
Maybe I don’t give this a higher warp because it’s difficult to find a path to victory. Maybe I’m not giving enough credit to the way Florida players feel about Traitor Trevor.
It’s always a big deal. I get that.
But it just doesn’t feel as big and it won’t until Florida makes it competitive again.
Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
It is the SEC opener for the Gators and the third straight home game. Considering who you have left on the conference schedule, you need to get it done against a coach in his third game at the school.
Mike Elko will have already tangled with Notre Dame in the opener and we may get a better indication of what he’s dealing with after that game.
Texas A&M won the last time the Aggies were in Gainesville — a 19-17 debacle that included Florida wearing those hideous “swamp green” uniforms.
Pull on your blue jerseys and go take care of these guys.
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Florida’s first road trip will be an interesting one out in Stark-Vegas. (You know, when the nickname was coined it was not meant as a compliment but they put it on their basketball floor).
This used to be more of a rivalry back in the Steve Spurrier days but they so seldom play now, this being only the sixth meeting since the HBC left Florida.
All of them have been different levels of bizarre and that is a list for another time.
The last time they played was when Dan Mullen returned in 2018. Weird.
Doug Engle/Ocala Star-Banner
I get it. You really don’t like the Semis. You feel like you would have beaten them last year if Graham Mertz was healthy.
Whatever. They have won nine of the last 13 against Florida and are creeping back into the picture in the all-time series and actually lead 26-22-1 since Bobby Bowden’s first year.
That should get you fired up.
Of course, it’s a tough place to play and we’ll see where these two teams are at the end of the year. And who is playing quarterback.
Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
There is no reason to hate Texas. Yet.
Florida hasn’t scored against Texas since 1924. Of course, they have only played twice since then and not once since 1940.
The point is that there is no real history between the two teams and most Gator fans who can go can’t wait to be on 6th St.
That may be the highlight of the trip.
Texas is really good, a national title contender.
It’s difficult to get the Warp Factor higher when the only people who have seen these two teams play can’t tell us about it.
Justin Ford-USA TODAY Sports
There is some history here (the two teams have played six times this century) and nobody likes that Lane Kiffin smirk.
And there’s the whole Princely Umanmielen thing.
In theory, this could be a huge game because big things are expected from Ole Miss.
But coming off the Tennessee, Kentucky, Georgia, Texas and LSU stretch, you can’t help but wonder if Florida will have any gas left in the tank.
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I’m sure that fans of this team will lose it when they see the Knights listed as the penultimate most important game of the year.
Florida can’t afford to lose it on any level whether it’s about bowl eligibility or playoff hopes or just regaining control of the state in a rare year where they play three state teams.
But it doesn’t move the needle a whole lot. No offense.
Matt Pendleton / USA TODAY NETWORK
I know what happened the last time the Bulldogs came to town. It was kind of the beginning of the end for Mullen.
And there is no question that Florida cannot lose this game and expect anything good to come from it.
Again, that is a different list – games Florida cannot lose. It might be No. 1.
But if Florida can handle Miami, the only real issue will be looking ahead to Texas A&M. The Gators should be fine.
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