Florida week. The 3rd Saturday in September. The barometer of Tennessee football.

The fuse of the season for Tennessee always ignites mid-September. Sure college football starts each year with the Labor Day holiday, but in all honesty, those first one or two games just don’t matter. Of course you want wins, but the TRUE test always looms in Florida week; especially when it requires a trip to Gainesville.

Unfortunately for Tennessee fans, the season RARELY starts how we want it to. Since 1990, Florida has had 4 head coaches (Spurrier, Zook, Meyer, and Muschamp). During that same stretch, Tennessee has also had 4 head coaches (Majors, Fulmer, Kiffin, and Dooley). Take a look at this:

(Against Tennessee)

Spurrier 8-4

Zook 1-2

Meyer 6-0

Muschamp 1-0

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(Against Florida)

Majors 2-1

Fulmer 4-12

Kiffin 0-1

Dooley 0-2

Tennessee has defeated Florida a mere 6 times in the last 22 years; take out the Ron Zook era and it that number drops to 4! It gets worse, too, if you look back through the all-time history between the two programs. Sure, the overall series is 22-19 in favor of Florida, but Tennessee won 10 of those games prior to 1954. If you just look at 1954 forward, the record is a staggering 9-22 (in Florida’s direction). In the past 58 years, Tennessee has beaten Florida JUST 9 TIMES! Here’s a comparison no Tennessee fan wants to see, nor digest: dating back to 1954, Vanderbilt has beaten Tennessee 5 times, and Kentucky has beaten Tennessee 11 times. If you didn’t understand what I just told you, here’s a straightforward analogy:

Tennessee is to Florida, as Kentucky/Vanderbilt is to Tennessee.

We Tennessee fans scoff at Vanderbilt and Kentucky. Even when it seems they have a legitimate shot to win, we use the line “…then Kentucky/Vanderbilt remembered they were Kentucky/Vanderbilt.” Tennessee has a mental hindrance when it comes to Florida. It seems Florida always makes plays against Tennessee, whether it be through turnovers, missed tackles, mysterious calls, or, oh my God, special teams. Travis Stephens circa 2001 aside, Florida always dominates the line of scrimmage. Something has to change. Mindset, attitude, execution, everything about this “rivalry” needs to change.

I AM TIRED OF LOSING TO FLORIDA. I’m done with this “moral victory” noise. I’m done with the “well, next year we’ll show ‘em” campaign. I’m done hearing about the talent difference. I’m done hearing about how the kids played their hearts out and had a few breaks go against them. I understand how deflating an injury can be, but you’ve got to dig deep and play through. There are 7 maxims General Neyland coined, and we seem to follow them all unless we’re playing Florida. If Tennessee wants to be elite again, they MUST find a way to beat to Florida. No way around it.

The only good losers are the people who are good at losing. This needs to be plastered all over the locker room. The entire Tennessee team should be tired of losing and furious about letting opportunity slip by. Maybe this was a character game; a game in which every player understands the difference between mollywopping a Cincinnati team from the Big Least and getting bullied by a big boy SEC football team. Much like Vantucky (or Kentuckerbilt), the Tennessee program has gotten good at losing. As Tennessee fans, it seems we have forgotten what it looks and feels like to cheer for a team who knows how to win. Since the start of the 2008 season (3 years + 3 weeks in 2011), Tennessee is 21-21. Kentucky is 22-20. Brutal. I know, I know, 26 straight, but come on. We are Tennessee, and we should never be in a situation to be that comparable to Kentucky. We’re talking football, not basketball.

Tennessee gets essentially two weeks to find themselves again. Off this week and a warm-up Buffalo game next week. Georgia will most likely limp into Knoxville after a double-header with the state of Mississippi. Tennessee’s goal right now should be to get to 4-1. Beat Buffalo, beat Georgia, and deal with LSU when the time comes. No more excuses, no more niceties. It’s go time. It’s take-no-prisoners time. It’s hit-you-in-the-mouth-because-we-want-to time. Tennessee needs to learn from this loss, grow as unit, and come back stronger.

Georgia will be a statement game. Tennessee will either confirm its 4^th place East division status, or Tennessee will dig a foothold in the climb back into SEC relevance. A win over Georgia will go a LONG way in re-establishing dominance in Neyland Stadium, which is something we as a fan base can assist. Plus, I want Tyler Bray to show the world how much better than Aaron Murray he really is.

4-1 hasn’t happened since 2006. It needs to happen now. After last year’s beat down, Dooley seriously needs to take Georgia to the woodshed, and give the fans the straw to break the camel’s (Richt) back.