Clik here to view.
It’s only April and the Florida-Tennessee rivalry is already getting heated.
Last week, Florida cornerback Jalen Tabor mocked ESPN’s Football Power Index in a since-deleted twitter rant for picking rival Tennessee — which he claimed the website did for “the last three years” — before claiming the Gators would extend their winning streak against the Vols to “12 years in a row” in 2016.
This prompted Tennessee star running back Jalen Hurd to retaliate. The 6-foot-4, 240-pound running back directed the tweet below at Tabor shortly after hearing word of the cornerback’s rant.
6'0 , 190. Jst talkin for attention. Not gonna end well buddy Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.— Jalen Hurd (@MrHurd_1) April 15, 2016
Hurd’s teammates, including rising senior linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin attempted to downplay Tabor’s comments following Tennessee’s Orange & White Game on Saturday.
“I don’t know,” Reeves-Maybin said. “I don’t really like the whole trash-talk Twitter thing. Just play the game. Play the game. Let it speak (for itself). You don’t see great players out there saying stuff like that. Just play.”
But that didn’t stop Florida defensive tackle Caleb Brantley from posting three pictures on his Instagram account on Sunday relating to the Florida-Tennessee spat, including a video of Will Grier’s 4th down touchdown pass that gave the Gators the go-ahead score in their 28-27 win last September.
The back-and-fourth between players of both teams should be chalked up to college kids being college kids. It’s not as serious as some may make it out to be, but it does add to one of the SEC’s most storied rivalries.
To Tabor’s credit, the Gators have dominated said rivalry for the past 11 years. However, Tennessee has managed to look better in each of the last two and arguably should have won both contests. Brantley can post the game-winning touchdown all he wants, the fact is, Tennessee allowed Florida to get back into the game with questionable playcalling in the fourth quarter. It took a miracle pass for the Gators to extend their winning streak and otherwise ease through their SEC East schedule to take the division title.
The reason why ESPN and other media outlets are picking the Vols to win the East is because they have the best returning roster in the division. Not only that, but their core group has multiple years of in-game experience after having started since their freshman seasons.
Florida, on the other hand, was exposed by its schedule late and struggled in its final three games. The Gators were outscored, 97-24, by Florida State, Alabama and Michigan — with each matchup resulting in a blowout loss.
Florida also struggled to find consistency at quarterback after Will Grier — who transferred to West Virginia earlier this month — was suspended for the remainder of the season in October. Now, the Gators must decide between four quarterbacks who have never started for them in the past, as well as deal with replacing the likes of leading rusher Kelvin Taylor, wide receiver Demarcus Robinson and defensive veterans Jonathan Bullard, Vernon Hargreaves III, Alex McCalister, Antonio Morrison, Brian Poole and Keanu Neal.
Tennessee has stability while Florida has question marks entering the 2016 campaign. It’s completely justified for experts to put their faith in the Vols, even with their recent history of disappointment.
Tabor’s comments prove that opposing teams are starting to feel threatened by Tennessee as a legitimate contender. Sure, he made an attempt to write the Vols off, but there’s no way he’d give it any attention whatsoever if he didn’t feel at least somewhat threatened.
Either way, Tennessee should be favored in the East given its returning talent by comparison to Florida, especially considering it was just one play away from being division champions in 2015.
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