Tennessee coach Butch Jones and Florida coach Jim McElwain took different approaches when addressing Quincy Wilson and “ducks and trucks.”
The Gators cornerback stirred up this rivalry with a never-been-heard metaphor to say No. 19 Florida is going to beat No. 14 Tennessee for the 12th straight year. “We have a message from DBU to Tennessee,” Wilson said earlier this week. “Have you ever seen a duck pull a truck? Ducks don’t pull trucks. Nobody has ever seen a duck pull a truck. Florida Gators are going to win, simple as that.” MORE: Florida-Tennessee keys to victory That’s a first, and it’s awesome, by the way. The responses from the coaches on the SEC teleconference Wednesday? “I’ve been bunkered down,” Jones said. “I haven’t heard anything or seen anything.” “I have seen an Aflac commercial, and I haven’t seen that duck to it,” McElwain said. Jones deflected, and McElwain used humor. Standard coach-speak responses that induce one word. Boring. Jones went on to say he doesn’t censor his players, but he censored himself. McElwain’s press conference spun into references to “Earth, Wind and Fire” and Pete the Cop. In truth, Wilson’s bulletin-board material is a gift for a rivalry that reached its high point with all those Spurrier jabs at Tennessee and Peyton Manning in the 1990s. Now it’s heating back up and both teams have a chance to take control of the SEC East at Neyland Stadium on Saturday. They won’t so much publicly, but both coaches can use that to their advantage. Florida can prove it’s the defending SEC East champion for a reason and stretch their winningstreak to 12 years. Wilson has a chance to go out and back it up on the field, and his comments show just how confident the Gators can be here. Maybe they can pump their arms like a trucker after big plays. Jones, meanwhile can still use those comments behind closed doors, the oldest motivational technique in the book. It’s also chance for Tennessee fans to bring their A-plus-plus-plus game. Maybe a few can dress up like ducks or hold up rubber ducks. Orange ones, of course. It’s also another reminder that a team that’s won 11 in a row is going to bark a little bit. Jones took the high road, but at some point Smokey’s gotta bite back. As for taking that public, both coaches could have done that, too. Last week, Ohio State coach Urban Meyer let us know that the defensive coaches absolutely would use Oklahoma backup quarterback Austin Kendall’s comments that said the Buckeyes had a “basic defense.” After Ohio State’s 45-24 win, they are selling “basic defense” shirts in Columbus now. There’s nothing wrong with that, and there’s nothing wrong with starters saying those kind of things. It’s trash talk. It’s harmless. It’s fun. That’s everything the Tennessee-Florida rivalry should be all about, especially when the stakes are higher than they’ve been in a long, long time. One way or the other, Wilson’s comments are going to help define this ball game Saturday. Ducks vs. trucks, baby. Who isn’t ready for this now? Sent From Shane's iPhone Go Gators! & Skål Vikes! ALPCA #8756 Europlate #1045 -- -- GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY! 1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions 2006 National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions 2008 National Football Champions | Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996), Tim Tebow (2007) --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "GatorTalk" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to gatortalk+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
