Tennessee Vols vs. Florida Gators - Game Notes

• Two of the top teams in the Southeastern Conference’s Eastern Division over the last decade meet for the 37th time on Saturday, Sept. 15, 2007, at 3:30 p.m. as Florida hosts Tennessee in its SEC opener. Florida enters the contest with a 2-0 record after defeating Troy last Saturday, 59-31.

• Tennessee owns a 1-1 mark, as the Vols topped Southern Miss last week, 39-19. Florida enters today’s game ranked inside the Top 10 in the polls for the 13th time in the last 14 seasons.

• Under Coach Meyer, the Gators own a 24-4 (.857) overall record. The Gators’ 24 victories over the last three seasons are tied for the most in the nation over that time (USC, LSU and Texas also have 24).

• Coach Meyer looks to open a season 3-0 for the sixth time in his seven-year career. UF is looking to do so for the third time since 2001 (each of which would be under Coach Meyer), and the sixth time in the last 11 years.

• Florida enters today’s game on a nine-game win streak, which is its longest under Coach Urban Meyer and is tied for the second-longest actice streak in the nation (Wisc. 10, LSU 9). UF’s last 10-game win streak came during the 1996 season and the longest win streak in school history (12) was in 1995.

• As a squad, UF has won seven-straight over UT, UGA and FSU. The current streak over the three is the longest in school history.

• Florida enters the game having defeated Tennessee in each of the last two meetings. UF has won three-straight against the Vols five times and the last time the Gators did so was 1995-97.

• 100 of the 118 players on Florida’s full roster have never been on a Gator team that lost to Tennessee.

• In 2005, Coach Meyer became the first head coach in UF history to defeat Tennessee, Georgia and Florida State in the same regular season and never trail in a game to the trio of teams. In 2006, Coach Meyer became the first in school history to defeat all three in back-to-back seasons.

• Coach Meyer owns an 11-3 overall record against ranked opponents and is 8-3 against the ranked teams he has faced while in Gainesville. In 2005, Coach Meyer won a first-year head coach school record four games against ranked opponents.

• Through two games, Tim Tebow’s passer rating is 228.2, which is the second-highest in the nation, just ahead of Brian Brohm’s (Louisville) 226.5. Tebow has completed 73.8 percent of his passes, which is the sixth-highest mark in the country and is the best in the Southeastern Conference. Tebow has thrown four passes for 40-or-more yards this season, equaling Florida’s total of 40-plus yard throws from 2006.

• Since UF’s 33-20 win against Tennessee in 1997, no quarterback has led the Gators to a victory against UT in their first career start against the Vols in the last decade. Since that game, four Florida quarterbacks have lost in their first career start against Tennessee (Jesse Palmer, Rex Grossman, Ingle Martin and Chris Leak). Danny Wuerffel (1993) and Doug Johnson (1997) are the only two to win in their first career start against the Vols since 1990.

• Since the 2004 season, Tennessee has been held to 66-or-less rushing yards in seven games. UF co-defensive coordinators has been on the defensive staff that have held UT to the total or lower on three occasions. Last season, UF held UT to -11 rushing yards and in 2005 the Gators gave up only 66. Notre Dame allowed just 58 yards rushing to the Vols in the 2004 meeting. Coach Mattison was the defensive line coach for the Irish in 2004 and was named the co-defensive coordinator at UF prior to the 2005 season.

• This game will mark the 27th time in the history of the series Florida has faced a ranked Tennessee squad. The Gators are 16-10 all-time in those contests and 14-6 when Florida and Tennessee are both ranked.

• Florida looks to win its 14th SEC opener in the last 17 years. For the 10th time in 11 years, a streak only interrupted by the September 11 attacks in 2001, Florida will open its SEC slate against Tennessee.

• UF is 39-11-1 in league openers since 1954. UF is looking to improve on its 43-26-3 record in SEC openers all-time.

• In his six previous conference openers, Coach Meyer is 6-0. His teams have outscored opponents by an margin of 36.8-17.3.

• In 15 of the last 17 meetings, the team that has rushed the ball for more yards has emerged victorious. The 2002 game in Knoxville was an exception to this, when the Gators defeated the Volunteers, 30-13, despite gaining only 94 yards on the ground. The other exception was the 2000 season, when UF won 27-23 despite being out-rushed, 203-29.

• In the last 17 meetings, the squad committing the fewest turnovers is 11-4 (there were equal turnovers in 1994 and 2003).

• In the last five contests, the cumulative score is Florida 105, Tennessee 94. Six of the last nine games have been decided by four points or less, and 16 of 36 have been decided by seven points or less.

• The Gators have won 15 of the last 21 meetings between the schools, including 10 of the last 14.

• Although the Gators and Volunteers are both charter members of the Southeastern Conference, they have met just 30 times in the regular season since the conference began play in 1933. The two teams met five times from 1916-32 and one other time in the 1969 Gator Bowl. UF leads the series 16-14 in regular-season games since the SEC’s inception in 1933 and the Vols hold the overall series edge, 19-17.

• Seventeen true freshmen have played for Florida this year. In UF’s last game against Troy, 26 freshmen (17 true and nine redshirt) saw action in the contest. Overall, 47 players who have seen action in a game this year are either freshmen or sophomores.

• UF started a true freshman on opening day for the third-straight year under head coach Urban Meyer.

• UF started two true freshmen on opening day for the first time in school history (Maurkice Pouncey and Joe Haden). Haden and Pouncey became the first true freshmen to start on opening day in UF history at cornerback and offensive guard, respectively.

• Overall, 42 players who saw action in the 2007 season opener were freshmen or sophomores. Fourteen true freshmen played, as did 10 redshirt freshmen. UF played 64 players total, 21 of those were making their first-ever appearance in “The Swamp.”

• Florida’s 14 true freshmen and 24 overall freshmen that played in the season opener were the mostby any team in the Southeastern Conference