Morning Reading: Urban Meyer vs. Steve Spurrier

We could spend days, weeks, months debating about who is the “better” Florida head coach.  The man with 2 national championships in the last 3 seasons?  Or the man that can largely be credited for making the Gators into a true national power?  Okay, okay.  We all know the absolute greatest Florida coach to ever roam the Gators sideline is Ron Zook.  Disagree?  Without Zook consistently losing 5 games each season after Steve Spurrier left for the NFL, Urban Meyer might not be in orange and blue.  If Zook was even slightly more successful, he might have held onto the job a little longer and Meyer could actually be coaching that team in South Bend he’s constantly linked too.  So give credit where credit is due.  Zook has a piece in the current success too.  Anyway…

This Saturday, Meyer and Spurrier will face off for the 5th time since the 2 assumed their current jobs.  With no losses to Tennessee and FSU and 2 national titles, it’s hard to imagine Meyer’s Gators actually having a loss to a program like South Carolina, but they do.  During both coach’s first season at the schools, the Gators traveled to Columbia and were defeated 30-22 at the hands of the Gamecocks.  Florida outgained South Carolina, had more 1st downs, and an over 8-minute time of possession advantage.  The problem was with penalties and the Gators could never recover after getting down 20-3 early.  It was a huge win for Spurrier and South Carolina, but in a weird way, a good loss for Meyer and Florida.  The Gators would only lose once more in their next 20 games and take home the national title the next season.

Since that 2005 game, Florida has won 3 straight in the series.  2006 gave us one of the greatest games ever played in The Swamp.  The Block.  Or more accurately, the blocks, helped propel a Gator team very similar to the 2009 version to the national title.  Florida would only lose one game that season – a few weeks earlier to Auburn – and liked to keep them close.  The win over South Carolina was Florida’s 2nd 1-point victory of the season.  In 2007, we got the Tim Tebow show.  Tebow ran for 5 touchdowns and passed for another 2 while accounting for 424 yards of total offense in the 20-point win.  Last season, Percy Harvin was the star in the 56-6 Florida win.  Harvin ran for 167 yards on only 8 carries with his 2 touchdown runs covering 106 yards alone.

This time around, we get a South Carolina team coming off 2 big losses after starting the season 6-2.  The Gamecocks were making noise nationally once again and climbing the rankings before dropping consecutive games to Tennessee and Arkansas.  What Spurrier and company do on the field on Saturday is anyone’s guess.  Against a Florida team struggling to find an offensive identity, the Gamecocks could keep it close.  Or the Gators could come out and strike early and often and put it out of reach in the 1st half.