BUDDY MARTIN: Don’t Bail Yet! It’s Not Even ‘All Kinds Of Weather.’ This Smells Like A Gator Upset.

`

How, exactly, does Tennessee get ranked No. 11 in the nation after beating two unranked teams that are buried so deep in the polls you’d need a scuba diver to find them? You don’t get to heaven on the wings of Ball State and Akron.

By BUDDY MARTIN

GatorBaitMedia.com Editor

Riddle me this: How in just 16 games has Tennessee become a national powerhouse with a mastermind coach who has conquered The Gator Nation like Luke Skywalker with light sabers and the magical Harry Potter contents found in the bottom of some used McDonald’s Happy Meal Bags?

The Fickled Fortunes and Fandom of Football.

Conversely, the team that has fallen from grace, all the way from No. 12 to No. 20 after losing to now-No. 8 ranked Kentucky, has become a punching bag for some of the whack-a-doodles in its fan base. Anthony Richardson has gone from Revered To Reviled. And Billy Napier is the new Dan Mullen. Where have you gone oh OrangeAndBlueBloods?

Of course! All the numbers point to a Tennessee win. ESPN’s predictor gives the Vols an 87 percent chance of winning. Their odds have UF an underdog at 10.5. Yet …

I’m not buying Josh Heupful’s Harry Potter Act just yet. Las Vegas says the Vols are favored by about a touchdown and a field goal, still rising on the basis of Richardson’s slump. And, oh yes, the 106,000 raucous fans who will show up at Neyland Stadium Saturday with bottles of French Mustard, sleeves of ProV 1 or Tiltleists X-out golf balls and perhaps a hidden flask of White Lightnin’ moonshine.

Therefore, Tennessee is about to administer a “beatdown” to Florida. They say. The same Tennessee who most seasons couldn’t spell victory against the Gators if you spotted them the “v and the i and the c…” plus 10 points. The same Tennessee that has lost 16 out of the last 17 to UF. Yeah, them.

For the first time since Mother Teresa of Calcutta became a saint – actually, it was the same year, 2016, when Pope Francis canonized her – the Florida-Tennessee game has become relevant again. Maybe it’s even a rivalry. Maybe. But just because the Vols are double-digit favorites doesn’t wipe out their ugly history vs. Florida.

And speaking of the wonderful, blessed founder of Missionary of Charities, meaning no disrespect to the saint, one wonders about what scouting report Mother Teresa could offer on the Little Sisters of the Poor teams that Tennessee has been playing.

How, exactly, does Tennessee get ranked No. 11 in the nation after beating two unranked teams that are buried so deep in the polls you’d need a scuba diver to find them? You don’t get to heaven on the wings of Ball State and Akron. The Zips were called by veteran Knoxville News-Sentinel columnist John Adams “one of the worst teams I have ever seen play at Neyland.”

Did you hear about this? In September, Florida will have played probably the toughest schedule in the country against the 7th, 20th and 11th rated teams. Doesn’t that count for something?

Yet, in some parts of the Gator Nation there is a smell of panic.

Pardon me while I ponder the notion of a loyalty roll call for card-carrying Orange And BlueBloods to check who may have bailed even before the weather FORECAST – let alone all kinds of weather.

Bless them, Mother Teresa, for their infirmities, fans being fans. It’s part of the affliction of arrogance and self-indulgence. We are all “experts” on at least three things:

1. How to build the perfect fire.

2. How to run a restaurant.

3. How to coach football and call plays.

Has Billy Napier got a little somethin' for the favored Vols? (Chris Spears Photo)

Obviously Billy Napier is stupid, which is why his team is poised for a Checkerboard beatdown and a Bluetick hound bite.

“What is it with our fan base,” lamented a longtime Gator fan and good friend, “where they beat Utah and one minute they’re going to be national champions … and they lose a game, so they want to fire the coach?”

I can feel the heaping criticism and temporary insanity of those Gator fans who know better. Even some of my more knowledgable friends have succumbed. And I’ve heard all kinds of theories and excuses.

1. Billy Napier needs a new play caller.

2. Anthony Richardson should be moved to tight end.

3. A.R. needs contact lenses.

4. A.R. is injured.

5. Napier needs to start Jalen Kitna.

6. Billy Napier should be fired.

I’ll stop there. Yes, we know the Gators must play to their strength and keep running the ball with Nay’Quan Wright, Travis Etienne and Montrell Johnson, highlighting their strength in O’Cyrus Torrence and his O-line Peeps.

Ball control would save some breath of Big Desmond Watson, Brenton Cox, Gervon Dexter, Amari Burney and maybe even Ventrell Miller, who is upgraded to “questionable.” Promising youngster Shemar James starts in Miller’s spot, if needed.

The Gators need takeaways. Tennessee’s talented QB Hendon Hooker presents a challenge for Patrick Toney’s defense as a running threat and almost never throws picks. Toney’s secondary, including coach Corey Raymond’s corners, will be tested by Hooker. This makes for interesting matchups. I can’t wait to see how the execution plays out.

Saturday’s game is a bit of a conundrum for me. Right up to the 3:30 kickoff I will be fiddlin’ with my pick. As of now, I am stuck in prognostication gridlock. Which is to say, I can see both sides, and I agree with both.

At times like this, when all the numbers come crashing against what logic that may still exist in my addled mind, I have to rely on my Alligator Brain. In psychological terms, it may mean something different, and in a bad way, but to me it’s just the conditioned response built up over a half century of Orange And Blue Osmosis.

In other words, I’ve not only seen this movie, I’ve written about it hundreds of times.

So I will invoke this caveat. If the betting line continues to climb by kickoff, I’m inclined to dust off my old “Newton’s Law” theory. Actually, his third law:

“If an object A exerts a force on object B, then object B must exert a force of equal magnitude and opposite direction back on object A.”

AKA, “For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.”

So I will go opposite.

My “Alligator Brain” reminds me of the times the Florida Gators have won some of their biggest games as an underdog. At Alabama in 1963. Against Houston in the 1969 home opener. The 2002 win over Georgia. And, of course, as a 2.5-point underdog, beating of Utah, 29-26. You do remember that on Sept. 3, right?

For that reason, I’m taking the 10 points and Florida, with an outside chance of a 24-21 upset by the Gators -- but not making that call until an hour before the 3:30 kickoff. Hey, Hendon Hooker could sprain his ankle stepping off the bus! So could A.R.

As for you card-carrying O&B bloods, go ahead listen to Tom P. sing “Won’t Back Down” and maybe light a candle in the window. Your Faith muscles are about to be tested.

Florida 24, Tennessee 21