Overconfident? Gators Say Hogwash

Quite truthfully, Florida wasn't very impressed when it watched video of Mississippi last season. The Rebels had lost to Wake Forest and Vanderbilt and, let's face it, they weren't expected to give the Gators much of a tussle in The Swamp. Of course, we all know what happened that final Saturday in September:

Ole Miss 31, UF 30.

The top-ranked Gators don't plan to make the same mistake twice against visiting Arkansas on Saturday.

"We would watch Ole Miss on film and our guys would say they're not very good," UF coach Urban Meyer said.

"This team coming in is really good. They have NFL caliber players on both sides of the ball and their running back shredded us last year. They took Auburn and beat them in every phase of the game. I think our guys saw that on TV and now on video."

Surging Arkansas heads to Gainesville, Fla., with plenty of confidence after winning consecutive games over Texas A&M (47-19) and Auburn (44-23) last week to knock the Tigers from the undefeated ranks.

While the Razorbacks stumbled badly in their first opportunity against an SEC power -- they lost to Alabama 35-7 in the season's second week -- Arkansas feels much better about itself.

In fact, many believe the Razorbacks could represent the toughest remaining test for the Gators, who have won a school-record 15 consecutive games since last season's defeat to Ole Miss. That, of course, prompted quarterback Tim Tebow's legendary "Promise" speech, but that's for another time.

Arkansas has posted 40-plus points in four of its five games for the first time in school history and, lo and behold, it even mixed in some defense the past two weeks, holding two previously prolific offensive teams to an average of 21 points.

"Our confidence is higher," Razorbacks head coach Bobby Petrino said.

"We've played two good games back-to-back. We've seen ourselves perform well on film. We went out and played well in all three phases [against Auburn]. It will be a challenge. We believe we can go and win the game. We need to play with good technique and fundamentals and try and match their speed."

It's no secret the Razorbacks must rely on their offense to set the tone against the nation's top-ranked defense. The Gators have allowed two touchdowns in five games and turned in a smothering effort in the 13-3 win at LSU last Saturday.

"They have done a good job all year creating negative plays and putting opposing offenses in second-and-longs and third-and-longs," Petrino said. "That's why they're tough, it allows them to tee-off on third downs."

Expect Arkansas to tee it up.

The Razorbacks rank third in the SEC in scoring (37.4 points) and total offense (451.8 yards) after five games. Quarterback Ryan Mallett leads the SEC in total offense (282.2) and has thrown for 1,422 yards and 13 touchdowns. Running back Michael Smith made the most of his opportunities last week, rushing for a game-high 145 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries.

Even more impressive is the way the Razorbacks' offense continued rolling against Auburn despite missing two of its top receivers. Joe Adams was sidelined after suffering what Petrino called a "minor stroke" last week. And teammate Jarius Wright left the game early in the second quarter with a concussion.

Mallett says the Hogs have gained confidence by finding ways to spread the ball around.

"We've got two wins in a row right now so we are rolling a little bit," said Mallett, who was 24-of-37 for 274 yards and two touchdowns against Auburn.

"We've got to prepare and get ready to execute. We are going to go out there and prepare like we are the best team in the country. That's how we have to prepare for this team. We really have to execute on the stuff that we need to be executing on. The two wins going into this game really helped us.

"We are on top of the mountain right now because we haven't had a loss the past two weeks. We have to prepare for one of the best teams in the country. Your mental focus has to be there throughout the week."

Meyer, a master technician and motivator, says he will challenge his players in practice this week. He may also want to point to his calendar.

Saturday's date is Oct. 17, and the Razorbacks have won two of their four games in program history against the nation's top-ranked team on that date in 1961 and 194 (both times against Texas).

"You can sit and watch film and think a team isn't very good," Meyer said.

"I do not think this game falls into that category. This Arkansas team is good enough to compete for the West Championship. People who understand the game of football would probably say the same thing. To avoid all that, we'll go hard on Tuesday and Wednesday.

"We can certainly get better on offense."



That might not bode well for an Arkansas defense that is allowing 27.8 points per game, not to mention nearly 400 yards of of total offense (398.6).

While Petrino doesn't believe his team needs any extra motivation, history suggests the Razorbacks have the opportunity to, well, pull off an Ol' Miss in The Swamp.

"You don't need a lot of motivation to get ready for this game," Petrino said.

"Our guys will be ready and they know what's at stake. It's a great opportunity to go play at their stadium and play another game on national TV and show that we are a better football team. That's the motivation."