When it comes to rivalry games, Will Muschamp is more subdued than his predecessor.
Urban Meyer was famous for trying to rev his players up the week before playing Tennessee, Georgia or Florida State. There were motivational posters. There were videos of past meetings. And, while coaching at Utah, there were decals of BYU’s logo on urinal cakes.
No more. Almost every player available to the media Monday said this week’s game is just like the other two — the ones in which Florida beat FAU and UAB by a combined score of 80-3.
“I don’t like to treat any game different from one another,” Muschamp said. “It’s the next one and therefore it’s the most important. It’s a great rivalry. It’s in the (Southeastern Conference) East, and it’s a game we need to play well in and win. It’s a very important game; we don’t need to tell our players that.”
Muschamp has told his team to approach each Saturday as if it is facing “nameless, faceless” opponents. Most players echoed that sentiment Monday, and junior Lerentee McCray went as far as to call Tennessee “the orange-and-white team.”
Trey Burton was the only player who admitted Saturday’s game will be more important than the first two.
“It’s a conference game,” he said. “Our goal is to get to Atlanta, and if we don’t win this game, we don’t go to Atlanta.”
Slive hopeful about A&M: SEC Commissioner Mike Slive talked conference expansion during a speaking engagement in Birmingham, Ala., on Monday night.
“We remain optimistic that Texas A&M will be a member of the SEC and have started to look at schedules for 2012-13 involving 13 teams,” he said.
The presidents of SEC universities voted unanimously to accept A&M’s bid to join the conference Sept. 5, but the move was put on hold as at least one Big 12 university did not waive its right to sue A&M and the SEC. Reports have since surfaced that as many as six of the Big 12’s nine remaining schools have refused to waive their rights to sue.
Slive, however, reiterated that the SEC will welcome A&M as soon as it can legally leave the Big 12. He was mum on future expansion.
“When Texas A&M joins our conference, we don’t have immediate plans for a 14th member,” he said. “We aren’t thinking in terms of numbers. We think about the strength of the SEC and the attractiveness of Texas A&M as an institution.”
Talkin’, talkin’: Muschamp was told during Saturday’s win against UAB that his players were getting too chatty in between snaps.
“At halftime I walked in and told them you do the talking with your helmet and shut up and play the game,” he said. “That’s really all it is. Guys that want to run their mouth all the time generally aren’t playing very good.”
Injuries: Cornerback Jeremy Brown (knee) is questionable. Brown suffered the injury during the first week of training camp, and Muschamp initially thought his cornerback would return before the season opener.
“The injury is much more severe than we first thought,” he said Monday.
Muschamp was hopeful that tight end A.C. Leonard would be available to practice Monday for the first time since suffering a torn meniscus Aug. 6. Jeff Demps (Muschamp’s description: “bang” on the shoulder) and Jordan Reed (“twinge” somewhere) are probable.
Contact Tyler Jett at tjett@alligator.org.
Florida coach Will Muschamp said he doesn’t treat any game different from the next. But fullback Trey Burton said the UT game could mean the difference later on.
