The third Saturday in September used to mean something. When Phillip Fulmer and Steve Spurrier were coaching Tennessee and Florida respectively the game turned into a de facto play-in game for the SEC Championship.
Both Fulmer and Spurrier were back in Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on Saturday night but the magnitude and the rivalry isn’t the same.
The Florida Gators trounced Tennessee 34-3 on Saturday afternoon. It was just the fourth time since 1995 that the game wasn’t the CBS SEC Game of The Week. That is no fault of Florida this season. The Gators were 2-0 when the game time was announced and Tennessee was 0-2.