Sept. 24, 1999
By Tim Whitmire
AP Sports Writer
LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — Florida coach Steve Spurrier knows the days ofbeating Kentucky 73-7 and 65-0 are over.
With offensive-minded coach Hal Mumme in his third year at the helm,”they’re going to score points and move the ball every game,” Spurrer saidthis week as his third-ranked Gators prepared to face Kentucky on Saturday.”They’ve got a good plan. They know what they’re doing.”
Under Mumme, the Wildcats’ efforts against Florida have been morerespectable than the aforementioned debacles of 1994 and 1996. But they’vestill been losses – 55-28 in 1997 and 51-35 last year.
It’s been 13 years since the Wildcats (2-1, 0-0 Southeastern Conference)beat the Gators (3-0, 1-0) and six since they lost by less than double digits.
Though some Kentucky fans would probably be happy with a close loss,Mumme said margin of defeat means nothing to him.
“It’s not very important to have a close game,” he said. “It’s veryimportant for us to win against them. If we don’t win, I don’t (care) whetherit’s close or not.
“Close doesn’t help. Close doesn’t count.”
For Florida, coming off a big 23-21 home win over Tennessee, Spurriersaidhe won’t tolerate a letdown.
“We train year-round for 12 or 13 games. Year-round these guys practice,lift weights, spring practice. … How can you not be excited for your only 12or 13 hours of the year? That’s our 12, 13 hours to try to play the very bestwe can, simple as that,” he said.
Florida quarterback Doug Johnson, who’s thrown six interceptions in theGators’ first three games, will be without top receiver Travis Taylor, out 3-4weeks with a sprained right ankle he sustained against Tennessee.
Johnson will probably be relieved to see Kentucky’s man-to-man coverage.He’s 35-for-57 passing for 556 yards and 10 touchdowns with no interceptionsagainst Kentucky’s defense the last two years.
Meanwhile, Kentucky sophomore Dusty Bonner, successor to Tim Couch atquarterback, will be throwing against a young Florida secondary that’s allowedan SEC-worst average 325 passing yards in three games.
In each of his first three games at the controls of Mumme’s “Air Raid”offense, Bonner has passed for at least 300 yards and three touchdowns.Five ofthose scoring passes have gone to senior tight end James Whalen Jr.
With his young team coming off its best game of the season, a 44-35win overIndiana, Mumme felt the need to bear down this week.
He exploded in anger following several miscues during Wednesday’spractice,then delivered a post-practice tirade in which he told the players he didn’tthink they believed they could beat Florida.
“Some of it was for show,” Mumme admitted. “We’ve got young guys. Theyjust need to know how important this game is. They didn’t seem to be taking itas seriously as I wanted them to, so I figured I’d make them more afraid of methan they are of the Gators.”
