Gators avoiding SEC talk, focusing on stretch run

By MARK LONG,

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) Several days after top-ranked Florida secured a spot in the Southeastern Conference championship game, receiver David Nelson insisted some of his teammates didn't even know they had clinched the Eastern Division.

Yeah, right.

The Gators (8-0, 6-0 SEC) spent the entire season talking about getting back to Atlanta, realizing it was the first step toward repeating as national champs. They celebrated last week's 41-17 win over rival Georgia in frenzied fashion, then wrapped up the East a few hours later when Tennessee beat South Carolina.

Atlanta never came up? Not in the locker room? Not over dinner? Not around campus?

"I don't even know if half our team even knows that yet," Nelson said. "We haven't talked about it. It hasn't been a subject of conversation between us."

Coach Urban Meyer would prefer that his players don't even think about it, especially with four games remaining before the SEC title game. Florida's challenge the rest of the month, beginning Saturday night against struggling Vanderbilt (2-7, 0-5), is to stay motivated and avoid a letdown.

"Our team is focused," quarterback Tim Tebow said. "We know that every week we're going to get teams' best and we're going to have to play well, we're going to have to compete, we're going to have to fight to win, pretty much like we've had to every game this year and we're ready for that.

"We're not going to be complacent. ... It's college football. Anything can happen any Saturday, and we know that and we're going to be prepared for it."

The Gators have the nation's longest winning streak at 18 games and have won 18 consecutive against the Commodores. Florida won the last two by a combined score of 91-36, and this one could be another lopsided affair.

Tebow & Co. seemingly got the offense back on track against the Bulldogs, scoring early on long passing plays and working the clock late with a ball-control running game. The Gators also scored on two of three trips inside the red zone, improving on an area that had plagued them in several games.

The Gators turned the game into a rout with four interceptions in the second half, big plays the defense has been looking for all season. It was the kind of complete performance Florida has been missing in league play, the kind everyone expected from the consensus pick to win it all for the third time in four years.

"With every victory and every win, you start to think, what is it 18 in a row now? It's amazing. It really is," defensive line coach Dan McCarney said. "So why stop now? There are some things we've got to do to try to get 19 this week, stay on course with all the goals we have this year."

Vanderbilt, meanwhile, has lost five in a row and is switching quarterbacks.

Larry Smith partially tore his left hamstring last week against Georgia Tech, forcing Mackenzi Adams back into the starting lineup.

Adams started the last two seasons against Florida, completing 21 of 40 passes for 206 yards, with three interceptions. He also has 18 carries for 26 yards and two touchdowns in those games.

"Mac won't be scared, let me tell you that," Vandy coach Bobby Johnson said. "He'll be confident. He'll go out there and he'll plan on making every throw, every read, every decision. He's done it before so that's not going to be a different experience for him."

The Commodores also could be without left tackle Thomas Welch because of an ankle injury.

For Vandy to have a chance, though, it might need to play solid defense, unlike last week when the 'Dores allowed 404 yards rushing and 597 total yards in a 56-31 loss to Georgia Tech.

They played much better against LSU, Mississippi State, Mississippi and South Carolina - not giving up more than 23 points in any of those games.

"They're very sound on defense," Meyer said. "They're going to make you earn everything you get."

The Gators already earned a trip to Atlanta. How will they respond, especially after a week in which linebacker Brandon Spikes was suspended for dirty play and Meyer was fined $30,000 for criticizing officials?

"I don't think they're going to overlook us," Vandy cornerback Myron Lewis said. "I don't think they should overlook any team because any team that goes into their house or any team that plays the No. 1 team is ready to beat them. I think they're going to be up for the challenge of playing us, and we're going to be up for the challenge of playing them as well."

Updated November 6, 2009