University of Tennessee Athletics
Picking Off Tebow in Swamp a Vivid Memory
September 17, 2009 | Football
Sept. 17, 2009
BY Eric Berry, For Sporting News Today
It's very exciting just to face a team like Florida, especially from the defensive side of the ball, seeing how many weapons they have on offense. I feel like we just have to be prepared this week and do a great job of focusing at practice and get ready for what they have to offer.
Though it's Florida week, we're still going through the same game preparation process since we got here. Nothing has really changed, but I feel like everyone is a little more focused, the players are a little bit more in tune to what's going on. Probably because of what happened last week too, but everyone seems like they have a different focus right now.
I think the Swamp is the toughest place to play on the road in the SEC because the fans are always into the game. They stay to the end no matter how long the game is or what the score is. You have to be focused and just pay attention to what's going on on the field and not too much in the stands because the fans are always into it, so we've got to be ready for it.
My freshman year, I was a little distracted by the atmosphere, just coming straight out of high school and that being my third college game. But now my focus is just on the game.
That Florida game two years ago was the one where I intercepted Tim Tebow for my first career interception and returned it 96 yards for a touchdown.
What I remember about that play was that I was still pretty upset that I got beat on that touchdown by Riley Cooper in the first half, but Jonathan Hefney settled me down before the second half. He said, `Don't worry about it. It's in the past. Just play football like you've been doing all your life.' I went out there then and just tried to make a play. And it was pretty exciting.
Everyone in the SEC is our rival, but just seeing how we haven't beat Florida since I've been here, or Alabama, I would say both of those are pretty big rivals. We look forward to every SEC game, but those are two of the biggest ones.
It would mean a lot if we could get a win. You see what it did for Ole Miss last year when they beat Florida. Now they entered this season with a lot of people picking them as the favorite to win the SEC West. It could do a lot for us.
-- As told to Roger Kuznia
