“It’s really interesting,” Jim McElwain said the Monday before Florida was set to take on the Tennessee Volunteers. “You put yourself in position by winning ballgames to play in bigger ballgames.”
Ben Hill Griffin Stadium had been on a two-year hiatus from a venue that hosted big ballgames. The first came against Tennessee and a win over the Volunteers created an even bigger environment the next week when then top-5 rated Ole Miss came to town.
With each consecutive win, the Gators’ next game has received even more attention, more magnitude. A loss at LSU didn’t derail that either, thanks to a critical SEC East matchup against Georgia looming on the schedule.