GAINESVILLE, Fla.-- After a wild first week of college football, the Florida Gators were one of three SEC East teams to win their opening game of the season.
Missouri, South Carolina, Tennessee and Vanderbilt all dropped their season openers. Although Vandy was not favored in its home opener against Georgia, the same cannot be said for the other three teams.
The Tigers, the Gamecocks and the Vols all lost in games they were favored to win. In the end Missouri lost to Wyoming, South Carolina lost to North Carolina, and Tennessee lost to Georgia State last weekend.
With both the Tigers and the Vols losing to two non Power five teams, the Gators are on high alert.
With UT-Martin making their way to The Swamp for the Gators first home game of the year, the Skyhawks will try to make their own statement.
If the Gators have their sights set on the away contest with Kentucky too early, UT-Martin could do just that.
Despite being 1-0 over an in-state rival to start the season, the Gators have a new challenge and will be tested by a team that can run the ball the ball efficiently and opposes a threat to the Gators run defense.
Josh Hammond understands you cannot overlook any opponent.
“It’s definitely a process,” said the Florida wide receiver. “You can’t take anyone lightly and you have to be prepared to work week in and week out. Bunch of teams got upset in week one. Definitely take the approach that every team is going to come in and try to win the football game. No one plans to lose. We still game plan as if it is the No. 1 team in the country. We prepare the same way every week, trying to keep the same things every week to make it easier on guys."
The Gators head into the first home game of the season winning four out of their last five non-conference games. Luckily for Florida, the Skyhawks haven’t had much success against FBS teams, coming in with a 1-24 record.
Despite being a 44.5 point favorite heading into this weekends contest, there is no reason for the Gators to overlook a team that has speed in the backfield and at wide receivers that can be threatening.
Feleipe Franks is looking forward to making adjustments and preparing like every other game week.
"You should approach every game with the same attitude. I don’t come out here and practice any different because we’re playing Tennessee, if we’re playing Alabama, if we’re playing UT Martin," said Franks. "I don’t think any of these guys should either, or they won’t. It can be a confidence booster. Obviously, the talent level may be there, may not be there. I don’t know; I’ve never played them before. But, you don’t want to take these games lightly.
"You can see all across the board what happens sometimes when a team takes another team lightly. But, I think that’s the most important thing – you don’t want to take teams like this lightly. You want to go out there and perform and prepare like you’re playing any other team. So, that’s what’s most important.”
