Tennessee coaches and players finally respond to Gators trash talk
All offseason players from both Tennessee and Florida had to deal with hearing about the hype surrounding the Volunteers as the perceived front-runners to capture the East division in 2016. However, the way both teams reacted to the near consensus speculation could not have been more different.
After deservedly feeling slighted after capturing not only the 2015 East title but the last 11 games in the annual series, Florida seemingly never passed on the opportunity to slight the Vols. Whether it was All-American cornerback Jalen Tabor, safety Quincy Wilson or head coach Jim McElwain, the Gators seemed to always have a Tennessee slight just on the tip of their tongues.
Yet despite all the talk of the rivalry, Tennessee players – taking a cue from head coach Butch Jones – took the high road as much as possible and refused to enter into a war of words with the Gators.
Even leading up to game this week, Jones denied being aware of any Wilson’s guarantee of his “duck pulling a truck” comment. His post-game comments on the field revealed something very different, as Jones broke from his normally stoic nature and actually let loose for a moment.
“The duck is pulling the truck tonight baby,” Jones enthusiastically said to CBS Sports sideline reporter Allie LaForce moments after the game clock struck zero inside Neyland Stadium.
Jones wasn’t the only one to display some bravado after the game, as senior quarterback Joshua Dobbs threw some shade Florida’s way late Saturday evening – while also creatively using both a duck and a truck emojis in his message to Gator Nation:
@CollegeGameDay for UT = 2
Filling Neyland = 102,455
Letting OUR play on the field do the TALKING = PRICELESS🍊
🐤 pulling 🚚#ToGodBeTheGlory— Josh Dobbs (@josh_dobbs1) September 25, 2016
Not to be outdone, running back Jalen Hurd got in a shot himself with this Instagram post:
Needless to say, Tennessee heard all the talk from Florida leading up to this game and did the only thing they could do to finally silence the Gators and beat them on the field once and for all.
where you at brianchip?? you sad sack of crap
Now THAT’S the way to respond to talk – on the field. Then have some fun responding with a little talk of your own.
Lmfao @ all the gators, fans, and haters in general. One has to wonder if McElwain regrets letting his players talk smack all offseason, it only added more fuel to our fire. This was an ass-whoopin 12 years in the making. We absolutely gashed their defense, and Tabor got straight up torched on the Jennings TD. Dobbs woulda thrown for 400 if the receivers didn’t drop all those balls in the first half. Florida is lucky we didn’t hang 55 on them. It’s an immense relief to finally see this team put it all together, especiallly against Florida. This is the team I expected to see this year. It’s only one game, but it could be a springboard to much more. Gotta take this next stretch one game at a time, but for now I’m gonna enjoy this win. Go Vols!
(What happened to all those gator fans that were talking smack on here all week? Lol)
🐤————-🚛