ESPN assigns 'A-Team' for Florida-Tennessee broadcast in Week 3

ESPN will have its top crew in town for the Tennessee at Florida rivalry game on Saturday.

Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit and Holly Rowe will be on the call for the matchup, according to Nick de la Torre. It will be a busy day for Herbstreit, who is set to appear on ESPN College GameDay Saturday morning in Colorado.

Herbstreit should have plenty of time to get to Gainesville, as the Gators and Vols aren’t set to meet until 7 p.m.

This is a big game for both programs as Tennessee and Florida each have something to prove.

For Tennessee, this is an opportunity for the Vols to show that they are still a contender, even with Hendon Hooker and his top playmakers gone.

Tennessee enters the matchup 2-0, but it has struggled at times in its first two games against lesser opponents.

As for Florida, Billy Napier has a chance to show that he has his program headed in the right direction, despite a disappointing loss to Utah in Week 1.

While Tennessee is ranked in the top 15 and Florida has had its share of struggles recently, oddsmakers are still expecting a close game. Florida is currently only a 6.5-point underdog.

The Vols beat Florida last year in Knoxville, but the Gators have owned the rivalry as of late. Prior to the 2022 game, Florida had won 16 of the past 17 meeting with the Vols dating back to 2005.

Billy Napier appreciates response by Florida players following Utah loss

Florida should have some confidence heading into its matchup with Tennessee after the way it played over the weekend.

Billy Napier’s team handled business against FCS opponent McNeese State with a 49-7 win.

Napier was proud of his team for the way it bounced back from its Week 1 woes against Utah.

“I told the players in the locker… I appreciate the response that we saw from the players after last week, which was obviously disappointing,” Napier said. “But I think the leadership on the team, we said it was going to be about the mindset, the effort, the attitude, and I think we had the right things early. So we’ll enjoy tonight and when we wake up tomorrow we’ll get ready for the big one next week.”

Napier was asked about the impact of just getting a win for the Gators at home in The Swamp, as they’d lost their previous four matchups dating back to last season.

“There’s something to be said for that,” Napier said. “Just relative to the emotion that comes with it, right? And again, I want to compliment the players, I think that they handled that well. One of the things about college football, and I would say the University of Florida in particular, is it gets noisy sometimes, right? I mean good and bad, if it’s bad then get loud and if it’s good it gets loud.”