WATCH: Rece Davis trolls Tennessee fans from ESPN College GameDay set with Tom Petty
Rece Davis decided to have some fun with Tennessee fans who got up early for College GameDay on Saturday.
Of course, Tom Petty’s “Won’t Back Down” has become synonymous with Florida since the Gators began to play the song at during the third quarter break in 2017. Whoever was in charge of the music on the set must’ve either been from Gainesville or simply a gigantic Petty fan, as the song blared through the speaker in Knoxville during the early hours of the morning.
Davis captured the moment, and the reaction of Tennessee fans in attendance was priceless. Check out the video below.
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“I thought Tennessee was ready, but as it turns out, I walk out here and they’re playing the Florida-Tom Petty anthem. Why are you guys letting that happen?” asked Davis, turning the camera towards some raucous Volunteers fans. “And yet Tom Petty continues to play in the background. Why aren’t you guys singing?”
No matter how great of a song it is, don’t expect Tennessee faithful to willingly rock out to it on Saturday. Still, Rece Davis is enjoying it on Saturday morning before the start of College GameDay.
Billy Napier explains how Florida will prepare for Tennessee, raucous crowd
Moreover, Billy Napier is in his first season as a head coach in the SEC. He’s already coached his first SEC conference game, losing at home to Kentucky. Now, he faces another test, his first road game in the SEC as Florida travels to play rival Tennessee.
While speaking to the media earlier this week, Billy Napier was asked about how you simulate a crowd of Tennessee fans expected to be more than 100,000 strong.
“We’ll create some crowd noise in the next couple days here,” Napier said. “And challenge the communication in particular on offense.
“I’m gonna tell you what, playing in the Swamp is a challenge for our defense, you know, from a communication standpoint. So, you know, it’s just going to be the other side of the ball, you know, and certainly, we spend a ton of time in training camp preparing for those things and we’ll do our very best.”
It’s interesting to think that Napier is concerned about his defensive communication at home. Most fans know to make it loud when the home team is on defense to try and impact the away team’s offense. Meanwhile, they stay quiet when the home team has the ball to make it easier to communicate. However, it makes sense that road games would simply be the inverse.
At its best, Neyland Stadium is one of the best environments in college football. In 2021, Ole Miss traveled to Knoxville for one of the season’s iconic games, which ended with golf balls and mustard on the field. Other teams, like Baker Mayfield’s Oklahoma Sooners, have found it one of the toughest places to play too.