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Gators Will Face Michigan In Carr's Swan Song

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By ANDY STAPLES, The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 3, 2007

GAINESVILLE - The last time the universities of Florida and Michigan met on the football field, the Wolverines - and some suspect play-calling - ruined quarterback Rex Grossman's final game as a Gator. On Jan. 1 in the Capital One Bowl, the Gators will get their chance to spoil the swan song of a Michigan legend.

Michigan's Lloyd Carr will coach his final game against Florida in Orlando, ending a 13-season run that included one shared national title (1997) and five outright or shared Big Ten titles. In a teleconference Sunday night, Carr said he probably will feel the same as his outgoing seniors.

"For me, I'll just be one of them, one of the guys that will be involved in his last game at Michigan," Carr said. "We're all looking forward to that."

But while the Wolverines will play to honor the past, the Gators will look ahead. Florida - which could have a Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback on the roster when the game is played - will enter next season with high expectations, and Coach Urban Meyer would like to kick-start 2008 with a win.

"We're an extremely young team," Meyer said Sunday in a teleconference. "There's a lot to play for in this game for the seniors, but even more important than that is we're building for the future. The future, I'm proud to say, is very strong at Florida. ... Momentum is everything."

The Gators will face a different Michigan team than the one that dropped its final two games. Carr said quarterback Chad Henne and tailback Mike Hart, who were hampered by injuries near the end of the season, should be completely healthy by Jan. 1.

The younger Wolverines also likely have some extra motivation; they'll want to impress their new coach. The identity of that person is unknown - it won't be LSU coach Les Miles, Michigan athletic director Bill Martin said in a statement Sunday - as is the timetable for the hire. But if Martin makes a hire soon, the new coach may have a hand in bowl preparation.

"That would depend on when it happens," Carr said. "One of the opportunities that the new coach would have is to come in and get to know our players and come in and be a part of that if that's what he would choose to do."

Also unknown is whether the Gators' coaching staff will stay intact. The Sporting News reported Sunday that co-defensive coordinator Charlie Strong interviewed for the head coaching opening at Georgia Tech, but Meyer said Sunday night he doesn't anticipate any departures.

"I'm hoping we do stay intact," Meyer said. "I always worry about that. ... I think right now that we'll have our staff together."

The Gators and Wolverines will practice on campus for the next three weeks before heading to Orlando near Christmas. Carr said his final practice in Ann Arbor can't come soon enough.

"I'm really not sure when the team will go to Orlando," Carr said. "The sooner the better, because the weather here is horrible."

Expect a little more sentimentality from Carr come bowl week. But don't expect it only from Carr. His counterpart and the head of the bowl each said Sunday how proud they are to be involved in Carr's final game.

"I grew up in the state of Ohio, I'm very familiar with the University of Michigan and I always admired Coach Carr," Meyer said. "I got to meet Coach Carr and I have great respect for the way he's handled his program and the consistency of his program the last 13 years."

Said bowl Executive Director Steve Hogan: "To have a chance to send him off here in Orlando, we're proud to be a part of it. He's a class act."

Capital One Bowl

FLORIDA (9-3) VS. MICHIGAN (8-4)

WHEN: Jan. 1, 1 p.m.

WHERE: Citrus Bowl, Orlando

TV: WFTS, Ch. 28

TICKETS: $75; fcsports.com, (407) 839-3900; 1-877-428-6742 (Florida season-ticket holders only)

ABOUT FLORIDA: The Gators are making their 17th consecutive bowl appearance and fifth appearance in the Capital One Bowl, which was previously known as the Tangerine Bowl and as the Florida Citrus Bowl. … The Gators finished the season ranked No. 12 in the Bowl Championship Series standings, which would have been high enough to qualify for an at-large slot in a BCS game had Southeastern Conference champ LSU and No. 4 Georgia not filled the SEC's two slots.

Florida likely would have faced Illinois and former coach Ron Zook, but the Rose Bowl chose the Illini after Ohio State's ascension to the national title game. … The Gators and Wolverines have met just once, in the 2003 Outback Bowl. Michigan won, 38-30, to close the book on Zook's first season at Florida. For most, the lasting memory of that game is Florida QB Rex Grossman - in his final play as a Gator - batting down a Vernell Brown trick-play pass to keep it from getting intercepted.

ABOUT MICHIGAN: The Wolverines are making their 33rd consecutive bowl appearance, which is the longest streak in the nation. They will finish the season in Orlando for the first time since 2002. … The bowl will be the final game for Michigan coach Lloyd Carr, who is retiring after 13 seasons. … The Wolverines opened the season by losing at home to Football Championship Subdivision (Division I-AA) Appalachian State and Oregon, but they won eight consecutive games before closing the season with losses to Wisconsin and Ohio State. … Michigan is 4-1 against SEC opponents in bowl games since 1999.

Reporter Andy Staples can be reached at (352) 262-3719 or astaples@tampatrib.com.

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