Gators, 'Cats come at big game from different directions

GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA - At Kentucky, the coach wins to go 4-0 and he gets a two-year contract extension. At Florida, the coach wins to go 3-1 and he gets to keep his job another week. <br> <br> OK, it may not be that drastic a situation at Florida, but the point remains the same: There&#39;s a huge gap in expectations between the two programs that meet Saturday in The Swamp. <br> <br> The seventh-ranked Gators (3-1, 1-0 Southeastern Conference) are coming off a huge win at Tennessee that put them in the driver&#39;s seat in the SEC East and gave new coach Ron Zook a well-earned reprieve from intense criticism. <br> <br> The Wildcats, meanwhile, are on probation this year and can&#39;t go to a bowl game. So, this may as well be their bowl game. They&#39;re 4-0 for the first time since 1984, an achievement that earned Guy Morriss a two-year contract extension this week. A victory against the Gators - who they haven&#39;t beaten since 1986 - would almost certainly put them in the Associated Press Top 25 for the first time in 17 years. <br> <br> ``We honestly, in our hearts, believe we can win down there,&#39;&#39; Kentucky&#39;s 275-pound quarterback Jared Lorenzen said. ``Our confidence has grown and grown with each game this season and is as high as it&#39;s ever been around here.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Call them the Fighting Wildcats. <br> <br> Last week, in a 44-22 victory over Middle Tennessee State, Kentucky got involved in a wild, bench-clearing brawl that resulted when Lorenzen took exception to a defensive lineman&#39;s attempt to block him after an interception on a desperation pass at the end of the first half. <br> <br> Four players were ejected, including backup offensive linemen Sylvester Miller and Michael Aitcheson, who are suspended for the first half of Saturday&#39;s game. <br> <br> Although they don&#39;t want to glorify such situations, it&#39;s moments like those that helped build the unity and confidence that got the Wildcats to where they are. <br> <br> Now comes the true test. The Wildcats are 19-point underdogs and haven&#39;t won at Florida Field since 1979. <br> <br> ``We&#39;ll use this game as a measuring stick,&#39;&#39; Morriss said. ``It&#39;s where we find out how good or bad we really are.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Kentucky leads the SEC in scoring offense, has the conference&#39;s leading rusher in Artrose Pinner (507 yards on 93 carries) and has the league&#39;s most efficient passer in Lorenzen (163.3 efficiency rating). <br> <br> ``We&#39;ll have to play our best down there,&#39;&#39; tight end Chase Harp said. ``We&#39;ll need a really good game to beat Florida. We can beat them, though, I don&#39;t think anybody here is questioning that.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Zook isn&#39;t questioning that, either. <br> <br> Indeed, this would normally be an easy game to overlook for the Gators, but Zook is reminding his players of what people said about them just last week: that they didn&#39;t stand a chance against Tennessee. <br> <br> Kentucky is playing with as much, maybe more, confidence as Florida. <br> <br> ``We need to understand that this team is an undefeated team coming here expecting to win - not thinking they can win, but expecting to win,&#39;&#39; Zook said. <br> <br> Quarterback Rex Grossman threw himself squarely back into the Heisman Trophy race with his 324-yard performance last week against the Vols. Florida&#39;s defense was solid again. <br> <br> Overall, the Gators looked like title-contending material - a far cry from the two previous weeks, when a loss to Miami and a bad showing against Ohio had the Florida fans howling. <br> <br> ``Obviously, this is a unique situation,&#39;&#39; Grossman said. ``It&#39;s a new coaching staff, a lot of people are doubting and questioning, and when they don&#39;t see results immediately, they may jump on the bandwagon for negativity.&#39;&#39;