Tennessee center Cooper Mays didn’t have to think long when asked about his earliest memory about the Tennessee-Florida series. In fact, it was one of his first memories about football in his life.
It came in 2008 when Tennessee defensive back Eric Berry and Florida quarterback Tim Tebow slammed against each other as the Gators were driving for a potential score near UT’s goal line.
“I would probably have to say when it was Tebow versus Eric Berry,” Mays said when asked about that first UT-Florida memory. “Those were the two big names. I remember that big hit that happened down in the red zone. That was probably the first time I ever remember seeing something vividly like that.”
Back then, Mays was more of a soccer and baseball player than a football star. Things have changed since. Now, he’s a key member for a team that is 3-0 and heavily favored to beat the Gators on Saturday.
That Berry-Tebow collision was almost 15 years ago. Mays would have been six-years-old. It took him until just recently to secure his most prized victory of his entire career.
“I would say the Pitt game really meant a lot to me personally,” Mays said when asked about his favorite win. “I don’t know if everybody else feels like that, but it had a really special impact on me.
“Me being a Tennessee fan, games like that I feel like in the past have sometimes not really gone our way and when it gets down into spots like that, sometimes it doesn’t go our way, so just for us to kind of pull one out on the road against a big-time opponent, a game that kind of went down to the wire, that was probably one of my favorite memories.”
The win against Pittsburgh may be No. 1 for Mays right now. However, that would change if the Vols beat Florida on Saturday. Beating the Gators would supplant beating the Panthers – easily.
“Yeah, I think so,” Mays said with a smile on the Vol Report. “This would be a huge win. It would be a quick turnaround to have a different favorite game, but this is a big one for sure.”
Recency bias? No, this is Tennessee-Florida. Mays knows what a win would mean to his legacy. That would be a memory that would linger for quite awhile, just like that unforgettable hit in Gainesville in 2008.
