Steve Addazio, the offensive coordinator for the past two years at Florida will interview for the head coaching position at Temple.

Addazio has made previous stops at Syracuse, Notre Dame, and Indiana before joining Florida in 2005.

Bill Cubit of Western Michigan and Sean McDonnell of New Hampshire will also interview for the position.

Addazio future at Florida remains uncertain since the recent retirement of Urban Meyer. Addazio too a lot of heat for the lack of production from the Florida offense the past two years.

Excitement hung in the air as new Florida head coach Will Muschamp walked toward podium to a round of applause from the media.

However, while his welcome is warm, Muschamp’s job will not be easy and that warm atmosphere can get cold rather quickly.

Just ask Ron Zook.

Not only does Muschamp have to replace two-time national champion Urban Meyer, but somehow, he needs to convince the Gator Nation to move on from their former head coach.

Tuesday’s press conference was one heck of a start for the former Texas Longhorns’ defensive coordinator.

Muschamp began the press conference with a 20-minute opening statement, speaking rapidly and excitedly, reminiscing about his days as a Gator fan growing up, and making jokes about playing for the Georgia Bulldogs and co-owning a vacation home with Florida State Seminoles head coach Jimbo Fisher.

Muschamp said that the Gators will run a pro-style offense and defense, that he is no hurry to hire assistants, and that the only stat that matters to him is winning.

Overall, it was a very entertaining and encouraging event that may have won over some members of the Gator Nation who were wary of Muschamp before Tuesday night.

As for those who remain unconvinced, here’s what Muschamp had to say: “I expect to win next year. We’re not on a five-year plan.”

As cliche as it sounds, you can’t spell his name without “champ” and after tonight’s press conference, Muschamp is beginning to look more and more like a winner.

When the Florida Gators run onto Bobby Bowden Field a.k.a “Ron Zook Field” at Doak Campbell Stadium Saturday, something will be different in this rivalry game.

One big change that has Florida and FSU fans talking is that this game has little national importance, which is quite a rarity.

The Gators and the ‘Noles have been two of the nation’s top football programs for the past two decades and either one, the other, or both are in the national title picture when this game comes around.

However, Florida State is the only one with championship hopes this season and their fate depends on the outcome of the Maryland-NC State game (a Terrapin victory would send the Seminoles to the ACC Championship Game).

But while the interest in this rivalry outside of the Sunshine State dwindling is a big story, the biggest change Saturday will be the absence of the Seminoles’ legendary coach Bobby Bowden.

Bowden, who was the head coach at Florida State for 34 seasons and retired as the second-winningest coach in NCAA Division 1-A history (377 victories), was a big part of the Gators-’Noles rivalry.

Not only did he stop the bleeding in terms of the head-to-head record (he recorded a 17-18-1 record against Florida), but he made the rivalry competitive.

In fact, before the infamous loss to Ron Zook in 2004, Bowden had dominated the Gators for a long stretch, winning 13 games and tying one (see: “Choke at Doak”) in 19 attempts from 1987 to 2003.

And it was during that stretch that he dominated former Florida head coach Steve Spurrier and maybe cost the Ol’ Ball Coach a couple of opportunities to play for more national championships while in Gainesville.

It wasn’t until the firing of Zook and the hiring of Urban Meyer that the Gators finally figured out Bowden and took out 30 years of frustration on Bowden in the form of six consecutive victories by an average margin of victory of 23.5 points.

With Bowden patrolling the sidelines, Florida and Florida State engaged annually in one of the nation’s most competitive rivalries and it saw both schools rise to the level of the elite in college football.

Jimbo Fisher begins his attempt to recreate that rivalry magic Saturday while Meyer will try to get his team back on track and keep the Gators’ win streak in the series alive.

While Bowden will be gone from the field, his legacy in this rivalry will still be very much alive, just like Spurrier’s remained when he left his alma mater for the NFL.

Of the men who built this rivalry, Bowden stands at the top and although he will not be there coaching the Garnet and Gold, his presence will definitely be felt on the field, in the stands, and in every living room that this game will be watched.

During tonight’s rendition of “We are the Boys of Old Florida,” the line “Through all kinds of weather, we’ll all stick together” was tested.

The chance to clinch the SEC East title at home against Steve Spurrier escaped the Gators as Florida fell to South Carolina 36-14 in “The Swamp” Saturday.

Not only did tonight’s victory give the Gamecocks their first SEC East title in school history, but it was the first time that South Carolina has taken down the Gators in Gainesville.

The game got off to great start when redshirt freshman Andre Debose returned the opening kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown, but it all went downhill from there.

The Florida offense sputtered all night long and through three quarters, Steve Addazio and Co. had only racked up 67 yards of total offense.

To make matters worse, the defense didn’t do the offense any favors, surrendering 244 yards on the ground (217 from freshman halfback Marcus Lattimore) and allowing South Carolina to score on seven different drives.

Florida had an opportunity to overcome their early season struggles and make 2010 season a special one with a third consecutive trip to the SEC Championship.

Instead, the Gators suffered their third straight loss at home and have to watch the man that once proudly wore the orange and blue lead a rival team to Atlanta.

Couresty of (AP Photo/Phil Sandlin)

As if the Vanderbilt Commodores didn’t already have a tough enough time playing in the SEC, things became worse in their 49-14 loss to the Arkansas Razorbacks last weekend.

During the loss, Vandy sophomore running back Warren Norman suffered a dislocated right wrist, which will sideline him for the rest of the 2010 season.

Norman is currently leading Vanderbilt in rushing, carrying the ball 77 times for 459 yards (6.0 yards per carry) and four touchdowns so far this season.

However, sans Norman, the 2-6 Commodores now face an even more challenging road for the remainder of their first season under new head coach Robbie Caldwell.

And Vandy kicks off the final third of the season against the Florida Gators, who are coming off their biggest win of the season against the Georgia Bulldogs.

The Gators still control their own destiny in the SEC East race and with wins over Vanderbilt and the South Carolina Gamecocks, they’ll advance to Atlanta to play for the SEC title for a third consecutive season.

And to get there, Florida needs all the help they can get.

It’s unfortunate that the Commodores will not be at full strength in Nashville Saturday, but as far as the Gators are concerned, they aren’t complaining.