GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow is too young to have witnessed much of the history of the Miami-Florida rivalry, and the teams don't play often enough for him to hear about it, either.

What he does know — maybe all he needs to know — is that the Gators haven't beaten the Hurricanes since 1985, a six-game losing streak in an on-again, off-again series that has Florida's star quarterback and his teammates eager to turn things around tonight at The Swamp.

"We need to win because I don't know when's the next time we'll get an opportunity at them," Tebow said.

This could be Tebow's only shot. The fifth-ranked Gators (1-0) and the Hurricanes (1-0) aren't scheduled to play again until 2013, another long break in a rivalry that used to be one of college football's best.

It certainly was one of the most heated, from the "Florida Flop" in 1971, to the "Peach Pelting" in 1980, to the "Bourbon Street Brawl" in 2001.

No one knows what will happen next.

But the next chapter in the storied series started with players exchanging barbs this week. Florida receiver Louis Murphy took the first jab, saying Miami shouldn't be referred to as the "The U" anymore. He said Florida should be called "The U" because the program is winning more right now and has a more recent championship.

Coach Urban Meyer quickly placed Murphy off limits to media interviews.

The Hurricanes responded by taking the high road — well, sort of.

"Those guys can talk whatever they want," left tackle Jason Fox said. "All it is is just words. They can run their mouth as much as they want. We're going to talk with our helmets and we're going to shut them up quick."

Miami has plenty of confidence, especially for a team coming off a 5-7 season and designated a 21 1/2-point underdog at Florida Field, where the Gators are 20-1 in three seasons under Meyer.

Then again, most of the Miami players weren't even born the last time the Gators won a game in the series.

"I believe it's 0-6 lately for Florida, something like that," 'Canes center Xavier Shannon said. "We want to keep it going. We don't want to give them any breathing room. We want to make it 0-7, and the next time we play the Gators, they have to worry about not going 0-8."

TEXAS TECH-NEVADA

RED RAIDERS TO AIR IT OUT AGAINST WOLF PACK

Nevada's Chris Ault has seen a lot in his 23 years of coaching college football, and still he can't think of a single team to compare to No. 12 Texas Tech and its Air Raid offense.

"They are a much different offense than the great Hawai'i team of last year with Colt Brennan in charge," Ault said as the Western Athletic Conference's Wolf Pack (1-0) prepares to host the Red Raiders (1-0) today in Reno.

"As explosive as Hawai'i was, I think their passing game is a little more complex than Hawai'i's," he said. "They're a precision offense. They do so much with that, defensively speaking, your versatility is limited.

"They've been probably the premier passing team in the country since Coach (Mike) Leach has been there," said Ault, the fifth winningest active coach in major college football (192-85-1).

Texas Tech quarterback Graham Harrell led the nation last year with 5,705 yards passing and 48 touchdown passes. He picked up where he left off in a 49-24 victory over Eastern Washington last week, completing 43 of 58 passes for 536 yards and two touchdowns.

One of those scores went to Michael Crabtree, an All-American who led the nation as a freshman last year in receptions (134), receiving yards (1,962) and TD receptions (22). Crabtree, Eric Morris and Detron Lewis each had nine catches last week.

BYU-WASHINGTON

COUGARS WANT BREAK THROUGH WITH HUSKIES

BYU has been the master of its domain for the past two seasons, dominating the Mountain West Conference and protecting its home field.

Now the Cougars need to get more comfortable outside their comfort zone.

No. 15 BYU heads into today's game against Washington having not won a nonconference road game in six years. That just won't do for a team hoping to break into the BCS.

"This is our third different football team in this scenario going against good opponents on the road," BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall said. "I think I've learned as a head coach and our team has matured. I think we're on track and our play will show that."

Winning away from Provo, against teams from both BCS and non-BCS conferences, hasn't necessarily been an easy task for the Cougars. Certainly, BYU has developed into a more competitive team against all competition since Mendenhall's ascension to head coach in 2005, and in bowl games the Cougars are 2-1 playing at neutral sites.

Still, it was nearly seven years ago that BYU (1-0) managed to go on the road for a non-conference game against a BCS conference team and win — a 41-38 victory over Mississippi State on Dec. 1, 2001.

BYU has come up short in every out-of-conference test on the road — both BCS and non-BCS conference teams — since beating Utah State midway through the 2002 season. The list includes two losses at Notre Dame, and defeats at Georgia Tech, USC, Stanford, Boston College, Arizona, UCLA, and non-BCS schools Boise State, Nevada and Tulsa.

Today's game against a young Washington squad might be the Cougars' best opportunity to finally snap that streak.

"We've had some struggles with our non-conference road games in the past but we're really concentrating on it this year to put that behind us," quarterback Max Hall said. "It's an important game for us if we want to reach our goals and try and be close to the BCS at the end of the season."