GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Percy Harvin discovered coach Urban Meyer’s offense on a bet.

Harvin picked Meyer’s Utah team. Harvin’s friend picked Utah’s opponent.

"They beat a team like 77-0," Harvin said. "I watched them from then on."

Meyer didn’t know the recruiting significance of that game until a couple of years later after he had become the head coach at Florida and Harvin had become one of the top college prospects in the country.

Meyer didn’t have to make a compelling sales pitch. Harvin already was sold on the offense he first noticed as a sophomore wide receiver at Landstown High School in Virginia Beach, Va.

"I saw what they could do at Utah," he said. "And they had kind of slow people there."

Harvin is anything but slow. In fact, the true freshman is so fast and elusive, he has even turned the heads of veteran teammates in practice.

"He’s a phenomenal kid," Florida junior strong safety Tony Joiner said. "He has a little something extra to him. We look over at the offense and say, ‘Wow, watch him.’ "

Harvin first got Joiner’s attention in a preseason practice.

"He caught a slant in practice and almost took it to the house," Joiner said. "Just the speed he had was unbelievable."

Opponents have noticed, too. In two games, the 5-foot-11, 182-pound freshman has caught seven passes for 132 yards and rushed six times for 69 yards.

Harvin has been such a quick fit in Meyer’s spread-option offense that — just two games into his career — you expect him to have an impact on the Tennessee-Florida rivalry, which resumes Saturday night in Neyland Stadium.

Florida receivers often have been at center stage in the rivalry. They have sometimes starred but they also have faltered and fallen.

In UT coach Phillip Fulmer’s nightmares, he probably sees Reidel Anthony, Ike Hilliard and Jacquez Green speeding through the Vols secondary. And who could forget the disputed touchdown catch that Florida wide receiver Jabar Gaffney made to beat the Vols in 2000?

Two years ago, Florida wide receiver Dallas Baker was flagged for a personal foul that figured prominently in UT’s come-from-behind victory. Last year, Florida wide receiver Andre Caldwell suffered a broken leg on the second-half kickoff.

Baker returns to Neyland stadium with a chance for redemption. Caldwell hopes to finish what he started against the Vols last season.

"It’s gonna be a big test for me," Caldwell said. "I’ll just go out there and try to prove that I’m back to do what I did last year — score touchdowns and help my team win the game."

Last year, before the injury, Caldwell had two catches for 26 yards and scored on an 18-yard reverse against the Vols.

Caldwell has caught seven passes and scored two touchdowns in two games, but his 9.6-yard average per catch doesn’t qualify him as the playmaker he was before the injury.

Jemalle Cornelius has averaged 25.8 yards on four catches, and Baker has averaged 15.7 yards on a team-high 13 receptions.

But even on a team with three veteran receivers, Harvin is already an emerging star. The veterans will vouch for that.

"Whenever he touches the ball, he can get in the end zone," Caldwell said.

Sports editor John Adams may be reached at 865-342-6284 or adamsj@knews.com.