Florida and Tennessee have a rather unique rivalry on the football field. It’s a rivalry that’s been dominated by the Gators over the last half century; Florida doesn’t just lead 12-1 since 2005, they also lead 20-5 since 1993 and 25-7 since 1976.
But that hasn’t stopped the Vols from delivering their share of heartbreak to the Gators. And so, here’s the first half of the list of the ten most memorable Florida-Tennessee games.
No. 10: Alex Brown’s record night
1999: #4 Florida 23, #2 Tennessee 21
Recap
This was not one of Steve Spurrier’s Gators’ best offensive performances. Then why mention it, since offense was what Spurrier lived and died by? Because on this night, Alex Brown turned in one of the best defensive performances by any player I have ever seen. He basically set up a tent in Tennessee’s backfield, sacking Tee Martin five times and also picking off a pass.
Meanwhile, Florida’s offense did just enough to win. For the most part, they avoided turnovers and penalties and built a 23-7 lead in the third quarter. They did let Tennessee back into the game, giving up two touchdowns to make the score 23-21, but when it mattered most, the defense clamped down and stopped the Vols’ Jamal Lewis on fourth down at the Florida 42 with two minutes to go.
And thus, Florida had its payback for the previous year (more on that later in the countdown….)
Significance
The Gators had just come off of a devastating loss to Tennessee the year before. (Collins Cooper had missed a field goal in overtime, which is basically a death sentence within the rules of college football overtime.) That was also the first time Philip Fulmer had beaten Florida since his inaugural season in 1992. Before Tennessee could get any ideas of putting together some kind of winning streak in the series, however, Brown simultaneously ended that possibility and put on a show that would launch his career. He still calls this game the best he ever played, and it had a lot to do with the Chicago Bears deciding to employ him for eight years.
Meanwhile, the loss had a sickening effect on Tennessee that will become a theme as you read on down the list: It cost the Vols a chance to play for a championship. A later upset loss to Arkansas probably would have ended the Vols’ national title hopes anyway, but they would have at least set up a rematch with Alabama (who they had already beaten 21-7 in Tuscaloosa earlier that year) in the SEC Championship had they beaten Florida.
No. 9: The Heave to Cleve
2017: #24 Florida 26, #23 Tennessee 20
Recap
The first three quarters of this game were nearly unwatchable. Both teams struggled mightily offensively, and because neither Aaron Medley nor Brent Cimaglia could make a field goal, the Gators clung to a 6-3 lead as the fourth quarter began. And then things got fun.
CJ Henderson scored the game’s first touchdown on a 13 yard pick six from the hand of Quinten Dormady, and Malik Davis appeared to put the game away on the next drive with a 78 yard touchdown run. But Davis slowed up near the goal line and the ball got punched out of his hands for a touchback. The Vols then fought back with a pair of big gains by Ty Chandler and then a long touchdown run by John Kelly. But Kelly made a critical mistake. He taunted Gator fans with an exaggerated Gator Chomp. That cost the Vols 15 yards on the kickoff, which Tyrie Cleveland made them pay for with a huge return, and moments later, Feleipe Franks found Brandon Powell on a short dump off for a touchdown to make it 20-10.
But back came the Vols with a quick screen to Kelly that went for 52 yards and a 28 yard scoring strike from Dormady to Ethan Wolf on the next play to cut the lead back down to 20-17 with just under five minutes to go. Two plays later, Franks threw an extremely ill advised fireball that was deflected and intercepted by Rashaan Gaulden at the 42. This time, though, Florida’s defense held at the goal line and forced the Vols to settle for the game tying field goal with under a minute to go. And the game appeared to be headed for overtime, particularly when the Gators’ first three plays of their final drive ate up 35 seconds and gained twelve yards.
But then, with nine seconds to go, Franks rolled out, bought time, and then threw the ball as far as he possibly could have. It just so happened that he threw it right to where a streaking Tyrie Cleveland was entering the “Florida” wordmark in the end zone, meaning he was in perfect position to welcome in the best ball Franks has ever thrown in his life into his arms for the game winning touchdown on an incredible, walk-off, buzzer-beating, Hail Mary, or whatever you want to call it, miracle.
Significance
Literally none, except that Tennessee would go on to lose every single conference game that year for the first time in history. Both teams would fire their coaches after this year and would win four games apiece. And that’s why this game, as incredible a finish as it was, is all the way down at #9.
No. 8: SEC East Title Game
2001: #5 Tennessee 34, #2 Florida 32
Precap
It’s impossible to mention the 2001 Florida-Tennessee game without acknowledging Florida’s 37-13 win over Florida State one week before it. That Florida-Tennessee game was pushed from September to November by the September 11 attacks, which inadvertently changed the complexion of the game — thanks in part to Darnell Dockett wrenching Earnest Graham’s knee, but also thanks to Vols defensive tackle John Henderson getting healthy as the season went along.
Recap
This one still stings. The two teams entered the game with identical 6-1 SEC records, meaning the winner would play for the SEC Championship. On this day, the Vols walked into the Swamp and imposed their will from the opening kick, building a 14-0 lead and making the Gators play from behind. The offense, due to the aforementioned absence of Earnest Graham, struggled mightily. Rex Grossman didn’t have a bad day (362 yards and 2 TDs) but with no help from the running game, Florida’s offense was one-dimensional (just 36 rushing yards on the day) and that would bite them in the end.
On the other hand, Travis Stephens had no problem tearing through a suddenly anemic Gator defense, totaling 226 yards on the ground. It came down to this: Florida was down 34-26 and driving with a couple of minutes left. Grossman threw a touchdown pass to Carlos Perez to make it 34-32, but on the ensuing two point conversion attempt, his desperation pass fell incomplete (remember, Florida had no running game to make Tennessee guess). Tennessee, the 17.5 point underdog despite having the same record as Florida, pulled the 34-32 upset.
Significance
I’ve been alive and conscious for some of the best Gator teams in history: the 2006, 2008 and 2009 teams, for example, and I’ve watched several saved, taped games from the 1995 and 1996 seasons, so I think I have a pretty good sample size on them. So I’ll say this: the 2001 team might have been the best team in Gators history. Note, the word might. Verdict: probably not. But still, they belong in any conversation. Consider this resume (note: rankings beside the team’s name indicates final season ranking):
- At No. 7 LSU: W, 44-15
- At No. 13 South Carolina: W, 54-17
- No. 15 Florida State: W, 37-13
- No. 22 Georgia: W, 24-10
- No. 10 Maryland: W, 56-23
- No. 21 Marshall: W, 49-14
Their first loss, to a 7-5 Auburn team on the road, would have been completely irrelevant had it been the Gators’ only blemish. Florida was ranked No. 2 coming into this game, and had they beaten Tennessee, they would have set up a rematch with the same LSU team that they had dismantled 44-15 (in Death Valley, I may add) for the SEC Championship. Had they won that, the Gators would have set up a rematch of the previous year’s Sugar Bowl with Miami in the Rose Bowl, and even without Earnest Graham, would have been a much better match for Miami than Nebraska. But of course, Tennessee (and Florida State) robbed the Gators of all this in one of the most exciting games of the series’ history.
I’m sure people will wonder why this game, widely regarded as one of the most heart stopping games either team has ever participated in, is only at #8 on the list of most memorable Florida-Tennessee games. Well, it would be #1 had Tennessee had ridden the victory to the greater prize many thought they were destined for. Instead, the second ranked Vols were stunned by LSU- who, remember, Florida had mauled 44-15 two months earlier in Baton Rouge- in the SEC Championship Game the following week, costing them not just the SEC Championship but a date with Miami for the national championship as well.
No. 7: 48 unanswered
1995: #4 Florida 62, #8 Tennessee 37
Recap
It was all going so well for Tennessee on an overcast day in the Swamp. 15 seconds into the game, Peyton Manning had connected with Marcus Nash for a touchdown and Tennessee had a 7-0 lead before most fans had settled into their seats. Danny Wuerffel had turned it over once already on a fumble, and the Volunteers cashed that mistake in for a 46 yard touchdown on the return. Tennessee had staked a 30-14 lead midway through the second quarter, and the Gator crowd was absolutely silent (to this point, Florida had lost in the Swamp only twice since Spurrier’s arrival in 1990).
Then the barrage started.
Danny Wuerffel led his Gators on seven straight touchdown drives, and by the time it was all over, the wounded Vols staggered off the field having surrendered an incredible 62 points. I’ll repeat: Florida hung SIXTY TWO POINTS on Tennessee, and most of it came in the span of about two and a half to three quarters. No matter what the Volunteers tried to do, it didn’t work. Not even a Category Five storm could stop this club. No, I’m being dead serious: God actually tested this out by sending one down to the Swamp. Like everything the Volunteers tried, the heavy rainshower failed to slow the Fun n’ Gun. It mattered not the least that Tennessee scored 37, because, in case you haven’t heard, Florida scored SIXTY TWO.
Significance
With the possible exception of Georgia, there was no team that Steve Spurrier loved to take shots at as much as Tennessee. His most famous lines included, “I know why Peyton Manning really came back for his senior year: he wanted to be a three time Citrus Bowl MVP” and its sister line, “You Can’t Spell Citrus Without UT”. But he saved his worst cruelty for the scoreboard on this day, and Phil Fulmer didn’t like it. He even swore to reporters that he would pay Spurrier back with 62 points of his own one day.
The good news was that Fulmer kept the basis of his promise, and his Vols did hang 62 points on the Gators. The bad news was that he failed to deliver on the “one day” portion of his promise: he needed three. Because it took Tennessee three full games against Florida, plus an overtime in the third one, to match the 62 points the Gators has dropped on him that day.
Additionally noteworthy is the fact that Tennessee fans have not seemed to let go of the fact that their Vols scored 38 straight against Florida in 2016, as if it’s so remarkable. Those fans seem to forget that the Gators hold the record for most consecutive points scored in this series, and it was in this game, with 48. I’m not sure why this hasn’t been a more common rebuttal to the “38 straight” avenue of trash talk (particularly when Tennessee fans kept using it after last year’s game), but arm yourself with this knowledge and dispose of them with it.
No. 6: Muschamp leaves Vols disappointed
2014: Florida 10, Tennessee 9
Recap
Spectacular, this was not: whereas this rivalry used to feature two machine gun offenses emptying their clips on the other team’s defenses, the 2014 game saw two teams with anemic offenses spend three and a half hours slinging paper wads at each other in front of a checkerboarded Neyland Stadium. Tennessee appeared to be the far better team for the first three quarters of this game, although they never did get the ball into the end zone. They did, however, get a trio of field goals from Aaron Medley to take a 9-0 lead in the third quarter. Florida, for its part, could not do anything offensively, forcing Will Muschamp to pull Jeff Driskel in favor of true freshman Treon Harris.
But late in the third quarter, the tide turned toward Florida. Tennessee QB Justin Worley never saw Teez Tabor on the corner blitz, who leveled him and knocked the ball out. Florida recovered. Moments later, Matt Jones plowed in for the game’s lone touchdown to cut the lead down to 9-7. The suddenly inspired Gator defense forced a punt, and then Harris led the Gators down the field before the offense stalled at the Vols’ 32. In came kicker Austin Hardin, who many Gator fans remember for missing more than half the kicks he ever attempted (16-36 lifetime). But he didn’t miss this one, a 49 yarder from the right hash that gave Florida a 10-9 lead with six minutes remaining.
Back came the Vols on their last ditch attempt to salvage the game. Worley managed to convert a 3rd and ten and then a 4th and ten on consecutive sets of downs to get Tennesssee across midfield with under a minute to go. But then Worley overshot everybody and was picked off by Keanu Neal to end the game.
Significance
This 10-9 win is perhaps the best embodiment of the Gators’ 11 game win streak over the Vols, because it came on the road. But this game is far more memorable for Muschamp’s post game comments than the game itself, and even the adjustment of the streak into double digits. Muschamp essentially ignored a question from reporter Maria Taylo, shouting into the SEC Network microphone in his distinguishable Georgia twang, “It’s great to see all these people out here gettin’ disappointed, I love it.”
And that’s good that Muschamp loves disappointing Tennessee fans so much, because for all his fatal flaws as a coach, that’s the one thing he’s really good at doing. Muschamp left Florida 4-0 against the Vols, and with a pair of wins over Tennessee at South Carolina, sits pretty at 6-0 all time against them.
