Florida–Tennessee football rivalry

Florida–Tennessee rivalry
File:Florida Gators Football 2.png	Tennessee Volunteers athletics logo
Teams	Florida Gators Tennessee Volunteers
Originated	1916
Series	Florida leads 22–19
Current Champion	Florida
Current Streak	Florida: 7
Trophy	None

The Florida–Tennessee football rivalry, sometimes called the Third Saturday in September, is an American college football rivalry game played annually by the Florida Gators football team of the University of Florida and the Tennessee Volunteers football team of the University of Tennessee. The Gators and Volunteers first met on the gridiron in 1916, and have competed in the same conference since Florida joined the now-defunct Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association in 1912. However, a true rivalry has developed only relatively recently due to infrequent match-ups in past decades; in the first seventy-six years (1916–1991), the two teams met just twenty-one times.

This changed in 1992, when the Southeastern Conference (SEC) expanded to twelve universities and split into two divisions. Florida and Tennessee were both placed in the SEC's Eastern Division, and have met annually on the football field since 1992. The rivalry quickly blossomed in intensity and importance, as both squads were perennial championship contenders throughout the 1990s. The games' national implications diminished in the 2000s, as first Florida and then Tennessee suffered through sub-par seasons. However, the intensity of each meeting still remains one of the highest in college football.

Schedule

Florida and Tennessee have faced off in September every season since 1992, except 2001, when the game was rescheduled to December due to the September 11th terrorist attacks. The teams have met every year since 1990, however, in 1990 and 1991, the games were played in October. Upon conference expansion, the game took its current place in September. Under the old, 10 team SEC, the teams would play on a rotation of two years on, two years off. With the SEC splitting into two divisions in 1992, the teams now play each season. Both are members of the SEC's Eastern Division, and until 2002, were the only teams to represent that division in the SEC Championship Game. This game continues to have a huge effect on who will represent the Eastern Division in Atlanta for the SEC championship.

Series history

Early history

The two teams first met in 1916, but a rivalry did not develop at the time because they played so sparingly. Although both schools were founding members of the SEC, the conference's irregular scheduling system still made contests infrequent until 1969, when they began to play four out of every ten years. Still, the Gators and Vols had only squared off on a total of 21 occasions before 1992, when the game became an annual event.

Tennessee dominated the series early, winning their first 10 meetings with Florida over a span of 37 years (1916–1953). Florida won four in a row beginning in 1976, with those four games taking place over 9 years

Recent history

Spurrier vs. Fulmer

The result of the SEC split into two divisions in 1992 was an annual match-up between Florida and Tennessee at a time when both programs were on the rise under new head coaches (Steve Spurrier (who grew up in Tennessee) had taken over the Florida job in 1990, while Phillip Fulmer became coach at Tennessee during the 1992 season). Indeed, their first match-up as permanent opponents in 1992 helped sow the seeds of rivalry as the underdog Volunteers beat the defending SEC champion Gators in Neyland Stadium. That game, along with an upset the previous week at Georgia helped launch Phillip Fulmer into the position of head coach at Tennessee. Fulmer led the Vols to an upset win over the Gators as an interim head coach, while Johnny Majors recovered from heart problems.

The 1993 match-up featured the Volunteers entering the game with quarterback Heath Shuler as a possible Heisman trophy favorite. The Gators started freshman Danny Wuerffel. The Gators pulled out a 41–34 win.

The Volunteers hoped to avenge the previous year's game in 1994 by beating the Gators back home in Neyland Stadium. Florida entered the game ranked first in the polls with an offense led by senior quarterback Terry Dean. The Volunteers were ranked 14th at 1–2 on the year. The Gator defense managed to stifle the Volunteer offense all game in a 31–0 Gator win. One bright spot for the Volunteers was that Peyton Manning, who started the season third on the depth chart at quarterback, took over for the injured Todd Helton late in the game and became the starter the next week.

Manning was supposed to be the lead story going into the 1995 match-up. The heralded sophomore led the Volunteers into the game as a media darling. Sports Illustrated was set to put Manning on the cover of their magazine the week following the game regardless of the outcome. Early in the game the Volunteers looked poised to thump the Gators, as they were up by 16 points during parts of the first half. As the game wore on and the rain clouds deluged the fans and players, momentum shifted into the Gators' favor. The Gators scored 48 straight points to turn a 30–14 deficit into a 62–37 win. Danny Wuerffel, who had come into the previous year's game off the bench in mop-up duty, threw for six touchdowns and found himself on the cover of Sports Illustrated instead of Manning.

Many Vol fans were irritated by Wuerffel playing deep into the 4th quarter with a lead. Wuerffel remained in the game even after the Vols had replaced Peyton Manning with Jermaine Copeland. The lopsided score also increased pressure on John Chavis, the Tennessee Defensive Coordinator in his second game. Many fans called for Fulmer to fire Chavis following the game. The Gators ended the regular season undefeated and in the Fiesta Bowl, while this was the only blemish on the 1995 Volunteers schedule.

The Gators entered the 1996 game at number 4 in the polls and the Volunteers entered at number 2, almost assuring an instant classic. The game looked more like a blowout early, as the Gators scored 5 touchdowns in the first 25 minutes to take a 35–0 lead. Peyton Manning rallied the Volunteers to their first score just before the half. The second half was one-sided score-wise toward the Vols, and perhaps one-sided to the Gators by strategy. In a rare show of clock management, Steve Spurrier reverted to a more possession-oriented offense and ran several short-yardage trick plays (including on fourth downs) to run down the clock as Tennessee cut the Florida lead to 6 in the final minutes. One formation, dubbed "Emory & Henry" after the school Spurrier first saw it at, kept the Gators in possession of the ball on several occasions as the Gators won 35–29. The Gators would win the national championship in the 1997 Sugar Bowl several months later.

By 1997, the story had once again focused on Manning, as he had yet to beat the Gators in this, his senior season. The game, held at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, was another match-up of highly-ranked teams with national title implications. The Gators entered the game ranked #2 and the Volunteers entered ranked #4. Gator quarterback Doug Johnson and Manning each threw for three touchdowns, but the Gator defense and running back Fred Taylor made the difference in to a 33–20 Gator victory. The Gators took the #1 spot in the polls after the game.

The press coverage of the 1998 match-up had shifted from Manning's inability to beat the Gators to Volunteers coach Phil Fulmer's inability to do so since taking over the head coaching job full time at Tennessee. The Vols had lost 10 of their last 12 meetings with the Gators at that point, and by hosting the Gators in Neyland Stadium, it was the Vols' best chance to beat the Gators despite the departure of Manning. With a big run by Shawn Bryson in the first quarter and a Peerless Price touchdown catch from Tee Martin in the third, the Volunteers lead until a Travis McGriff touchdown catch from Jesse Palmer tied it up. The fourth quarter was scoreless, and the game headed to overtime. Jeff Hall made a field goal during the Volunteer possession. Florida was unable to score a touchdown during their first possession, forcing a Collins Cooper field goal that sailed wide left and clinched a 20–17 Volunteer victory, getting the "monkey off the back" of Fulmer. The Volunteers would end the season undefeated, and would win the first BCS National Championship Game.

Having suffered their first loss to the Volunteers after five straight wins, the Gators looked to ‘’dethrone’’ the defending national champion Volunteers in the confines of The Swamp. Florida defensive end Alex Brown made a name for himself in the game by sacking Tee Martin a team-record five times. Florida took a 23–7 lead in the third quarter before Tennessee scored two touchdowns to cut the Florida lead to two points. On a 4th down and 3, the Gator defense stuffed Jamal Lewis to force a turnover on downs and seal the Gator victory, 23–21, ending Tennessee 14 game winning streak.

The next match-up, in 2000, was yet another close finish in the series. At home in front of a record 108,768 fans, Tennessee rushed for more than 200 yards on the Gator defense but couldn’t pull ahead in the game. With 14 seconds to go in the game and the Gators at the Tennessee three-yard line, a controversial Jesse Palmer pass to Jabar Gaffney that was ruled a completion put the Gators up by 3. Gaffney then taunted the Tennessee crowd with a throat-slash gesture. The referees conferred and upheld that Gaffney, who appeared to have control of the ball for only fractions of a second if at all, had indeed caught the game-winning touchdown. The extra point made it a 27–23 Gator victory. Florida's victory put them victorious at Neyland Stadium 3 of their last 4 trips.

Because of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, all NCAA football games due to be played on Sept 15 were postponed to a later date. Florida and Tennessee would end up meeting the first weekend of December because of this, and that only made the match-up even more important. Because the two teams were tied at 6–1 in conference play before the game, the winner of it was assured the SEC Eastern Division championship and a chance to play in the SEC Championship Game a week later. With the Gators entering the game ranked #2 in the BCS and Tennessee ranked #6, the winner of the game also essentially controlled their own destiny to play for the BCS National Championship in the Rose Bowl. Travis Stephens rushed for 226 yards on just 19 carries and scored 2 touchdowns as Tennessee broke a 30-year winless drought against the Gators in Ben Hill Griffin Stadium with a 34–32 victory. The Gators scored a touchdown with mere moments remaining in the 4th quarter to bring the score within 2, but tried the same pass on the two-point conversion try and had it knocked away.

Prior to their 2001 victory, it had been 30 years since the Volunteers had beaten the Gators in the Swamp. However, Tennessee had not gone winless on the Gators home field during that period. Due to the reconstruction of Jacksonville Municipal Stadium, the 1994 Gator Bowl was relocated to Gainesville. Tennessee was invited to play Virginia Tech and won 45–23.

Zook v. Fulmer

Tennessee hosted the 2002 game against a slumping Gators squad under new head coach Ron Zook. The Gators had been thoroughly beaten two weeks earlier by Miami. The Gators, seemingly accustomed to playing in rain, handled the ball far better once the rain began. During the second quarter, the Gators would capitalize on the numerous Volunteer turnovers (four fumbles on four consecutive offensive plays at one point) and scored 24 points in the last 4:55 remaining of the half. The Gators won handily, 30–13. The Volunteers’ 8 fumbles matched a school record.

For the first time since the rivalry began 11 years earlier, the 2003 match-up featured both teams ranked out of the top 10 (UT 12, UF 17), and the game was relegated to a noon kickoff. With three total points in the game with minutes to go in the first half, both teams played for field position to prevent the other from scoring. Tennessee coach Phil Fulmer called a timeout as the Gators had to punt with seconds left in the half. Quarterback Casey Clausen heaved the ball from midfield as time expired, and receiver James Banks hauled it in to put the Volunteers ahead going into the locker room. Florida coach Ron Zook shuffled quarterbacks Chris Leak and Ingle Martin, letting neither find a rhythm as Tennessee pulled away in a 24–10 victory.

The teams met in 2004 to have another classic finish. The Gators led 28–21 late in the fourth quarter when Tennessee QB Eric Ainge rallied the Volunteers with a touchdown pass with 4:17 left. James Wilhoit missed the game-tying point after touchdown, the first PAT miss of his career. The Gators took possession and attempted to run the clock out. After Florida gained one first down, they were stopped on the subsequent third down and were about to be forced to punt. After the play, however Florida receiver Dallas Baker got involved in an altercation with Volunteers DB Jonathan Wade and the two exchanged head-slaps. Baker was flagged for retaliating, backing the Gators up fifteen yards before their punt. The officials, after stopping the clock to call the penalty, neglected to restart the clock before the fourth down punt play. After Tennessee received the punt and subsequently drove to the Florida 33-yard-line, Wilhoit got a chance at redemption with the game-winning 50-yard field goal with six seconds left, which he made. The Volunteers won the game 30–28.

Meyer v. Fulmer

The Volunteers entered the 2005 game with a two-game winning streak on Florida’s home field. New Gator coach Urban Meyer made an emphasis on regaining home superiority. In what was a defensive struggle, Florida scored in the first quarter on an Andre Caldwell reverse run. Tennessee’s Erik Ainge threw a touchdown to tie the game up at the half. Chris Hetland kicked three field goals for Florida in the second half to put the Gators up 16–7, a two-score lead that Tennessee was never able to challenge.

The following season, the Gators traveled to Knoxville for the 2006 game. The Volunteers, week 1 winners over highly-ranked Cal and looking to continue to prove they were back after a disappointing 5–6 season in 2005, took a 17–7 lead on the Gators in the first half. The game once again wasn’t without controversy, as Tennessee linebacker Marvin Mitchell intercepted a Chris Leak pass and returned it for a touchdown. To the chagrin of the Volunteer faithful, the play was nullified by a roughing penalty on J.T. Mapu for a clear hit to Leak’s helmet. Dallas Baker, who had been the Gators’ goat for the 2004 loss in Knoxville, scored two touchdowns in the second half, including the go-ahead score with 6:30 left in the game to help secure a 21–20 Gator victory. They would only lose one game the rest of the year and go on to win the national championship.

Gator fans have occasionally worn all blue in a "blue out" to stand out from orange-clad Volunteer fans, such as in the 2007 game.

On September 15, 2007, the two teams met for the 37th time. The match-up was predicted to be the #9 game to watch in 2007 by SI.com's "Top 20 Games To Watch In 2007" list. Florida defeated Tennessee 59–20 in a rout and offensively outgained them 554 yards to 298.

Meyer vs. Kiffin

Before playing a game in the SEC, Lane Kiffin has already started brewing controversy. During his speech after he became head coach he made a controversial comment that he would sing Rocky Top all night after they beat Florida the next year. Plus on National Signing Day in 2009, he publicly called Urban Meyer a cheater in regards to recruit Nu'Keese Richardson. Kiffin told a booster club that Meyer had called Richardson as he was on his Official Visit to UT, a violation of NCAA Recruiting Rules. However, Lane Kiffin ended up breaking the rules, as no such rule about calling recruits on Official Visits exists, and he violated SEC Bylaw 10.5.1 which states that "coaches and administrators shall refrain from directed public criticism of other member institutions, their staffs or players." and was publicly reprimanded by SEC Commissioner Mike Slive. Kiffin later issued an apology to Urban Meyer and the University of Florida. Florida won the 2009 game 23–13. 30-point favorites, the Gators were expected to run up the score. However, Meyer said his team scaled back on offense in the fourth quarter as it seemed Tennessee's offense wasn't playing to win. He later expressed some concern with several players contracting swine flu. Kiffin took exception to his coaching staff being accused of coaching not to win, arguing it was a violation of the same SEC bylaw he broke in the offseason. When asked if he was also concerned about swine flu infecting members of his team, Kiffin responded, "I don't know. I guess we'll wait and after we're not excited about a performance, we'll tell you everybody was sick." Slive stepped in once again and told both coaches to cease with the war of words.

Meyer vs. Dooley

Kiffin unexpectedly left Tennessee to coach Southern California after the 2009 season. Derek Dooley, son of legendary Georgia coach Vince Dooley, was hired from Louisiana Tech to coach the Vols.

The Gators won 31–17 in Knoxville in 2010, extending their winning streak in the series to 6 games. The contest turned out to the only meeting between Dooley and Meyer, as Meyer unexpectedly retired after the 2010 season and Will Muschamp took over as Florida's head coach.

Muschamp vs. Dooley

Florida won its first contest against Tennessee under head coach Will Muschamp, beating the Vols 33–23 in Gainesville.

Notable games

1928: Unbeatens in the mud

Coming into their 1928 regular season finale, the Gators under head coach Charlie Bachman held an 8–0 record and had outscored their opponents by a nation-leading margin of 324–31. Coach Robert Neyland's Volunteers had been dominant as well; they were quarterbacked by Bobby Dodd and had outscored their opponents 236–39 and held an 8–0–1 record—the only blemish being a scoreless tie with Kentucky. Still, the Gators were favorites when the teams met in early December, and rumor had it that they would be in line for a Rose Bowl invitation should they prevail in Knoxville.

They did not. Stymied by a stingy Vol defense and two failed point after touchdown attempts, the Gators fell, 13–12.

In what would become a trend in the series, controversy swirled around the contest. By all accounts, the playing surface had been a muddy mess. Some Gators claimed that the home team had watered down the field in an effort to slow down the speedy Gator stars, including halfbacks Leroy "Red" Bethea, Carl Brumbaugh and Royce Goodbread, fullback Rainey Cawthon, quarterback Clyde Crabtree, end Dutch Stanley, and Florida's first-ever first-team All-American, end Dale Van Sickel. The Vols protested that the sloppy conditions were simply the result of heavy rain the night before the game.

The teams would not become regular opponents for decades, and Florida would not earn its first victory over Tennessee for nearly a quarter century.

1969–1970: Coaching carousel

The 9–1 SEC champion Tennessee Volunteers and the 8–1–1 Florida Gators were not on each others' schedule in 1969. However, they were invited to play in the 1969 Gator Bowl, setting up a rare all-SEC bowl matchup and the only time the squads have faced off outside of the regular season.

The expected high-scoring battle featuring Florida's "Super Sophs" passing attack against Tennessee's powerful ground game led by quarterback Bobby Scott never materialized, as both defenses were superb in the Gators' 14-13 win. John Reeves connected with wide receiver Carlos Alvarez for the Gators' only offensive touchdown, and the Gator defense stopped the Vols at Florida's the one-yard line late in the game to preserve the victory. Fittingly, the game's MVP was Florida linebacker Mike Kelley, who had an interception, a fumble recovery, a blocked punt recovered for a TD, a sack, and 17 tackles.

However, the 1969 Gator Bowl is much more memorable for the coaching changes and rumors of coaching changes that surrounded the contest. Throughout December 1969, rumors had been circulating that Florida's head coach and athletic director Ray Graves, who had been the captain of Tennessee's 1941 football squad under coach Robert Neyland, would retire from coaching at the conclusion of the season to become UF's full-time AD. Though both Graves and university officials denied the rumor, speculation among fans, players, and media was that Graves would leave the sideline and popular defensive coordinator Gene Ellenson would be promoted to head coach.

The situation intensified in the days preceding the game when word leaked out that Volunteer head coach Doug Dickey, who had been Florida's starting quarterback in the early 1950s and was from Gainesville, planned to leave Tennessee and replace Graves at Florida after their respective teams met in the Gator Bowl. Dickey admitted to reporters that he had been offered the position at Florida, but Graves and UF president Stephen C. O'Connell continued to deny that personnel changes were imminent, with Graves stating that "there is utterly no truth to the rumor."

Despite these denials, Doug Dickey was introduced as the Gators' new head football coach five days after the Gator Bowl contest by Florida's new full-time AD, Ray Graves. Players on both the Florida and Tennessee squads were upset by the move and the NCAA conducted an investigation to determine whether ethics policies were violated. However, no wrongdoing was discovered and Dickey was the Gator head coach for 1970.

The teams did not meet very often in the pre-expansion SEC schedule, but the regular season rotation coincidentally had them facing off in Knoxville the following October. Tennessee fans angry at Dickey eagerly anticipated the match-up and were not disappointed, as the Vols beat his new Florida squad 38–7 behind QB Bobby Scott's then-school record 385 passing yards. The Gators assisted the rout by committing four turnovers, including two John Reaves interceptions returned for touchdowns.

Both Dickey and Graves remained in their respective positions at UF until the late 1970s, with Dickey fired after the 1978 season and Graves retiring in 1979. Later, in yet another twist, Dickey returned to Knoxville in 1985 to serve as Tennessee's athletic director, replacing Bob Woodruff. Woodruff had played football at Tennessee, but he had been Dickey's head football coach at Florida and had also served as Florida's athletic director immediately preceding Ray Graves.

Dicky was the head of UT's athletic department during the intense UF/UT Spurrier/Fulmer rivalry of the 1990s and retired in 2002, after which he moved back to Florida.

1990: Homecoming

Steve Spurrier returned to his alma mater in 1990 to become the Gators’ new football coach. In yet another link between the programs, Spurrier had been a star QB at Science Hill High School in Johnson City, Tennessee in the early 1960s. Although Knoxville is nearby, he had not seriously considered attending UT because he was an excellent passer and Tennessee ran a single wing offense at the time which featured a running quarterback. Instead, he choose to return to the state of his birth (Spurrier was born in Miami Beach), eventually becoming Florida’s first Heisman Trophy winner in 1966.

Spurrier’s first Gator squad was 5–0 and ranked #10 coming into the matchup with Johnny Majors’ 3–0–2 and #9 Tennessee Volunteers, marking the first time in series history that both rivals were ranked in the AP top-10 when they faced off. (It was not Spurrier’s first visit to Knoxville as an opposing coach; his 1988 Duke Blue Devils had upset the Vols 31–26.)

The 1990 game began as a defensive struggle, with Tennessee holding a slim 7–3 lead at the half. However, the Vols’ Dale Carter returned the second half kickoff 91 yards for a touchdown, igniting the home crowd at Neyland Stadium.

On their ensuing possession, the Gators fumbled for what would be the first of six UF turnovers in the second half. The opportunistic Vols took full advantage, turning Spurrier’s homecoming (and, coincidentally, Tennessee’s homecoming game) into a “dominating” 45–3 rout.

1991: "Faxgate"

In the week before the 1991 game, media reports began circulating that former Tennessee assistant coach Jack Sells, who had been fired before that season for his role in recruiting violations, had allegedly faxed Florida defensive coordinator Ron Zook, himself a former Tennessee assistant, the Vols' offensive gameplan. At first, both Zook and head coach Steve Spurrier denied receiving any information, though Zook soon clarified his statement and said that Sells had sent him a fax of newspaper clippings about the upcoming game, which he had immediately destroyed.

Florida won the contest 35–18 behind 245 yards and 3 TD's from Gator QB Shane Matthews and 5 Vol turnovers, but the "faxgate" controversy continued after the final whistle. A follow-up newspaper investigation in Knoxville located an employee of a local Kinko's copy center who said that he had noticed Sells faxing copies of a UT "playbook" and insisted that Sells stop the transmission after 10–15 pages had been sent. The employee had saved the fax cover sheet, which detailed a transmission sent 3 days before the UF-UT game by a "Jack Sells" to a "Ron Zook" at a Gainesville telephone number.

While Tennessee athletic director (and former Gator quarterback and head football coach) Doug Dickey was not happy about the incident, both Phil Fulmer and Steve Spurrier downplayed its importance. Spurrier pointing out that UT gained over 400 yards of offense (including 392 passing yards) in the game and joked that it certainly didn't seem like his defensive staff had any inside information. For his part, Fulmer later admitted that the UT staff had copies of the Gators' offensive playbooks at the time. An SEC investigation concluded without punishment.

Jack Sells, the person at the center of the incident, left the coaching profession and successfully sued Kinko's for privacy violations, though he had to leave Knoxville after being assaulted by an angry Vols fan. After a stint as an assistant coach in the NFL, Zook succeed Spurrier as the Gators' head coach in 2002. He was reluctant to talk about "Faxgate" during his tenure at UF (2002–2004), though he did disclose that Sells' infamous transmission had actually been a set of hand-drawn Volunteer offensive plays, but insisted that they "were so immaterial, and it made no difference and had no relevance, it was nothing."

1996: Tale of two halves in Knoxville

Once again, the Tennessee and Florida met while undefeated and highly ranked, with the Vols ranked #2 and the Gators ranked #4.

The tone for the game was set on Florida's first drive, as Spurrier spurned the punt team on a 4th and 10 from the UT 35, and Wuerffel connected with Reidel Anthony for a touchdown to put the Gators up 7–0. Teako Brown intercepted Manning on the Volunteers' first drive, and it took Wuerffel only one play to find the end zone again, hitting Terry Jackson from 10 yards out to extend the lead to 14–0. Florida doubled their lead in a 52-second stretch early in the 2nd quarter, as Ike Hilliard and Jacquez Green became the third and fourth different receivers with touchdown receptions on the afteroon, sandwiched around a James Bates interception of Manning. Antone Lott's 27-yard fumble return stretched the lead to 35–0, before Manning finally got the Vols on the scoreboard before halftime on a 72-yard strike to Peerless Price.

With Florida switching to a more conservative offensive game plan in the second half, Manning cut the lead to 35–22 with 8 minutes left with 2 more touchdown tosses, including a second to Price. Andy McCellough's 14-yard reception brought the Vols within 35–29 with 10 seconds to play, but Florida recovered the ensuing onsides kick to hang on for a six-point win.

The Gators went on to win their 4th consecutive SEC championship and their first ever national championship.

1997: Spelling "Citrus"

During the mid-1990s, the second highest ranked SEC squad was usually invited to play in the Citrus Bowl after the season. Florida won four consecutive SEC titles from 1993 to 1996, beating Tennessee each time and twice sending them to the Citrus Bowl. Thus, upon hearing about Tennessee's invite to the Citrus Bowl on New Years Day 1997, Spurrier joked at an off-season Gator Booster dinner that "You can't spell Citrus without UT."

Ironically, even after Tennessee lost to Florida for a fifth consecutive matchup in 1997, Florida played in the Citrus Bowl the following January. At that game, televised by CBS, Spurrier was taunted with signs that read "How was the Citrus Bowl, Spurrier?"

2000: The "Catch?"

In front of a record crowd in Neyland Stadium, Tennessee had dominated the 2000 UF/UT contest on the strength of a stout defense and 175 rushing yards from RB Travis Henry. However, an inability to finish drives led to a school record five field goals from kicker Alex Walls and a slim 23–20 lead.

Down by that score late in the 4th quarter, Florida took possession of the ball at their own 9 yard line. Gator QB Jesse Palmer steadily led his team down the field, and with 14 seconds left in the game, they found themselves with a first and goal at the Tennessee 3.

After a touchdown pass was called back on a holding penalty, Palmer's next pass was to WR Jabar Gaffney in the endzone. The ball made it to Gaffney's hands and was almost instantly slapped away by Vol cornerback Willie Miles. The official in the area signaled a touchdown, ruling that Gaffney had had possession of the ball long enough to be considered a catch. After a brief conference with the referee, the call was confirmed despite strident protests from the UT coaching staff and loud boos from the crowd. The extra point gave Florida a controversial 27–23 victory.

The Volunteer squad and fans were incensed by the call, as they felt that Gaffney had never gained possession of the ball and that the pass should have been ruled incomplete. Vanderbilt alumnus Al Matthews, the referee who made the initial call, received death threats after the game and has not been assigned to officiate any games in Knoxville since.

2001: Season finale

As usual, the Gators and Vols were slated to meet on the 2nd Saturday of September during the 2001 season. However, the SEC canceled all games on the weekend following the September 11 terrorist attacks, and the contest was rescheduled for the teams' next common open date: December 1, one week before the SEC Championship Game.

As the season progressed, the postponed game took on greater and greater importance. Each squad suffered only one close loss and entered the contest with Tennessee ranked #6 and Florida ranked #2. The winner would represent the SEC East and face LSU in the SEC Championship. With a win in that game, the Gators or Vols were likely to receive an invitation to the Rose Bowl to face the undefeated Miami Hurricanes with a national title on the line Ironically, the situation was very similar to the only other time that the schools met on the gridiron to close out the regular season; in 1928, a potential Rose Bowl berth was also on the line.

But in 2001, despite the teams' identical records and much to the chagrin of the Volunteers, the Gators were 17 ½ point favorites at kickoff.

Gators starting running back Earnest Graham had been controversially injured in the Gators' win over rival Florida State the previous week and was unable to play. The star of the game would turn out to be the running back for the other squad, as Tennessee's Travis Stephens rushed for 226 yards and 2 TDs on 19 carries to lead the Vols' attack. Without Graham, Florida managed only 36 total yards on the ground. Gator quarterback Rex Grossman threw 51 times for 362 yards and 2 TDs, but his pass on a potentially game-tying 2-point conversion attempt with just over a minute left in the 4th quarter fell incomplete. The Volunteers held on for a 34–32 upset victory, ending a 30-year winless drought in Gainesville

Ultimately, neither team would win any championships that season. Tennessee was upset by LSU in the SEC Championship Game the following Saturday and missed their opportunity to play for a 2nd national title in four years. The Vols ended up beating Michigan 45–17 in the Citrus Bowl. Florida was invited to the Orange Bowl, where they beat Maryland 56–23.

The teams' December meeting would become even more historical in early January, when Steve Spurrier announced that he was resigning as Florida's head coach after 12 seasons. The 2001 game was thus the last matchup in the UF/UT chapter of the Spurrier/Fulmer rivalry (they would meet several additional occasions after Spurrier became South Carolina's head coach in 2005) and Spurrier's last home game at Florida Field.

2004: Unsportsmanlike conduct?

Like the game in Knoxville four years previously, the 2004 UF/UT contest on Tennessee's home field also ended in controversy involving an official's call.

Holding on to a slim 28–27 lead, Florida was attempting to run the clock out late in the 4th quarter. Florida gained one first down, then were stopped on the subsequent third down play and began to send in the punt team with under a minute left in the game and the clock running.

After the play, however, Gator receiver Dallas Baker and Volunteers DB Jonathan Wade got into an altercation, with Wade head-slapping Baker and Baker responding with a head slap of his own. Referee Bobby Moreau appeared to have a clear view of the incident, but only Baker was called with an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. The officials had stopped the clock with 55 seconds left in the game to call the penalty and move the Gators back 15 yards, but then incorrectly neglected to restart the clock before the ball was snapped for the punt.

Tennessee received the punt and quickly drove to the Florida 33-yard-line. With 6 seconds left, PK James Wilhoit, who had missed a game-tying extra point earlier in the quarter, earned redemption by hitting a 50-yard field goal, giving his team a 30–28 victory.

The Gator squad and fans were incensed by both the penalty and the subsequent failure to restart the game clock, feeling that the combination of calls had given Tennessee an undeserved chance to win the game. Bobby Moreau, the official who called the penalty on Baker, received death threats after the game. SEC Director of Officials Bobby Gaston has subsequently removed Moreau from working games in Gainesville.

Game results

Florida victories are colored blue ██. Tennessee victories are colored orange ██. Ties are white

Date	Location	Winner	Score
October 28, 1916	Tampa, FL	Tennessee	24–0
October 22, 1921	Knoxville, TN	Tennessee	9–0
December 8, 1928	Knoxville, TN	Tennessee	13–12
December 6, 1930	Jacksonville, FL	Tennessee	13–6
December 3, 1932	Jacksonville, FL	Tennessee	32–13
October 28, 1933	Knoxville, TN	Tennessee	13–6
October 26, 1940	Knoxville, TN	Tennessee	14–0
October 14, 1944	Knoxville, TN	Tennessee	40–0
November 15, 1952	Knoxville, TN	Tennessee	26–12
November 14, 1953	Gainesville, FL	Tennessee	9–7
November 13, 1954	Knoxville, TN	Florida	14–0
November 12, 1955	Gainesville, FL	Tennessee	20–0
December 27, 1969	Jacksonville, FL	Florida	14–13A
October 24, 1970	Knoxville, TN	Tennessee	38–7

Date	Location	Winner	Score
October 2, 1971	Gainesville, FL	Tennessee	20–13
October 23, 1976	Knoxville, TN	Florida	20–18
October 22, 1977	Gainesville, FL	Florida	27–17
October 13, 1984	Knoxville, TN	Florida	43–30
October 12, 1985	Gainesville, FL	Florida	17–10
October 13, 1990	Knoxville, TN	Tennessee	45–3
October 12, 1991	Gainesville, FL	Florida	35–18
September 19, 1992	Knoxville, TN	Tennessee	31–14
September 18, 1993	Gainesville, FL	Florida	41–34
September 17, 1994	Knoxville, TN	Florida	31–0
September 16, 1995	Gainesville, FL	Florida	62–37
September 21, 1996	Knoxville, TN	Florida	35–29
September 20, 1997	Gainesville, FL	Florida	33–20
September 19, 1998	Knoxville, TN	Tennessee	20–17

Date	Location	Winner	Score
September 18, 1999	Gainesville, FL	Florida	23–21
September 16, 2000	Knoxville, TN	Florida	27–23
December 1, 2001	Gainesville, TN	Tennessee	34–32
September 21, 2002	Knoxville, TN	Florida	30–13
September 20, 2003	Gainesville, TN	Tennessee	24–10
September 18, 2004	Knoxville, TN	Tennessee	30–28
September 17, 2005	Gainesville, FL	Florida	16–7
September 16, 2006	Knoxville, TN	Florida	21–20
September 15, 2007	Gainesville, FL	Florida	59–20
September 20, 2008	Knoxville, TN	Florida	30–6
September 19, 2009	Gainesville, FL	Florida	23–13
September 18, 2010	Knoxville, TN	Florida	31–17
September 17, 2011	Gainesville, FL	Florida	33–23

^A The Florida–Tennessee game played on December 27, 1969 was the 1969 Gator Bowl.

Series record sources: 2011 Florida Gators Football Media Guide, 2011 Tennessee Football Media Guide, and College Football Data Warehouse.

See also

• Auburn–Florida football rivalry
• Battle for the Barrel
• Florida Gators
• Florida–Florida State football rivalry
• Florida vs. Georgia Football Classic
• Tennessee Volunteers
• Third Saturday in October

Bibliography

• 2009 Southern Conference Football Media Guide, Year-by-Year Standings, Southern Conference, Spartanburg, South Carolina, pp. 74–77 (2009).
• 2010 Southeastern Conference Football Media Guide, Florida Year-by-Year Records, Southeastern Conference, Birmingham, Alabama, p. 60 (2010).
• 2011 Florida Gators Football Media Guide, University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida, pp. 116–125 (2011).
• Carlson, Norm, University of Florida Football Vault: The History of the Florida Gators, Whitman Publishing, LLC, Atlanta, Georgia (2007). ISBN 0794822983.
• Golenbock, Peter, Go Gators! An Oral History of Florida's Pursuit of Gridiron Glory, Legends Publishing, LLC, St. Petersburg, Florida (2002). ISBN 0-9650782-1-3.
• Hairston, Jack, Tales from the Gator Swamp: A Collection of the Greatest Gator Stories Ever Told, Sports Publishing, LLC, Champaign, Illinois (2002). ISBN 1-58261-514-4.
• McCarthy, Kevin M., Fightin' Gators: A History of University of Florida Football, Arcadia Publishing, Mount Pleasant, South Carolina (2000). ISBN 978-0-7385-0559-6.
• McEwen, Tom, The Gators: A Story of Florida Football, The Strode Publishers, Huntsville, Alabama (1974). ISBN 0-87397-025-X.
• Nash, Noel, ed., The Gainesville Sun Presents The Greatest Moments in Florida Gators Football, Sports Publishing, Inc., Champaign, Illinois (1998). ISBN 1-57167-196x.
• Saylor, Roger, "Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association," College Football Historical Society, The LA84 Foundation (1993).

External links

• GatorZone.com – Official webpage of the Florida Gators football team
• UTsports.com – Official webpage of the Tennessee Volunteers football team