Florida-Tennessee rivalry - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Florida–Tennessee rivalry

Teams	Florida Gators Florida Gators football The Florida Gators football team represents the University of Florida in the sport of American football. The Florida Gators compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision of the National Collegiate Athletics Association and the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference... Tennessee Volunteers Tennessee Volunteers football The Tennessee Volunteers football team are an American college football team at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville . The NCAA Division I team is also a member of the Southeastern Conference ....
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

College football

College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...

rivalry

College rivalry

Pairs of schools, colleges and universities, especially when they are close to each other either geographically or in their areas of specialization, often establish a college rivalry with each other over the years. This rivalry can extend to both academics and athletics, the latter being typically...

game played annually by the Florida Gators football

Florida Gators football

The Florida Gators football team represents the University of Florida in the sport of American football. The Florida Gators compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision of the National Collegiate Athletics Association and the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference...

team of the University of Florida

University of Florida

The University of Florida is an American public land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant research university located on a campus in Gainesville, Florida. The university traces its historical origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its present Gainesville campus since September 1906...

and the Tennessee Volunteers football

Tennessee Volunteers football

The Tennessee Volunteers football team are an American college football team at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville . The NCAA Division I team is also a member of the Southeastern Conference ....

team of the University of Tennessee

University of Tennessee

The University of Tennessee is a public land-grant university headquartered at Knoxville, Tennessee, United States...

. 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

Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association

The Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association was one of the first collegiate athletic conferences in the United States. Twenty-seven of the current Division I FBS football programs were members of this conference at some point, as were at least 19 other schools...

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

Southeastern Conference

The Southeastern Conference is an American college athletic conference that operates in the southeastern part of the United States. It is headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama...

(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

SEC Championship Game

The SEC Championship Game refers to the game determining the Southeastern Conference's football season champion. The championship game pits the SEC Western Division representative against the Eastern Division representative in a game held after the regular season has been completed. Thus far, nine...

. This game continues to have a huge effect on who will represent the Eastern Division in Atlanta for the SEC championship.

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

Spurrier vs. Fulmer

The result of the SEC split into two divisions in 1992 was an annual match-up between Florida

Florida Gators football

and Tennessee

Tennessee Volunteers football

The Tennessee Volunteers football team are an American college football team at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville . The NCAA Division I team is also a member of the Southeastern Conference ....

at a time when both programs were on the rise under new head coaches (Steve Spurrier

Steve Spurrier

Stephen Orr Spurrier is an American college football coach and player. Spurrier is the current head coach of the University of South Carolina's Gamecocks football team. He is also a former professional player and coach...

(who grew up in Tennessee) had taken over the Florida job in 1990, while Phillip Fulmer

Phillip Fulmer

Phillip Fulmer is a TV college football analyst and the former head coach of the Tennessee Volunteers football team, who compiled a 152–52 record from 1992–2008 as head coach, but was fired during a 5–7 season in 2008...

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

Neyland Stadium

Neyland Stadium is a sports stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA. It serves primarily as the home of the Tennessee Volunteers football team, but is also used to host large conventions and has been a site for several NFL exhibition games. The stadium's official capacity is 102,455...

. That game, along with an upset the previous week at Georgia

Georgia Bulldogs football

The Georgia Bulldogs football team represents the University of Georgia in football. The Bulldogs are a member of the Southeastern Conference and are frequently a top-25 team. The University of Georgia has had a football team since 1892 and has an all-time record of 738–398–54...

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

Johnny Majors

Johnny Majors is a former American football player and coach. A standout halfback at the University of Tennessee, he was an All-American in 1956 and a two-time winner of the Southeastern Conference Most Valuable Player award, in 1955 and 1956. He finished second to Paul Hornung in voting for...

recovered from heart problems.

The 1993 match-up featured the Volunteers entering the game with quarterback Heath Shuler

Heath Shuler

Joseph Heath Shuler is a businessman, a former NFL quarterback, and the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2007. He is a member of the Democratic Party....

as a possible Heisman trophy

Heisman Trophy

The Heisman Memorial Trophy Award , is awarded annually to the player deemed the most outstanding player in collegiate football. It was created in 1935 as the Downtown Athletic Club trophy and renamed in 1936 following the death of the Club's athletic director, John Heisman The Heisman Memorial...

favorite. The Gators started freshman Danny Wuerffel

Danny Wuerffel

Daniel Carl "Danny" Wuerffel is a former American college and professional football player who won the 1996 Heisman Trophy and the 1996 national football championship while playing college football for the University of Florida. After graduating from Florida, he played for four National Football...

. 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

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

Peyton Manning

Peyton Williams Manning is an American football quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League . Manning holds the record for most NFL MVP awards with four. He was drafted by the Colts as the first overall pick in 1998 after a standout college football career with the...

, who started the season third on the depth chart at quarterback, took over for the injured Todd Helton

Todd Helton

Todd Lynn Helton is a Major League Baseball first baseman for the Colorado Rockies. He is a five-time All-Star, four-time Silver Slugger, four-time National League Player of the Month, and three-time Gold Glove winner....

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

Sports Illustrated

Sports Illustrated is an American sports media company owned by media conglomerate Time Warner. Its self titled magazine has over 3.5 million subscribers and is read by 23 million adults each week, including over 18 million men. It was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the...

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

Fiesta Bowl

The Fiesta Bowl, now sponsored by Frito-Lay and named with their Tostitos brand, is a United States college football bowl game played annually at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. Between its origination in 1971 and 2006, the game was hosted in Tempe, Arizona at Sun Devil...

, 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

Emory and Henry College

Emory & Henry College, known as E&H, Emory, or the College, is a private liberal arts college located in Emory, Virginia, United States. The campus comprises of Washington County, Virginia, which is part of the mountain region of Southwest Virginia...

" 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

Sugar Bowl

The Sugar Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Sugar Bowl has been played annually since January 1, 1935, and celebrated its 75th anniversary on January 2, 2009...

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

Ben Hill Griffin Stadium

Ben Hill Griffin Stadium at Florida Field is the football stadium for the University of Florida and the home field of the university's Florida Gators football team. It is located on the university's Gainesville, Florida campus. The stadium was originally built in 1930, and has been regularly...

, 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

Shawn Bryson

Adrian Shawn Bryson is an American football running back in the NFL who is currently a free agent. He played college football at the University of Tennessee and was one of the four team Captains on the 1998 National Championship team. Shawn was later drafted by the Buffalo Bills in the third...

in the first quarter and a Peerless Price

Peerless Price

Peerless Jilo Price is an American football wide receiver who is currently a free agent. He was originally drafted by the Bills in the second round of the 1999 NFL Draft...

touchdown catch from Tee Martin

Tee Martin

Tamaurice Nigel "Tee" Martin is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League and Canadian Football League...

in the third, the Volunteers lead until a Travis McGriff

Travis McGriff

William Travis McGriff is a former American college and professional football player who was a wide receiver in two different professional football leagues...

touchdown catch from Jesse Palmer

Jesse Palmer

Jesse James Palmer is a Canadian-born sports commentator and former college and professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League for four seasons in the early 2000s...

tied it up. The fourth quarter was scoreless, and the game headed to overtime

Overtime (sports)

Overtime or extra time is an additional period of play specified under the rules of a sport to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw. In most sports, this extra period is only played if the game is required to have a clear winner, as in single-elimination...

. Jeff Hall

Jeff Hall (American football)

Jeff Hall married Stacey Sherwood on April 10, 2010.Paul Jeffery Hall is a former American football placekicker in the National Football League for the St. Louis Rams. He played college football at the University of Tennessee and was drafted in the sixth round of the 1999 NFL Draft by the...

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

BCS National Championship Game

The BCS National Championship Game, or BCS National Championship, is the final bowl game of the annual Bowl Championship Series and is intended by the organizers of the BCS to determine the U.S. national champion of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision...

.

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

Ben Hill Griffin Stadium

. 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

Jamal Lewis

Jamal Lafitte Lewis is a former American football running back in the National Football League. He was drafted by the Baltimore Ravens fifth overall in the 2000 NFL Draft...

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

Jesse Palmer

pass to Jabar Gaffney

Jabar Gaffney

Derrick Jabar Gaffney is an American football wide receiver for the Washington Redskins of the National Football League . He was drafted by the Houston Texans in the second round of the 2002 NFL Draft...

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

SEC Championship Game

a week later. With the Gators entering the game ranked #2 in the BCS

Bowl Championship Series

The Bowl Championship Series is a selection system that creates five bowl match-ups involving ten of the top ranked teams in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision , including an opportunity for the top two to compete in the BCS National Championship Game.The BCS relies on a combination of...

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

Travis Stephens

Travis Tremaine Stephens is a former running back in the NFL. He played one season in the NFL for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after being drafted by the team in the fourth round of the 2002 NFL Draft. He played college football at Tennessee where he is the single season record holder for rushing yards...

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

1994 Gator Bowl

The 1994 Gator Bowl was a post-season American college football bowl game between the and the Tennessee Volunteers at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, Florida on December 30, 1994...

was relocated to Gainesville. Tennessee was invited to play Virginia Tech

Virginia Tech Hokies football

The Virginia Tech Hokies football team is a college football program that competes in NCAA Division I-FBS, in the Coastal Division of the Atlantic Coast Conference. They have more wins in team history than any other program in the ACC. Their home games are played at Lane Stadium which seats over...

and won 45–23.

Zook v. Fulmer

Tennessee hosted the 2002 game against a slumping Gators squad under new head coach Ron Zook

Ron Zook

Ron Zook is a former American football coach and former player. He served as the head football coach at the University of Florida from 2002 to 2004 and at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign from 2005 to 2011. Zook is a native of Ohio and an alumnus of Miami University, where he...

. The Gators had been thoroughly beaten two weeks earlier by Miami

Miami Hurricanes football

The Miami Hurricanes football program competes in the Atlantic Coast Conference of the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision for the University of Miami. The program began in 1926 and has won five AP national championships...

. 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

Casey Clausen

Casey Clausen , is a former American football player who played quarterback for the University of Tennessee. Clausen attended Bishop Alemany High School....

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

Chris Leak

Christopher Patrick Leak is an American professional football player who is currently a quarterback for the Jacksonville Sharks of the Arena Football League. He played college football for the University of Florida, and led the Florida Gators to victory in the 2007 BCS National Championship Game...

and Ingle Martin

Ingle Martin

Harry Ingle Martin, IV is a former American college and professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League for three seasons during the early 2000s...

, 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

James Wilhoit

James Howell Wilhoit II was the placekicker for the University of Tennessee football team between 2003 and 2006.- High school :...

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

Dallas Baker

Dallas Leon Baker is an American professional football player who is a wide receiver with the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League...

got involved in an altercation with Volunteers DB Jonathan Wade

Jonathan Wade

-St. Louis Rams:Jonathon Wade was the 84th pick overall in the 2007 NFL Draft by the St. Louis Rams. Wade signed a three-year deal worth $1.635 million that included a signing bonus of $516,375 Over the course of his rookie season at cornerback, Wade played 16 games and made one start as a...

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

Field goal (football)

A field goal in American football and Canadian football is a goal that may be scored during general play . Field goals may be scored by a placekick or the now practically extinct drop kick.The drop kick fell out of favor in 1934 when the shape of the ball was changed...

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

Urban Meyer

Urban Frank Meyer, III is an American football coach and former player. He is head football coach at Ohio State University, having been hired for the position in November 2011...

made an emphasis on regaining home superiority. In what was a defensive struggle, Florida scored in the first quarter on an Andre Caldwell

Andre Caldwell

Andre Jerome "Bubba" Caldwell is an American professional football player who is a wide receiver in the National Football League . Caldwell played college football for the University of Florida, and currently plays for the Cincinnati Bengals of the NFL.-Early years:Caldwell was born in Tampa,...

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

California Golden Bears football

The California Golden Bears football team is the college football team of the University of California. The team plays its home games at California Memorial Stadium, however the team played at San Francisco's AT&T Park in 2011 while Memorial Stadium was being renovated, the team will return to...

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.

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

Running up the score

In North American sports, "running up the score" occurs when a team continues to play in such a way as to score additional points after the outcome of the game is no longer in question and the team is assured of winning...

. 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

2009 flu pandemic

The 2009 flu pandemic was an influenza pandemic, and the second of the two pandemics involving H1N1 influenza virus , albeit in a new version...

. 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

Georgia Bulldogs football

coach Vince Dooley

Vince Dooley

Vincent Joseph Dooley was the head football coach and athletic director at the University of Georgia. During his 25 year coaching career at UGA, Dooley compiled a 201–77–10 record. His teams won six Southeastern Conference titles and the 1980 national championship...

, was hired from Louisiana Tech

Louisiana Tech Bulldogs football

The Louisiana Tech Bulldogs football program represents Louisiana Tech University in Western Athletic Conference. The team currently competes in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision. Since the Bulldogs first season in 1901, Louisiana Tech has compiled an all-time record of 554 wins, 422...

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

Will Muschamp

William Larry "Will" Muschamp is an American college football coach and former player. He is the current head coach of the Florida Gators football team of the University of Florida. He is a native of Georgia and attended the University of Georgia, where he played for the Georgia Bulldogs...

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.

1928: Unbeatens in the mud

Coming into their 1928 regular season finale, the Gators under head coach Charlie Bachman

Charlie Bachman

Charles William "Charlie" Bachman, Jr. was an American college football player and head coach. Bachman was an Illinois native and an alumnus of the University of Notre Dame, where he played college football...

held an 8–0 record and had outscored their opponents by a nation-leading margin of 324–31. Coach Robert Neyland

Robert Neyland

Robert Reese Neyland, MBE was an American football player and coach and and officer in the United States Army, reaching the rank of brigadier general. He served three stints as the head football coach as the University of Tennessee...

's Volunteers had been dominant as well; they were quarterback

Quarterback

Quarterback is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive team and line up directly behind the offensive line...

ed by Bobby Dodd

Bobby Dodd

Robert Lee Dodd was an American college football coach at Georgia Tech. He was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame as a player and coach, something that only three people have accomplished....

and had outscored their opponents 236–39 and held an 8–0–1 record—the only blemish being a scoreless tie with Kentucky

Kentucky Wildcats football

The Kentucky Wildcats football team is a college football program that competes in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision and the East Division of the Southeastern Conference.-History:Paul "Bear" Bryant Era...

. 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

Rose Bowl Game

The Rose Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game, usually played on January 1 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. When New Year's Day falls on a Sunday, the game is played on Monday, January 2...

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 halfback

Halfback (American football)

A halfback, sometimes referred to as a tailback, is an offensive position in American football, which lines up in the backfield and generally is responsible for carrying the ball on run plays. Historically, from the 1870s through the 1950s, the halfback position was both an offensive and defensive...

s Leroy "Red" Bethea, Carl Brumbaugh

Carl Brumbaugh

Carl Lowry Brumbaugh was an American college and professional football player who was a quarterback and halfback in the National Football League for nine seasons in the 1930s...

and Royce Goodbread

Royce Goodbread

Royce Ethelbert Goodbread was an American college and professional football player who was a halfback and wingback in the National Football League for two seasons in the early 1930s...

, fullback

Fullback (American football)

A fullback is a position in the offensive backfield in American and Canadian football, and is one of the two running back positions along with the halfback...

Rainey Cawthon, quarterback Clyde Crabtree

Clyde Crabtree

"Cannonball" Clyde Crabtree was an American college and professional football player who was a halfback and quarterback in the National Football League for a single season in 1930...

, end Dutch Stanley

Dennis K. Stanley

Dennis Keith "Dutch" Stanley, Sr. was an American education professor, university administrator and intercollegiate sports coach. Stanley was a native of England, but graduated from high school in Florida...

, and Florida's first-ever first-team All-American, end Dale Van Sickel

Dale Van Sickel

Dale Harris Van Sickel was an American college football, basketball and baseball player during the 1920s, who later became a Hollywood motion picture actor and stunt performer for over forty years...

. 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

Gator Bowl

The Gator Bowl is an annual college football bowl game played at EverBank Field in Jacksonville, Florida. Held continuously since 1946, it is the sixth oldest college bowl, as well as the first one ever televised nationally...

, 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

Bobby Scott (American football)

Robert Benson Scott is an American football quarterback who played ten seasons in the National Football League for the New Orleans Saints. He then played for the New Jersey Generals and Chicago Blitz of the USFL in 1983. He graduated from Rossville High School in Rossville, Georgia....

never materialized, as both defenses were superb in the Gators' 14-13 win. John Reeves

John Reeves

John Reeves , was a British judge, public official and conservative activist. In 1792 he founded the Association for Preserving Liberty and Property against Republicans and Levellers to campaign against the ideas of the French Revolution and their British supporters...

connected with wide receiver Carlos Alvarez

Carlos Alvarez (American football)

Carlos Alvarez Vasquez Rodriguez Ubieta is a former American college football player who was an All-American wide receiver for the University of Florida from 1969 to 1971.- Early life :...

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

Athletic director

An athletic director is an administrator at many American colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches and related staff involved in intercollegiate or interscholastic athletic programs...

Ray Graves

Samuel Ray Graves is a former American college and professional football player and former college football coach. He is a native of Tennessee and an alumnus of the University of Tennessee, where he played college football...

, 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

Defensive coordinator

A defensive coordinator typically refers to a coach on a gridiron football team who is in charge of the defense. Generally, along with his offensive counterpart, he represents the second level of command structure after the head coach...

Gene Ellenson

Eugene Ellenson was an American college and professional football player who became a college football coach...

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

Doug Dickey

Douglas Adair "Doug" Dickey is a former American college football player and coach and college athletics administrator. Dickey is a South Dakota native who was raised in Florida and graduated from the University of Florida, where he played college football...

, 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

Stephen C. O'Connell

Stephen Cornelius O'Connell was an American attorney, appellate judge and university president. O'Connell was a native of Florida, and earned bachelor's and law degrees before becoming a practicing attorney...

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

John Reaves

Thomas Johnson "John" Reaves is a former American college and professional football player who was a quarterback for eleven seasons in the National Football League and three seasons in the United States Football League...

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

Science Hill High School

Science Hill High School is a high school in Johnson City, Tennessee with an enrollment of approximately 2600 students. The school is split over three campuses: 9-12 Campus, Technical Center Campus, & Alternative School Campus. The school also shares space with Freedom Hall Civic Center...

in Johnson City, Tennessee

Johnson City, Tennessee

Johnson City is a city in Carter, Sullivan, and Washington counties in the U.S. state of Tennessee, with most of the city being in Washington County...

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

Miami Beach, Florida

Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States, incorporated on March 26, 1915. The municipality is located on a barrier island between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay, the latter which separates the Beach from Miami city proper...

), eventually becoming Florida’s first Heisman Trophy

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

Duke Blue Devils football

The Duke Blue Devils football program is a college football team that represents Duke University . The team is currently a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference , which is a Division I Bowl Subdivision of the National Collegiate Athletic Association . The Blue Devils compete in the Coastal...

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

Dale Carter

Dale Lavelle Carter is a former American football cornerback who played for the Kansas City Chiefs , Denver Broncos , Minnesota Vikings , New Orleans Saints , and Baltimore Ravens ....

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

Homecoming

Homecoming is the tradition of welcoming back alumni of a school. It most commonly refers to a tradition in many universities, colleges and high schools in North America...

) 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

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

Shane Matthews

Michael Shane Matthews is a former American college and professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League for all or part of fourteen seasons during the 1990s and 2000s. He played college football for the University of Florida, and thereafter, he played...

and 5 Vol turnovers, but the "faxgate" controversy continued after the final whistle. A follow-up newspaper investigation in Knoxville

Knoxville, Tennessee

Founded in 1786, Knoxville is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Tennessee, U.S.A., behind Memphis and Nashville, and is the county seat of Knox County. It is the largest city in East Tennessee, and the second-largest city in the Appalachia region...

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

Athletic director

(and former Gator quarterback and head football coach) Doug Dickey

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

Reidel Anthony

Reidel Clarence Anthony is a former American college and professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League for five seasons in the 1990s and early 2000s...

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

Ike Hilliard

Isaac Jason "Ike" Hilliard is a former American college and professional football player who was a wide receiver for twelve seasons in the National Football League during the 1990s and 2000s. He played college football for the University of Florida, and thereafter, he played professionally for...

and Jacquez Green

Jacquez Green

D'Tanyian Jacquez Green is a former American college and professional football player who was a wide receiver and punt returner in the National Football League for five seasons in the 1990s and early 2000s...

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

Peerless Price

Peerless Jilo Price is an American football wide receiver who is currently a free agent. He was originally drafted by the Bills in the second round of the 1999 NFL Draft...

.

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.

1997–1998: Spelling "Citrus"

During the mid-1990s, the second highest ranked SEC squad was usually invited to play in the Citrus Bowl

Capital One Bowl

The Capital One Bowl is an annual college football bowl game played in Orlando, Florida at the Citrus Bowl, and previously known as the Tangerine Bowl and the Florida 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

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

Travis Henry

Travis Deion Henry is a former American football running back for the Buffalo Bills, Tennessee Titans and Denver Broncos. He was drafted by the Bills in the second round of the 2001 NFL Draft...

. 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

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

Jabar Gaffney

in the endzone. The ball made it to Gaffney's hands and was almost instantly slapped away by Vol cornerback

Cornerback

A cornerback is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in American and Canadian football. Cornerbacks cover receivers, to defend against pass offenses and make tackles. Other members of the defensive backfield include the safeties and occasionally linebackers. The cornerback position...

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

Official (American football)

In American football, an official is a person who has responsibility in enforcing the rules and maintaining the order of the game.During professional and college football games, seven officials operate on the field...

, 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

2001 Florida Gators football team

The 2001 Florida Gators football team represented the University of Florida in the sport of American football during the 2001 college football season...

and Vols

2001 Tennessee Volunteers football team

The 2001 Tennessee Volunteers football team represented the University of Tennessee in the 2001 college football season. The team was coached by Phillip Fulmer. The Vols played their home games in Neyland Stadium and competed in the Eastern Division of the SEC...

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

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

2001 LSU Tigers football team

The 2001 LSU Tigers football team represented Louisiana State University in the college football season of 2001–2002. Coached by Nick Saban, the Tigers played their home games at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. LSU went 10–3 and won the SEC West and represented the division in the 2001...

in the SEC Championship. With a win in that game, the Gators or Vols were likely to receive an invitation to the Rose Bowl

2001 Rose Bowl

The 2001 Rose Bowl was a college football bowl game played on January 1, 2001. It was the 87th Rose Bowl game. The University of Washington Huskies football team defeated the Purdue University Boilermakers football team 34-24...

to face the undefeated Miami Hurricanes

2001 Miami Hurricanes football team

The 2001 Miami Hurricanes football team was the national champion of the 2001 college football season and is considered by many to be the greatest team in college football history.-Pre-season motivation:...

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

Earnest Graham

Earnest Graham, Jr. is an American football running back for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League . He was signed by the Buccaneers as an undrafted free agent in 2003. He played college football at Florida....

had been controversially injured in the Gators' win over rival Florida State

2001 Florida State Seminoles football team

The 2001 Florida State Seminoles football team represented the Florida State University in the college football season of 2001. The team was coached by Bobby Bowden and played their home games in Doak Campbell Stadium.-Schedule:...

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

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

Rex Grossman

Rex Daniel Grossman, III is an American football quarterback for the Washington Redskins of the National Football League . Grossman played college football for the University of Florida, and thereafter, he has played professionally for the Chicago Bears, Houston Texans and Washington Redskins of...

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

2001 SEC Championship Game

The 2001 SEC Championship Game was won by the LSU Tigers 31-20 over the Tennessee Volunteers. The game was played in the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia on December 8, 2001 and was televised to a national audience on CBS. The loss kept Tennessee from a second appearance in the BCS National...

the following Saturday and missed their opportunity to play for a 2nd national title in four years. The Vols ended up beating Michigan

2001 Michigan Wolverines football team

The 2001 Michigan Wolverines football team represented the University of Michigan in the college football season of 2001-2002. The team's head coach was Lloyd Carr...

45–17 in the Citrus Bowl

2002 Florida Citrus Bowl

The 2002 Florida Citrus Bowl was a college football bowl game held on January 1, 2002 at the Florida Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Florida. The Tennessee Volunteers, champions of the Southeastern Conference's Eastern Division, defeated the Michigan Wolverines, second place finishers in the Big Ten...

. Florida was invited to the Orange Bowl

2002 Orange Bowl

The 2002 FedEx Orange Bowl game was a post-season college football bowl game between the Florida Gators and the ACC champion Maryland Terrapins on January 2, 2002. Florida routed Maryland 56-23. The game was part of the 2001-2002 Bowl Championship Series of the 2001 NCAA Division I-A football...

, where they beat Maryland

2001 Maryland Terrapins football team

The 2001 Maryland Terrapins football team represented the University of Maryland in its 49th season in the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Terps closed the regular season with a record of 10–1, with its only loss coming to Florida State. The Terps won the ACC Championship and were granted a Bowl...

56–23.

The teams' December meeting would become even more historical in early January, when Steve Spurrier

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

South Carolina Gamecocks football

The South Carolina Gamecocks football team represents the University of South Carolina in NCAA Division I college football. The Gamecocks have been a member of the Southeastern Conference since 1992. Steve Spurrier is the current head coach, and the team plays its home games at Williams-Brice...

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

Dallas Baker

Dallas Leon Baker is an American professional football player who is a wide receiver with the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League...

and Volunteers DB Jonathan Wade

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

James Wilhoit

James Howell Wilhoit II was the placekicker for the University of Tennessee football team between 2003 and 2006.- High school :...

, who had missed a game-tying extra point earlier in the quarter, earned redemption by hitting a 50-yard field goal

Field goal (football)

, 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	14–13^A
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

Gator Bowl

.

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

External links

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

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

Schedule

Early history

Spurrier vs. Fulmer

Zook v. Fulmer

Meyer v. Fulmer

Meyer vs. Kiffin

Meyer vs. Dooley

Muschamp vs. Dooley

1928: Unbeatens in the mud

1969–1970: Coaching carousel

1990: Homecoming

1991: "Faxgate"

1996: Tale of two halves in Knoxville

1997–1998: Spelling "Citrus"

2000: The "Catch?"

2001: Season finale

2004: Unsportsmanlike conduct?

Game results

See also

External links