Steve Spurrier took over at Florida 1990, and although Johnny Majors’ Tennessee team won the first contest of the Spurrier era, 45-3, the Gators would go on to win the next five out of six between 1991 and 1997. [21] 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. With the Gators switching to a more conservative game plan in the second half, Tennessee cut the lead to 35–22 with 8 minutes left with 2 more touchdown tosses, including a second to Price. Tennessee won that match up at a neutral site in Tampa, 24-0. [10] An account of Dodd's trickery: "Against Florida in 1930 he got his teammates in a huddle and told them about a play he had used in high school. After five straight losses to Spurrier’s Florida team, Phillip Fulmer and the Vols finally got the monkey off their back in 1998. “I want to finish what I started after not being able to play in the postseason,” Lewis said. [65], The game was a relatively uneventful 23–13 Florida win, but the coaches' verbal sparring continued in the post-game press conferences. Florida has eight conference titles, including four in a row from 1993-1996. The 9–1 SEC champion Vols and the 8–1–1 Gators were not on each other's schedule in 1969. The Gators turned the tables and upset the Volunteers in 1993, with true freshman Wuerffel outplaying Heisman trophy candidate Heath Shuler in a 41–34 win that was Fulmer's first loss as Tennessee's head coach. Meyer's Gators beat Fulmer's Volunteers again in 2006 and 2007, and while Florida was SEC and national champions in 2006, Tennessee reached the SEC championship game in 2007. The schools finished No. But though Florida beat Tennessee in 1997, upset losses to LSU and Georgia propelled Tennessee to their own SEC championship in Manning's senior year. Despite these common affiliations, a true rivalry did not develop between the programs for a long time because they played so sparingly. [8][18] The Gators assisted the rout by committing four turnovers, including two John Reaves interceptions returned for touchdowns. However, the SEC canceled all games on the weekend following the September 11 attacks, and they were rescheduled for December 1, 2001, requiring the SEC Championship Game to be pushed back a week as well. [66][67] In January 2010, Kiffin resigned to become the head coach at Southern California, abruptly ending his feud with Meyer after only one season.[66]. What the experts and outsiders thought didn’t matter, prompting Fulmer to give his team a memorable pep talk in the visiting locker room of Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. They are right. [15][16] 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. [17], The situation intensified in the days preceding the game when word leaked out that Vol head coach Doug Dickey, who had been Florida's starting quarterback in the early 1950s and had grown up in Gainesville, planned to leave UT and replace Graves at UF after their respective teams met in the Gator Bowl.
Florida vs. Tennessee Football Series 1916-Present Florida Leads Series 26–20 In yet another twist, Dickey returned to Knoxville in 1985 to serve as UT's athletic director, replacing Bob Woodruff. The 2002 contest would be the last time to date in which both schools would enter their annual clash ranked in the top 10. With No. Auburn grad. Jalin Hyatt offers lone bright spot in blowout loss to Alabama, Six questions with Roll Bama Roll, breaking down Alabama vs. Tennessee. On the first play from scrimmage, Manning connected with receiver Joey Kent for a 72-yard gain. Woodruff had played football at Tennessee, but he had been Dickey's head football coach at Florida and had also served as UF's athletic director immediately preceding Ray Graves. Referee Bobby Moreau appeared to have a clear view of the incident, but only Baker was called with an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. [42] Wuerffel led the Gators to an answering score, cutting the lead to 30–21 with a touchdown pass in the last minute of the first half. However, he did return to Knoxville in 1988 when he was the head coach at Duke, and his Blue Devils upset the Vols, 31–26. On the field, Florida held a 4–2 advantage during the 1970s and 80s. By choosing I Accept, you consent to our use of cookies and other tracking technologies. Florida has held the advantage since then, especially since the schools became SEC East rivals in 1992. The Vols defense held strong, though, and the Gators failed on two point after attempts, giving Tennessee a 13-12 victory.
Tennessee Volunteers School History. However, the basketball rivalry cooled after Pearl left Tennessee in 2011 (Pearl is currently head coach of another SEC school, Auburn) and Donovan left Florida in 2015, and the schools' football rivalry has consistently received more attention from fans and media over the years. Ainge was able to get the Vols into field goal range with 13 seconds to go. Florida President Marshall Criser and the university community were incensed by this reversal, and many blamed the University of Tennessee for leading the movement to strip UF's first conference championship.[4][5]. The Florida–Tennessee football rivalry, sometimes referred to as the "Third Saturday in September",[2] is an American college football rivalry between the Florida Gators football team of the University of Florida and Tennessee Volunteers football team of the University of Tennessee, who first met on the football field in 1916. Then the center returned, picked up the ball, and waltzed to the winning touchdown. The Gators and Vols have competed in the same athletic conference since Florida joined the now-defunct Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association in 1910, and the schools were founding members of the Southeastern Conference in 1932. However, the 1969 Gator Bowl is much more memorable for the coaching changes and rumors of coaching changes that surrounded the contest. Following Tennessee’s SEC title winning season in 1969, they were set to play Florida in the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville in a rare conference bowl match up. 8 Vols and No.
6 when the No. "[66] Eventually, SEC commissioner Michael Slive publicly warned the coaches to end their war of words, and later sent an official letter of reprimand to Kiffin when he continued to criticize opposing coaches and SEC officials. The Vols ended up beating Michigan 45–17 in the Citrus Bowl. 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. Tennessee vs Florida: A History of Heartbreak, Controversy, & Redemption, Jeremy Pruitt delivers message to Tennessee fanbase after Alabama loss. “I don’t know how many people in this country believe,” Fulmer told his players. Urban Meyer left Florida after the 2010 season, and while the program suffered through sub-par seasons under coach Will Muschamp (who was the Gators' coach from 2011 to 2014) their win streak over Tennessee continued during the first half of the decade. Florida ran their win streak over Tennessee to four games (over nine seasons) with wins in Knoxville and Gainesville in 1984 and 1985 as they topped the SEC standings in both years. Tennessee dominated the early series, winning their first 10 meetings with Florida over a span of 37 years (1916–53). The Vols struck quickly. Spurrier, who was often known to poke fun at rivals, made jokes at Tennessee's expense during off-season Gator Booster dinners in the spring of 1997, pointing out that "you can't spell Citrus without UT" and suggesting Peyton Manning had returned for his senior season at UT because "he wants to be a three-time Citrus Bowl MVP".[8][48]. Unlike 2000, Gaffney couldn’t get to it. Tennessee's football program began in 1891, organized in large part by Henry Denlinger, a teacher who had played at Princeton.The team's first game, a loss to Sewanee, was played on November 21, 1891. Tennessee was leading 34-26 when Rex Grossman hit Carlos Perez for a touchdown with only 1:10 left in the game. However, the Vols' Dale Carter returned the second half kickoff 91 yards for a touchdown, igniting the home crowd at Neyland Stadium. Peyton Manning who had departed for the NFL the season before was 0-4 vs Florida, but in this match up, it was Tee Martin’s turn to take a stab at them. Dickey had a very successful tenure in Knoxville, winning the SEC twice in 1967 and 1969, and even a national championship in 1967 as well. Manning threw for 492 passing yards on 65 attempts (both school records) and four touchdowns on the day, but also tossed four interceptions.[47]. The game was close throughout, with the score knotted at 10 at halftime and 17 at the end of regulation. However, both the Gators and Vols faded to losing records in 2017, and both programs dismissed their once-promising head coaches before the end of the season. It’s true that throughout the 90’s, you could usually bet the winner went to the SEC Championship Game (only once did the loser go on to play in the conference title game), but this one was different. Florida’s offense however continued to do what they had all season. The Mud Bowl – December 8, 1928 – Shield-Watkins Field (Knoxville, TN) – Both teams came into the battle undefeated, and the Gators had outscored their opponents 324-31. Below are the game results for every Florida vs. Tennessee matchup. [50], It was not the first last-minute win for the Vols that season, and it would not be the last, either. On the ensuing drive, Ainge hit Jayson Swain for a touchdown with 3:25 left in the game. Jeff Hall hit a 41-yard field goal to put Tennessee ahead 20-17.
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