Gators, Volunteers look to restore rivalry status
GAINESVILLE — The legend of Tim Tebow started with a 2-yard run on fourth-and-1 that sucked the life out of Tennessee’s Neyland Stadium.
Florida quarterback Chris Leak’s game-winning touchdown pass two plays later silenced the announced crowd of 106,818 on that electric September night.
Little did anyone realize one of the SEC’s fiercest rivalries would never be the same.
The Gators’ 21-20 comeback win in 2006 pitted two national powers with big-name coaches (Urban Meyer and Phil Fulmer), future NFL first-rounders and Pro Bowlers and Tebow making his first appearance on the national stage.
Those monumental matchups between the two schools — once an annual event — are now a distant memory.
While the bad blood still simmers, the Florida-Tennessee series has fallen from its perch and faded from the national spotlight.
“I think it’s watered down, to be honest, because of the current state of the two programs,” said former Vols’ receiver Jayson Swain, a senior team captain during the 2006 game.
For years, the Gators-Vols clash arguably was the game in the SEC and the ultimate measuring stick for two elite programs. The game effectively served as the conference title game from 1992 through Tennessee’s 2001 upset in Steve Spurrier’s final conference game as UF’s head coach.
Toss in the 2004 nail-biter — won on a 50-yard field goal in the final seconds — and the 2006 classic, and few rivalries stacked up, especially in the days prior to the College Football Playoff.
“Those Tennessee teams had some of the best players in college football, starting with Peyton Manning,” former UF All-America receiver Jacquez Green said. “And the fact the game was so early in the season, if you lost that game you knew you weren’t playing for the national championship. It was a tough game.
“It was the first big game of the season.”
The implications have changed, but the stakes remain high during the Gators’ visit to Rocky Top today.
The game pits a pair of 2-1 teams rebuilding under firstyear coaches and looking to gain a leg up on a longstanding rival.
“It means a lot,” UF receiver Josh Hammond said. “Just being the Florida-Tennessee rivalry is the biggest thing. For both of those coaches to start off 1-0 is going to be a big deal for them.”
The game will match UF’s offensive-minded Dan Mullen and UT’s defensiveminded Jeremy Pruitt for the first time as head coaches. The two crossed paths when Mullen was Mississippi State’s head coach and Pruitt was Alabama’s defensive coordinator.
Each now looks to begin a new chapter in a series dating to 1916 and ultimately steal a page from the past.
“I think the feel within the program, both programs, obviously want to get back where this has something to do with who wins the [SEC] East,” Mullen said. “I think that always adds to the rivalry. I still think everybody still feels it’s a pretty big game.”
Recent games have been competitive and compelling, with three of the past four decided during the final minutes. Yet the series itself has become decidedly onesided, with UF winning 12 of the past 13 meetings.
Former Gators’ AllAmerican guard Shannon Snell hopes Mullen and Pruitt can provide stability at their programs and ultimately establish a rivalry akin to Spurrier and Fulmer, a pair of Hall of Fame coaches who squared off 12 times.
“The series is still exciting,” Snell said. “But the records of the teams and the firing of coaches has changed it. Once there is a little more normalcy, the series will go back to what it was, or at least close to it.”
Whatever happens, the halcyon days will be difficult to duplicate.
Either Florida or Tennessee played in the SEC championship game over a 10-season span (1992-2001). The two schools combined for seven SEC titles, including five by Spurrier’s Gators.
“For people that don’t know, Florida and Tennessee … were the two best teams in the SEC,” Spurrier said this week. “Obviously, we’re not the two best right now, but hopefully we’re both on our way back.” It will be a long road. Back in the day, the Gators and the Vols produced some instant classics.
From 1994-97, Green and the Gators were 4-0 against the Vols and Manning. But each game had its share of dramatic turns.
In 1995, UF erased a 30-14 deficit to win 62-37 in the Swamp behind seven touchdowns by Danny Wuerffel, six passing. A year later, the fourth-ranked Gators staked a 35-0 lead and held on for a 35-29 road win against the second-ranked Vols.
“We played a lot of big ballgames, we won a bunch of big ballgames,” Green said. “But Tennessee is right at the top, other than playing for the national championship.”
Snell was a sophomore starter during the Gators’ toughest loss to the Vols. The 2001 game was moved to Dec. 1 due to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. With a trip to the national-title game and a Heisman for quarterback Rex Grossman on the line for UF, Tennessee won a 34-32 epic for the Vols’ first victory on Florida Field since 1971.
A month later, Spurrier left for the NFL.
“That was a real defining moment in coach Spurrier’s career,” Snell said. “That team was kind of destined to go to Pasadena to face Miami that year [for the national title]. After that happened, I feel like all the wind was out of his sails.
“I think that was kind of his end with the Gators.”
At that time, the GatorsVols loser always was left to pick up the pieces and try to move on, making it mustwatch TV for anyone growing up in the South.
“When I was growing up, I always loved to watch it — always a lot of passion with both fan bases, a lot of tradition,” said Pruitt, a native Rainsville, Ala. “I’m thankful to have the chance to be a part of it.”
Meanwhile, the winners in this heated rivalry earn a lifetime memory.
Heavily recruited out of Tampa Hillsborough, Snell knew he had made the right choice as a freshman when he was on the sideline in Neyland Stadium for “The Catch” by Jabar Gaffney.
“That is probably the loudest I’ve ever heard a stadium — they were booing us,” Snell recalled of the controversial play. “I really got my first taste of playing in front 100,000 people. That day, I realized how much I loved Florida football and how much I loved being a part of it.” Swain knows the feeling. Now a radio host in Knoxville, the 36-year-old Chicagoan caught a touchdown pass in the 2004 game to cut the Gators’ lead to 28-27 and set the stage for James Wilhoit’s game-winning kick with six seconds to go.
Swain said he cherished all four meetings with the Gators, even the Vols’ two losses. But winning in front of a record home crowd of 109,061 was priceless.
“I got a chance to play in front of the largest crowd ever at Neyland Stadium,” Swain said. “That was special.”
One day Florida-Tennessee is sure to be special again. Today’s game could be a start for one of the two rivals.
“You take a lot of pressure off yourself if you can get this win,” Swain said.