Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Looking back at recent rivalry games
Gators, Hurricanes haven’t faced off too many times over last 2 decades
We are within a week of the Miami Hurricanes’ showdown with the Florida Gators in Orlando on Saturday to open the 2019 college football season — a week ahead of most other schools starting their seasons.
The once-annual rivalry was discontinued after the 1987 meeting. UM and UF wouldn’t meet again in the regular season until a home-and-home series in 2002 and 2003, but they would end up facing each other in the Sugar Bowl following the 2000 season and the 2004 Peach Bowl. The Hurricanes and Gators would play again in Gainesville in 2008 and in Miami Gardens in 2013. They’ve also added a home-and-home series for 2024 and 2025, according to a report.
Since the hiatus in the rivalry ended, Miami is 5-1 against Florida. Tim Tebow, Percy Harvin and the Gators won the 2008 installment en route to a national championship, but for the sake of this piece, here’s a look back at the Hurricanes’ five wins over the Gators since the turn of the century.
2000 Sugar Bowl: Miami 37, Florida 20
The BCS computer system kept Miami out of the Orange Bowl, which was the national championship game for the 2000 season involving undefeated No. 1 Oklahoma and one-loss No. 2 Florida State. The Hurricanes were No. 3 in the BCS despite being No. 2 in both the AP and Coaches Poll and having a win over FSU that season.
So UM ended up in New Orleans and, as a consolation, got a shot at UF for the first time in 13 years.
It started with a brawl on Bourbon Street with the teams fighting when they saw each other off the field during their time in New Orleans, and then Miami beat Florida in the Superdome.
Ken Dorsey threw touchdowns Jeremy Shockey, D.J. Williams — yes, the standout linebacker, who
was in playing fullback his freshman season — and Najeh Davenport. The game even featured a penalty on a mascot as Sebastian the Ibis was flagged for celebrating on the field with Davenport on his fourth-quarter touchdown, which had coach Butch Davis irate in his final game leading UM.
Linebacker Dan Morgan capped his illustrious college career with the interception that sealed the game late.
2002: Miami 41, Florida 16
This was actually the installment of the Miami-Florida rivalry that involved the highest combined ranking between the two, with the Hurricanes No. 1 and the defending national champions and the Gators entering No. 6. But UM showed the two weren’t nearly that close, dominating in the Swamp.
Dorsey connected with Andre Johnson in the second quarter to give the Hurricanes a 13-10 lead, and Miami never looked back. Before the half, Dorsey hit Ethenic Sands for another score.
To start the second half, Dorsey threw a screen to Jason Geathers that went for another touchdown as UM pulled ahead, 27-10. The Gators threatened in the red zone with the deficit down to, 27-16, but Maurice Sikes intercepted a pass to the end zone, one of two interceptions for him, and returned it 99 yards for a touchdown.
Dorsey and Geathers would hook up for one last touchdown in the fourth quarter. Willis McGahee had 204 rushing yards.
2003: Miami 38, Florida 33
This one had it all: The storyline of one-time Gator quarterback Brock Berlin playing his former team in his first big game since transferring to Miami. Devin Hester introducing himself to the world. And a comeback from a 23-point deficit in the Orange Bowl.
Hester returned the opening kickoff for a score. Then, not kicking to Hester, the late Sean Taylor took back a short Florida kickoff deep into Gator territory to set up a field goal and a 10-3 UM lead. It would be a while before anything else went right for Miami. Florida would score the next 30 points, highlighted by Keiwan Ratliff returning a backward pass for a 34-yard touchdown and third-quarter touchdown runs by Deshawn Wynn and Ran Carthon, the second of which put Florida up, 33-10, with 6:10 remaining in the third quarter.
Then, the comeback happened. Berlin, getting booed by Miami fans for his ineffective play, led four consecutive touchdown drives.
Berlin hit Kevin Beard with a 26-yard touchdown pass over the middle. Another long strike to Beard got the Hurricanes down to the 1-yard line, where Frank Gore would punch one in to make it, 33-25, before the start of the fourth.
Gore would be instrumental on the following drive, which ended in a Berlin touchdown pass to Ryan Moore, cutting the deficit to 1. Gore then scored the winning touchdown with 1:44 left. The Gators drove down the field, but Alfonso Marshall picked off Chris Leak to put Florida away. “Once a Gator, always a Hurricane,” ABC’s Brad Nessler said of Berlin on the final kneel down as he launched the ball into the Orange Bowl stands in celebration and did a mock Gator chomp.
2004 Peach Bowl: Miami 27, Florida 10
A three-loss season was a significant disappointment for Miami in 2004, after the Hurricanes rotated through the four BCS bowl games — Sugar, Rose, Fiesta and Orange — winning one national championship and playing in another from 2000 to 2003.
With the Miami offense unable to get going in Atlanta, defense and special teams keyed the victory. Hester once again made a major special teams contribution against the Gators, returning a blocked field goal for a score. Hester would later intercept a pass, and Roscoe Parrish would return a punt for a touchdown.
Berlin, finishing off his college career, had a touchdown pass on a corner route to Moore. Gore rushed for 80 yards, and Kelly Jennings had an interception. 2013: Miami 21, Florida 16
Fast-forward a bit and, after UF beat UM in the Swamp in 2008, you have what was thought of at the time to be a marquee victory for coach Al Golden, leading the unranked Hurricanes over the No. 12 Gators in a sloppy matinee in Miami Gardens.
Miami had five takeaways in this one: a Curtis Porter fumble recovery, Rayshawn Jenkins interception, Thurston Armbrister fumble recovery, Tracy Howard interception and a Tyriq McCord strip-sack and fumble recovery. Four red-zone tries for Florida ended in three of those turnovers and another in a turnover on downs.
Stephen Morris threw two firstquarter touchdowns — one to Herb Waters and the other to Phillip Dorsett. Duke Johnson had a rushing score in the fourth that put UM ahead, 21-9, with 3:29 left.
As it turned out, Florida went on to have a disastrous 4-8 season. Miami started 7-0, reached No. 7 in the AP Poll, lost three straight and finished the season 9-4 after losing to Louisville in the Russell Athletic Bowl.