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| SJS College Football Extravaganza |
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| Decade In Review | ||
Here are the final 5 of my 15 greatest wins of the decade for the Florida Gators:
| #11 End Of The Road Curse | ||
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It may be hard to remember, but there was a time when Tennessee had a psychological advantage over Florida. At least in Knoxville. Tennessee drubbed Florida there in 1990, and beat them soundly again in 1992. For the first time in the decade, however, Florida came into Knoxville ranked number one in the nation. Tennessee, now without star quarterback Heath Shuler and in future star Peyton Manning's first year, was ranked just 15th. Still, Florida was winless in eight straight road games against ranked opponents. Florida didn't really give itself time to worry about the road curse, quickly quieting the crowd. A Jack Jackson 60-yard kickoff return led to no points after a Terry Dean interception, but that was UF's only offensive hiccup in the first half. After 5 possessions, Florida was ahead 24-0. While the Florida offense was moving at will (346 yards in the first half alone), Tennessee was continually stymied, managing just 126 in the half. The Gators used a combination of a strong ground game (freshman Fred Taylor and Elijah Williams led the way) and perfect passing by quarterback Terry Dean (18 of 26 for 303 yards and 2 TD). Tennessee, who had rushed for nearly 400 yards against Georgia the week before, was unable to get critical yards in the UF red zone. In the fourth quarter alone, the Vols made three forays deep into UF territory, only to be turned aside each time. On the first, Tennessee looked to end the shutout with a second and goal from the one, but the Florida defense stopped three consecutive running plays. On the second, the Vols were in even better shape, a first and goal from the one situation, but penalties and a UF sack prevented a score. (A third down TD pass by Peyton Manning was erased when Manning was called for crossing the line of scrimmage.) On fourth down, coach Phillip Fulmer this time brought out John Becksvoort to try a 38 yard field goal, but the kicker hooked it. On the third try, time ran out on Tennessee after a Ben Hanks sack of Brandon Stewart, sealing the Volunteer humiliation. While not the most important victory in the top 15 list, for Florida fans, it was certainly one of the most satisfying. |
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| #12 Treat, Not Trick | ||
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After losing to Tennessee, the 1992 Florida squad was written off. Improbably, though, the Volunteers lost two straight SEC games midseason to give Florida and Georgia a shot at the SEC East title. Unusually for the 90s, the Gators came into the World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail party as underdogs in 1992, ranked just 20th against number 7 Georgia. Most expected a close game, despite Georgia's high ranking. The Gators used defense and ball control offense to eat up the clock (running a total of 93 plays to the Dawgs' 57), keeping Georgia's talented offense off the field. The key to the Gator victory was shutting down Georgia running back Garrison Hearst, who was had a monster year in 1992 but was held to just 41 yards rushing in the Cocktail Party. It was all UF in the first half, giving up just an 80-yard run by Frank Harvey before scoring four times on its first five possessions. The finest sequence was a Larry Kennedy blocked punt leading to a short drive capped by Erricht Rhett's 1 yard TD dive. Down 23-7, Georgia tacked on a couple of scores to make it 23-17. At the half, Florida learned that Tennessee had lost again, putting Florida in control of its SEC destiny. Although the offense would struggle, the defense played inspired football in the second half, limiting the Bulldogs to 150 yards and seven points. Down 26-17, and in the face of such defensive dominance, Eric Zeier directed a 3-play, 78 yard TD drive on three twenty plus yard passing plays to cut it to 26-24 with four minutes to go. Quarterback Shane Matthews then made three beautiful plays to ice the game. On a 2nd and 14, he hit wideout Willie Jackson for a 13 yard play, setting up a sneak for first down. On the next series at 3rd and 13 from the UF 29, a scrambling Matthews found Harrison Houston for a first down toss. After Georgia called its final timeout, Steve Spurrier reached into his grab bag of ballplays and sent Matthews on an unexpected quarterback draw. The play went for 12 yards, ending the best Cocktail Party of the decade. |
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| #13 The Beginning Of The Blowouts | ||
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In 1990, people began to notice Florida as a real-deal team for the first time since the mid-80s under Charley Pell. A blowout win of Oklahoma State testified to Florida's firepower, but the Cowboys were a team suffering serious NCAA sanctions and were hardly an opponent to impress pollsters. The rest of Florida's games didn't really give a clue to the kind of domination they would soon unleash on the SEC powers: a squeaker win over Alabama, an unimpressive struggle against Akron, and mild wins over LSU and Mississippi State to go with the blowout loss to Tennessee. Florida would sound the alarm in their game against number four Auburn. Florida, though playing at home, was a serious underdog, ranked just 15th. The game turned out to be a blowout in every sense of the word, as the Gators dominated on both sides of the ball and played their first near-perfect game of the 90s. The offense totaled 450 yards while the defense allowed just 172, including -14 rushing. The Gators even nearly scored on special teams, as a 73-yard Terrence Barber punt return ended on the Auburn 11 yard line. The Gator offense was led by its two headed tailback: freshman Erricht Rhett ran up 142 yards and Willie McClendon had 3 TDs. Shane Matthews was nearly perfect despite not throwing a TD pass. One of the most remarkable stats in this ballgame is the fact that in the decade of the 90s, there is only a handful of games in which Florida did not throw at least one TD pass, and one of those games was a 48-7 blowout of the fourth ranked team in the country. |
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| #14 Calling Off The Dogs | ||
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Having scored 41 points to Tennessee's 7 in the final half of the 1995 game, Florida made the four quarter advantage 76-13 after a 35 point half against the Vols in Knoxville in the 1996 game. The halftime deficit must have come as a shock to the 100,000 plus Tennessee fans in attendence, as the Vols had come into the game ranked 2nd in the nation and were favored in their own ballpark. The Gators, ranked 4th, however, were just beginning a national championship campaign with their most explosive team ever. Florida scored on four of their first five possessions, all TD passes by Danny Wuerffel. The first score came on a fourth and ten play from the 35 yard line; Wuerffel hit Reidel Anthony on a deep post route. Peyton Manning, on the other side of the ball, would have a record 37 of 62 for 492 yard performance, but was as much goat as hero as three of Florida's scores came off of his 4 interceptions and one fumble. The fumble was particularly spectacular, as UF linebacker Johny Rutledge rammed Manning causing the ball to pop into the air, right into cornerback Anthone Lott's hands. Lott took it 27 yards for the score. The Vols ended up with over 500 yards of offense (to UF's 304), but as is so often the case, the key stats were turnovers (6 for Tennessee, 1 for Florida) and rushing yards (9 yards for Tennessee and 149 for Florida). Tennessee fans love to crow about how close the game was, but in fact Tennessee's final score came with 10 seconds left, and defensive coordinator Bobby Stoops later commented he'd "called off the dogs" willing to trade time for yards. That was the only sign of mercy UF showed UT from 1993 to 1997 inclusive. |
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| #15 Reasserting Dominance | ||
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Something happened in 1998 that just wasn't supposed to happen: UF lost to Tennessee. Since 1993, the sometimes-favored, always good Volunteers had come up short against the Gators, and even the 1994 and 1996 games at Knoxville had been embarassments. But partly due to luck and partly due to sloppy play, Florida had outplayed the Vols in 1998 only to come up short. In 1999, the only thing that kept commentators from picking Tennessee was the Swamp factor. Florda hadn't lost at home to Tennessee since 1971. Florida was expected to have its usual good offense behind senior Doug Johnson, but there were a lot of holes on the Florida defense and many thought a high-scoring shootout would result. Instead, it was ugly. The teams evenly split 224 penalty yards, and the Gators committed 5 turnovers. Florida played well offensively when not giving the ball away, but managed just 3 field goals to take the early 9-7 lead. Florida added two TD passes to go up 23-7 by early in the third quarter. What was not ugly about the game was UF's defense. Alex Brown was an overnight sensation, picking off a Tee Martin pass on 4th and 3 to squelch one Tennessee drive, and notching 5 sacks to allay others. Martin was hurried, harrassed, and hurt all night long, ending just 16 for 39 for 192 yards. Jamal Lewis gained just 90 yards on 22 carries; with the sacks figured in, the Vols managed just 278 total in the game. Still, up just 23-14, Florida went for it on 4th and 1 from the 3 with just 5 minutes to go, and the Volunteer defense held. To Martin's credit, he commandeered a 97 yard TD drive to pull the team to within 2. Florida was unable to run out the clock, thanks to a critical Johnson interception. The defense stiffened, forcing Tennessee to go for it on 4th and 3 from the UF 42. Jamal Lewis ran a toss sweep and was stuffed for no gain. Earnest Graham's running ate up the remaining time, giving Florida a big home win over the defending national champions. |
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