There are some of us old enough to remember when Florida-Tennessee was a rivalry game. That was back when the Vols and Gators played some of the best games in SEC history during the 1990s.
When the Gators went to Knoxville, it was a big deal. And vice versa.
Then, along came Urban Meyer and started winning every year and there went Tennessee. The Vols have now lost to Florida 15 of the last 16 times.
That hardly feels like a rivalry.
But there was a time right after the SEC went to divisions that this was the must-see TV game, not only of September but of the whole conference season. Today, a look back at a game that was a blowout, then wasn’t, then went in the other direction.
Lawrence Wright will tell you neither thing is up for debate. Doesn’t matter anyway. You can’t change history.
Of course, he said, his hit on Joey Kent still would be legal now.
“Although I don’t think I could play in today’s game the way they call it,” Wright said.
And, yes, it changed the momentum of the game.
That depends on how you look at it. But for every action there is a reaction so we’ll go with it.
“We broke their backs,” said Wright, the former Jim Thorpe winner.
Let us go back to give you some perspective here. Florida had won back-to-back SECs heading into the game on Sept. 16, 1995, and like almost every year (9 of the 12), both teams were ranked in the top 10.
Florida-Tennessee has become a must-win game for both teams, even though it was early in the season. The loser would basically fall 1½ out of first in the East and the winner won the division all but one year when Spurrier was at Florida.
It was huge, but Tennessee-Florida was always huge in those days. On top of the usual noises, Sports Illustrated was in town to do a big takeout story on Peyton Manning, the wunderkind of the Smoky Mountains.
Manning had played briefly in the game the previous year (3-for-5, 27 yards) before taking over the job and eventually finishing his freshman season in Gainesville. (The Gator Bowl was played at the Swamp because of renovations to the Jacksonville stadium.)
And for a while, it looked like a pretty good story.
Florida’s defense had no answer for Manning and running back Jay Graham. Suddenly on a hot and steamy day, Florida was down 23-14 near the end of the half and Tennessee — which had scored on every possession so far — wanted more.
Manning scrambled and found Kent down the west sideline. A split-second after he caught it, Wright drilled Kent and shook the ball loose.
The crowd went nuts because of the violence of the hit and the result — Florida’s ball.
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“We wanted to take their hearts,” Wright said. “We wanted them to know it was going to be our house all day long.”
But what happened next was not good for the Gators. Danny Wuerffel tried to scramble out of trouble and was hit with a blindside shot. He fumbled, Raymond Austin picked it up and just like that Tennessee led 30-14.
The crowd was stunned.
“The thing that stood out to me,” said Chris Doering, a senior receiver on that team, “was that there was no panic. We had plenty of time.”
Before the half would end, Steve Spurrier showed patience with a surgical drive down the field for a touchdown.
“THAT was huge,” Doering said.
“We had them right where we wanted them,” said Wright.
That touchdown to end the half started a run that seems almost unfathomable all these years later. Florida scored 48 straight points and Ike Hilliard was the go-to guy catching four touchdown passes while Tennessee kept trying to stop him with soft coverages and strong safeties.
Here is the second-half blitzkrieg:
- Wuerffel 11 TD pass to Hilliard
- Tennessee missed 22 FG
- Wuerffel 5 TD pass to Hilliard
- Graham fumble returned by Fred Weary to UT 32
- Wuerffel 14 TD pass to Hilliard
- Graham fumble recovered by Florida
- Wuerffel to Reidel Anthony 8 yards TD pass
- Anthony 20 run on reverse
- Wuerffel 1 TD run
- Tennessee fumble
- Wuerffel to Doering 20 TD
Florida’s final score came as a torrential downpour hit the Swamp.
“I appreciate Coach giving me the opportunity for that last touchdown,” said Doering.
It was an amazing run and even though Tennessee added on a late score, Florida went away with a 62-37 win and Sports Illustrated instead put the Gators on the cover.
“We felt like we could score about every time,” Spurrier said, “and we just about did.”
The Gators went on to go undefeated the rest of the season and win a third straight SEC title. Unfortunately, Nebraska was at the end of the great run by the Gators. Coincidentally, Nebraska scored the same number of points against Florida as the Gators did that sultry day in Gainesville.
Florida would actually score one more point than the 62 in a 63-7 win over South Carolina later in the season.
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