Gators Vs. Vols - Showdown In The East

"Inside The SEC" With Tony Barnhart - UT vs. Florida

Updated 9/16/2010



Over 100,000 fans will jam into Neyland Stadium Saturday when Florida and Tennessee meet for the 50th time in Knoxville. The game will again be nationally-televised on CBS.

Yes, the rivalry isn’t what it used to be because the football programs are decidedly in two different places right now. Florida has won two national championships (2006, 2008) in the past four seasons and was 13-1 last season. In 2010 the Gators are beginning life without Tim Tebow. They struggled in their opener against Miami of Ohio. Things got a bit better last week against USF. Now the conference season begins with a certain amount of optimism. Florida is just too talented not to get better as the season goes on. Even the most impatient fan knows the Florida program is still in really good shape under Urban Meyer.

And Gator fans, don’t worry about the quarterback position. Johnny Brantley is going to be fine. With each week his confidence will grow and the Florida coaches will better figure out what this team can do and what it can’t do. It’s a process.

Tennessee’s program, however, is not in good shape. Three different head coaches in three years has left this proud program thin—dangerously thin—at a lot of positions. Derek Dooley, son of Hall of Fame coach Vince Dooley, has taken on the task of rebuilding. It will get done if everyone involved will be patient. This, too, is a process and if you’re a Tennessee fan there are going to be times this season when it is painful to watch. Saturday could be one of those times.

But there is still a lot of passion—I mean real passion—in this football rivalry. Regardless of where the programs are in any particular year, the passion is going to always be there in this game. The two teams first played in 1916 but, in my opinion, this rivalry was really built over a 10-year stretch (1992-2001) when Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer and Florida coach Steve Spurrier had these programs playing at the highest possible level. Those 10 years ignited the flame between Tennessee and Florida that is never going to burn out.

Here’s some background: When Steve Spurrier arrived as Florida’s head coach in 1990, a lot changed in the SEC. A conference that had made a living on running the ball and defense since its founding in 1933 suddenly got a new coat of paint and a new attitude. Until then you could win the SEC by averaging about 24 points a game. Spurrier changed all that. I maintain that with the notable exception of Bear Bryant, who won 14 conference championships at Kentucky and Alabama, no coach has had a greater impact on the SEC than Steve Spurrier.

And the team best suited to keep up with the new high-flying Gators was Tennessee under Phillip Fulmer. It was Fulmer who put himself in position to become the head coach at Tennessee when he took over as the interim coach when John Majors had heart surgery in 1992. With Fulmer calling the shots, Tennessee upset No. 4 Florida 34-31 in Knoxville. By the end of that season Majors was moved out and Fulmer became the permanent head coach.

The arrival of Spurrier at Florida and Fulmer at Tennessee set the stage for the rivalry. But there was one other factor that made it really blossom. In 1992 the SEC expanded to 12 teams and went to divisional play with both Florida and Tennessee in the Eastern Division. In the past Florida and Tennessee had met in October. But once the divisions were in place, the decision was made for the two teams to meet on the third Saturday in September.

“Both programs were doing well and so the winner usually had a leg up in the national championship discussion,” said former SEC Commissioner Roy Kramer, who orchestrated the move. “And the loser would still have time to play their way back up the rankings. It was almost always a great game for TV.”

All of the 10 games in that stretch had a compelling story line but here are just a few of my favorites:

1995: Tennessee arrived in Gainesville with sophomore quarterback Peyton Manning, who led the Volunteers to a 30-14 lead. But Florida’s junior quarterback, Danny Wuerffel threw six touchdown passes and the Gators scored 48 unanswered points. Florida went 12-0 during the regular season before losing to Nebraska in the national championship game. It was the only game Tennessee would lose that season.

1996: Both teams were ranked the top four. Florida jumped out to a 35-0 lead but Manning led a furious comeback that just came up short, 35-29. Florida would go on to win the national championship. Tennessee finished 10-2.

1998: Manning left Tennessee without a win over Florida, but in 1998 the Volunteers, led by quarterback Tee Martin, beat the Gators 20-17 in overtime. Florida’s Collins Cooper missed a field goal in overtime and Neyland Stadium literally shook with the noise.

2000: This one will always be remembered for a controversial touchdown catch/non catch by Florida’s Jabar Gaffney, which gave the Gators a 27-23 lead with only 14 seconds left in Knoxville. Tennessee’s coaches screamed that Gaffney had dropped the ball. Instant replay had not been put in place at the time. It was one of the most gut-wrenching losses Tennessee has had in the series.

2001: But Tennessee’s disappointment in 2000 was followed by one of Fulmer’s favorite wins in the series. The game had been postponed to December by the attacks of 9/11. Florida was ranked No. 2 and was expected to win the game, win the SEC championship, and play for the BCS championship. But Tennessee’s Travis Stephens rushed for 226 yards and the Vols overpowered the Gators to win 34-32. It was Tennessee’s first win at Florida in 30 years.

“Both Tennessee and Florida played a pretty high level during that stretch,” said Fulmer, who coached at Tennessee through the 2008 season after which he was forced to step down. “We had some great, great wins. And we had some really painful losses. That is what a great rivalry is all about. ”

Ironically, the 2001 season would be Spurrier’s 12th and final one at Florida. He would go to the NFL’s Washington’s Redskins for a couple of seasons and then come back to college football as the head coach at South Carolina in 2005.

“Yep, we had some really good games with Tennessee,” said Spurrier, a native of Johnson City, Tenn. “We liked beating them and they liked beating us. We won our fair share.”

Spurrier won seven of his 10 games against Fulmer. In six of those ten seasons, the winner of their game went on to capture the SEC championship. In all 10 seasons, either Tennessee or Florida reached the SEC championship game.

“I know there have been a lot of great teams and great rivalries in the SEC,” said Fulmer. “But for that 10-year stretch the Tennessee-Florida rivalry was as good as it gets.”

SPURRIER VS. FULMER

Year…………………..Location……………………Score
1992…………………..Knoxville………………….Tennessee, 34-31
1993…………………..Gainesville……………….*Florida, 41-34
1994……………………Knoxville………………….*Florida, 31-0
1995……………………Gainesville……………….*Florida, 62-37
1996…………………….Knoxville………………….*Florida, 35-29
1997…………………….Gainesville……………….&Florida, 33-20
1998…………………….Knoxville…………………..*Tennessee, 20-17 (OT)
1999……………………Gainesville…………………Florida, 23-21
2000……………………Knoxville…………………….*Florida, 27-23
2001…………………….Gainesville…………………Tennessee, 34-32

*--Won the SEC championship
&--Tennessee lost the regular season game with Florida but went on to win the SEC title.

This game really worries me. We've stunk up the joint so far this year. First road game. UT has nothing to lose. No pressure on them. The gators are on upset alert.

No offense Jag but if the Cocks have any chance at winning the East, assuming they don't self-destruct like they have in the recent past, I have to go against all of my normal senses and pull for UT. Just thinking the Gators are going to get better as the year goes on and USC plays in The Swamp this year. Hope it's a great game and you both lose really but don't think that can realistically happen.

I think USC wins the East this year. I see us losing no fewer than four games with the lunacy of the play calling and the crappy execution we have right now. Bama is going to beat us like a red headed step child. Good thing we're a basketball school.