Tennessee vs. Florida - A Retrospective

When Tennessee won the 1998 National Championship, it came after years of frustration against Steve Spurrier's Florida Gators. Every year, the Vols thought they were contenders, only to find out in September they were still the second best team in their own division.

1998 was the year Tennessee finally solved the Gators, propelling the Vols to a Fiesta Bowl victory over Florida State and a National Championship. This past year, Urban Meyer's Gators used a come-from-behind victory at Tennessee to jump start their National Championship season.

As this year's clash approaches (this Saturday at 3:30 pm on CBS), a quick retrospective of the battles between the teams from Tennessee's championship to Florida's championship shows why this is one of the most highly anticipated games on the college football calendar each year.

2006 Florida 21 Tennessee 20 - This game is perhaps best remembered for a premature celebration and one of the gutsiest performances in Tennessee football history. Urban Meyer made his first trip to Knoxville and got his second win in a row over Phil Fulmer. The win was especially sweet for Chris Leak, who spurned Tennessee after the perceived mistreatment of his brother C.J. and remained bitter towards Fulmer about it during his tenure at UF. Justin Harrell played his final game as a Vol after suffering a season-ending injury the previous week against Air Force. He put off surgery to play the game, but wasn't especially effective with one arm. The most memorable moment of the game occurred when Vols QB Erik Ainge did the Gator chomp toward the Tennessee fans after a score put the Vols up in the 3rd quarter. It was way too early for taunts and celebration as the Tennessee defense could not figure out how to cover Dallas Baker or stop Tim Tebow's QB sneaks. Florida went on to win a National Championship.

2005 Florida 16 Tennessee 7 - This game featured several special teams breakdowns that cost the Vols, including a botched fake punt by a confused freshman (Britton Colquitt) and a blocked field goal. This was the first meeting between Urban Meyer and Phil Fulmer after Ron Zook's firing in the off-season. Meyer's tricky offense was on display when the Gators took a 7-0 lead on a reverse off the option to Andre Caldwell. The 2005 season was a terrible one for the Vols as the team fell to 5-6 behind Randy Sanders's clueless offensive scheme and the internal team war over whether Erik Ainge or Rick Clausen should be leading the team.

2004 Tennessee 30 Florida 28 - A classic game in the rivalry as Tennessee's James Wilhoit nailed a 50 yard field goal with 6 seconds left to give the Vols the lead. Wilhoit had missed an extra point earlier in the game, so hitting the game-winner was extra sweet. Many Florida fans remember a controversial call late in the game as Dallas Baker slapped Jonathan Wade (who had just slapped him) and got a 15 yard penalty that (incorrectly) stopped the clock. This was not the first time there was controversy in Knoxville between these teams. Vols fans thought they might have found the next Peyton Manning in Erik Ainge, but were also excited about starter Brent Schaeffer. It turned out they were wrong on both accounts.

2003 Tennessee 24 Florida 10 - Casey Clausen's senior season was mostly a disappointment, but this impressive win in the Swamp was a highlight. The most memorable play of the game was just before the half when Clausen found James Banks on a Hail Mary play that gave the Vols the lead. Florida tried to run the ball all game, basically out-Fulmering Fulmer, and it didn't work.

2002 Florida 30 Tennessee 13 - The score was embarrassingly lop-sided and so was the game. In fact, Phil Fulmer apologized afterwards for the performance. The Vols had 8 fumbles throughout the rain-soaked game, losing 3 of them, and could not contain Rex Grossman throughout. To me, this game was a sign of the sinking Vol ship. Casey Clausen was a junior, but looked no better than when he was a freshman. The special teams were terrible. The discipline was non-existent. It was becoming frustrating to watch the under-achieving Vols.

2001 Tennessee 34 Florida 32 - This game is remembered for several reasons: 1) it was moved back into December because of the 9/11 tragedy 2)#2 Florida was playing #5 Tennessee for the right to go to the SEC Championship game 3) Travis Stephens carried the Vols on his back with 226 yards and 2 touchdowns 4) it was an instant college football classic. It was a game of back and forth football, finally put into the hands Heisman-hopeful Rex Grossman for a two-point conversion play that was no good. Tennessee went on to lay an egg against LSU in the SEC Championship game, losing a chance to play for the National Championship in the Rose Bowl.

2000 Florida 27 Tennessee 23 - Controversy in Knoxville. The Volunteers ran the ball down the throats of the Gators, but were desperately holding on to a 23-20 lead when Rex Grossman threw a quick pass to Jabar Gaffney that he caught for .00001 seconds before it hit the ground. Touchdown? According to the referees, yes. According to 108,000 Vols fans, no.

1999 Florida 23 Tennessee 21 - The Alex Brown game. Tennessee's hopes of defending their National Championship fell apart in the Swamp as the Vols looked lackadaisical and slow compared to the Gators. Alex Brown had 5 sacks of Tee Martin. Tennessee fans remember a couple of mistakes down the stretch, most notably Deon Grant's decision to run out-of-bounds with a late game interception instead of turning it upfield and for the odd 4th & 3 sweep call with Jamal Lewis who turned it inside when the outside looked open. Would the Vols ever win in the Swamp? It would take a California kid to pull off the feat in 2001 in an instant classic.

1998 Tennessee 20 Florida 17 - FINALLY! After Peyton Manning failed to beat Spurrier's Gators for four years, Tee Martin got the job done in overtime. To be fair, the outcome had much more to do with Al Wilson and the Tennessee defense than it did Tee Martin, but he made one big pass to Peerless Price (while his arm was hit) and did not make the multiple mistakes the Gators made. Spurrier was revolving QBs throughout the game, but could not find an answer to the swarming John Chavis defense. I stormed the field with my friends and walked away with a Gatorade bottle from the Tennessee bench.

There aren't too many good memories for Vols fans prior to this game, including a 35-0 first-half onslaught in Knoxville, the "Emory & Henry" formation, the Joey Kent decapitation in the Swamp, the "you can't spell Citrus without UT" joke, and the 31-0 Todd Helton whipping in Neyland Stadium. Will this year be more heartache for the Vols? Can Fulmer finally beat Urban Meyer? Will Florida's National Championship defense meet the same fate as Tennessee's in '99?

Just three days to find out.