I don't think a UF team was ever more ready to play a game than this one. The build up to this game was beyond huge...we had two kegs this day. It was one of my fondest memories of college.
One of the all-time "not as close as the score" games. You look at the final and would think "wow that must have been a great game right down to the wire"
Exactly. After 0-0 Tennessee never had the ball with a chance to take the lead. Those two UF INTs on the Tennessee goal line in the first half really made a big difference though. Gators definitely took their foot off the gas a bit after they got to 35 points.
@@Nate-im3sg "Hard to believe they only won one title." Really? If someone said, I know a coach who was 6-5 in bowls at one school and 5-5 in bowls at another and he won a NC, most would say. How did he win a NC, he was a horrible bowl coach.
Spurrier was a classic. He pretty much psyched out Fulmer on a yearly basis. Classic quotes and memorable quips. Spurrier was supposed to go to UT after high school, but they would not allow him to play baseball as well as football. Florida reaped the rewards.
Thanks for posting all the videos. Brings back some fond memories of my youth. This team was my favorite Florida team ever. Danny Weurffel (sp?) is my favorite player ever. I wore his number playing QB. He is STILL the best fade route passer in the history of college football. He was a great person, just like Tebow. Again thanks
no prob bro let's def cheer for coach mullen to get the gators back to the top of the sec and eventually in the conversation for the national title game!! cheers from a gator football fan since 1995 from southern ontario canada :D
As a Gator fan I can say I respected Manning more than ANY other QB going against Florida. It really is crazy that he never beat Florida and also the year after he left T. Martin took over and led them to the title and he was NOWHERE near as good as Manning. I think Matin had a lot more play makers on his teams. Tennessee used to be called Wide Receiver U. Its not only crazy that he is still playing the game, but that he is tearing it up STILL, after sitting out a whole year and changing teams
My friend and I drove up from Gainesville to go to the game. We got two tickets for $100 about 10 minutes before kickoff. Had a great time up in Knoxville. I will say this, many of the UT fans were leaving at the end of the 1st quarter. I'm not saying it to be a dick, just pointing out that not even the faithful had much faith in Peyton Manning on that day. Fall of '96 was my final semester at UF and I've always looked back on things with fondness and this game is always part of the memories.
Same thing happened in 2016 when the gators got that big lead in the first quarter. A lot of people left, only that time the vols actually managed to turn it around.
Gosh, this was a great game. I remember thinking about this game every day for weeks leading up to it. I would break down each position matchup, ranking the Gators vs. Vols. On paper, these two teams were pretty event. That UT team was loaded with great talent, but Foolmer was a terrible coach.
Really dont think Fulmer was 'terrible'. He was certainly a great recruiter. He generally out recruited Spurrier. Who was on record, saying he hated recruiting. Fulmer was a 'good' coach. and excellent recruiter. But, Spurrier was on 'another level' at the time.Spurrier completely changed the way College Football was played with his offense. Much as Urban Meyers did, at Florida some 10 years later. From 91-96, the most powerful conference in the Land was playing Catch Up with Spurrier and the Florida Offense. UF only won one more SEC Title after 96 with Spurrier. Played and lost in another (to Bama of all teams). The SEC had caught up by changing how the recruited (on both sides of the ball).
Fulmer was not a terrible coach. He won a NC in 1998. What did happen was the game evolved more into the spread offense while he continually focused on "pounding the rock". While other coaches spent their time developing offenses that created passing game mismatches, Fulmer was spending his time at Sonny's Pit Bar-B-Q chowing down on baby back ribs and Bar-B-Q beans.
Yeah! Yes they were. But not as loaded as them supremely talented Hurricane teams were down I-95 South. The 96' Gators were like a lesser version of them 01' Canes when ya think about it; don't you think?? They played like the identical style just about, other than that them 01' Canes had even more dynamic versions of the same play-makers that the 96' Gators did. Same thing w/ other seasons when the Gators & Hurricanes were red hot. The talented play-makers for the team in the swamp were good enough to make the NFL, whereas those same counterparts for the Canes were good enough to be superstars in the NFL. The 95' Gators were the same team as the one in 96'; only nobody was beating the team that Tom Osborne was able to put together for them Cornhuskers that year w/ triple option, an NFL All-Pro offensive line across the board that munch on corn from dusk to dawn, the 2 best running backs in collegiate football, senior Tommie Frazier at quarterback, black shirts on defense & what not. But if anybody could, I'd have to be the early millennium Hurricanes, who were the mid-90s Gators on steroids, for those ultra-talented Gators got absolutely taken to the woodshed 62-24. The Hurricanes weren't as consistent as the Gators or Seminoles in the Florida Bermuda Triangle of college football dominance, but at their best, their offense was college football's version of the St. Louis Greatest Show On Turf Rams of 99' & Air Coryell of the early 80s San Diego Chargers, w/ also a stacked defense. I mean the best offenses of the U, like in early millennium, late 80s & so on, would light up any of Nick Saban's great Bama defenses; they were that freaking talented!
@flash 22 1 second ago @flash 22 I disagree. The 96' Gators lost the FSU Seminoles the 1st time they met them in Tallahassee, w/ their offensive line being absolutely helpless at protecting Danny Wuerffel from getting lit up by the Noles' famed rush 32 times. Warrick Dunn ran also ran wild on the Gators D that whole Saturday for 185 clock-chewing yards. And that was your only chance at beating those Gators. Keep Wuerffel, Jacques Green, Ike Hilliard, Riedel Anthony, Elijah Williams & Fred Taylor off the field. Easier said than done against the #6 defense in the nation. Noles were #1, but w/ a less scary (though still good) offense. Thad Busby was like a Trent Dilfer for Bobby Bowden's ball-control-oriented offense, w/ speed on the outside, but that leans on its devastating defense. A rematch always unfairly favors the losing team from the 1st match, when two teams are evenly-matched. In 96', Gators were a bit more unbeatable than Seminoles, as that really was Steve Spurrier's best team of his coaching career, though his other ones were good. 96' Seminoles were roughly on par w/ Bowden's average team from that decade where they were so lights out, and they were the only defense that year that had the 3 standout corners that you needed to have, in order to be able to afford to load the box to rush Wuerffel, w/o getting burned downtown, most of the time. 02' Canes were still supremely dominant, but not as invincible as their 01' version that had 2 dominant tight ends w/ also Jeremy Shockey, 3 dominant safeties w/ also Ed Reed & Mike Rumph, arguably the nation's best corner in Phillip Buchanon, the nation's best left tackle in Bryant McKinnie (that year's Orlando Pace) & 1st team all-big East right tackle Joaquin Gonzalez, who's largely forgotten due to an underachieving NFL career. I remember even talks throughout the undefeated 02' regular season, about how the Hurricanes' offensive line is vulnerable at the guards positions. No wonder the same offensive line that only allowed 4 sacks all year in 01', had so much trouble protecting Ken Dorsey against Ohio State, and don't give me that they never faced a defensive line like Ohio State's. Florida's & Florida State's defensive lines are always ultra dominant in that era, and Nebraska's from the year before was still pretty much black shirts from the Tom Osborne era (though their offense was no longer supremely dominant like under Osborne). Also, anything can happen in a single-game, sometimes the other team just gets lucky too. But 01' team also featured a 4-headed monster in the backfield w/ also Najeh Davenport, Frank Gore (out injured in 02') & Clinton Portis, to join a very young Willis McGahee in the backfield. Remember that when McGahee tore his knee in the middle of that game against Ohio State; it largely changed the dynamic of that game, even though Miami was still trailing by a little, but McGahee was starting to absolutely gash that Buckeyes defense. There was also the 3wks late flag in the end zone in the 1st overtime. And I think that if those same two teams play each other a 2nd time that year, the Canes crush the Buckeyes (w/ McGahee of course), but likely win by a little bit even w/o him, even though they had no other dominant running backs that year, though I'd make it close and dangerous for the Canes w/o McGahee. The Canes just happened to play their worst game of the season against a Buckeyes team that played a near perfect game on that night. And I'm probably missing a few names from my above list of what made the 01' team next to invincible (despite winning two close ones), compared to the 02' version that was still dominant, and more talented than everybody else on paper, but not a defense that was just shutting teams down week-in & week-out like the 01' version, and they weren't as deep on offense, largely due to so many blue chip Juniors entering the draft a year early after 01' championship. 01' Hurricanes average margin of victory was 34pts, compared to 22pts in 02'. I'm not taking anything away from the 02' Buckeyes, they won the game, but it doesn't mean they were better in general, just that they were a combination of better & luckier that night. They actually had to win a bunch of close games that year, and were both good enough, and resilient enough to hang in there, and then came lady luck. If the 01' Canes had just as poor & unlucky day relative to their average that night against those same Buckeyes, they'd still beat them by about 10pts in regulation, cause their defense was much better, offensive line was much better, and once McGahee went down, they wouldn't have missed a beat w/ either Portis, Davenport or Gore. Some of their blue chip stars came back from the 01' team, but not even close to all of them like you had suggested, and certain positions where injuries, wear-&-tear + fatigue are so prominent, you have to look past just the starters when talking about bench players that play a significant number of snaps. 02' Canes would've beaten 02' Buckeyes 8 out of 10 times. 01' Canes over 02' Buckeyes 9 out of 10 times, and that's a significant difference when talking about a game that went into overtime. But I agree w/ you that the 02' Buckeyes were not that impressive for a national championship winning team, though I wouldn't say they were 1 of the worst. Probably worst than about 60% of the national champions, but I'd say relatively close to half they could beat if both teams have about their average day. The only team I think could beat the 01' Canes if both teams play their average, are the 95' Cornhuskers, as the 01' Canes happened at a time when everybody was already a super ultra athlete (meant to be taken w/ a grain of salt), but all the great players still had the regional loyalty to all come to one school. Some of the perennial historic powers of yesteryear have become rather mediocre in recent times, due to talent dispersing to random programs that used to stay saturated within a region from high school to college, whether I'd be the track-&-field receivers of Miami, corn-eating offensive linemen of Nebraska, & so on. The 01' Canes are like the 96' Gators offense, combined w/ the 11' Alabama Crimson Tide defense under Nick Saban in one, and they have more than the speed to match up against an SEC team on the perimeter of 19', or the beef & tenacity to match up on the interior against a team like Michigan in 97'. They definitely should've beaten Ohio State in 02' even w/ what they still had left from the 01' team, and it was a monumental upset in my book, kind of like Villanova over Georgetown in 85', or Buster Douglas over Mike Tyson in 90'. An upset doesn't change who's better, but what the Ohio State team of 02' was able to do was stop a team on the verge of a dynasty. Cause now the early millennium Canes are forever remembered for what should've been, instead of what was. They do have the 1 national championship from that run, yet they underachieved for the talent they had. Kind of like the 99' Rams in the NFL, but on steroids, since NFL teams are more evenly distributed, although there are fewer of them. The 02' Buckeyes were never a serious threat to become a dynasty, whereas the 01' Canes were favored to repeat the following year. Not repeating in 02' definitely costed them some recruits in 03', created some hangover amongst the returnees, and forever changed the success that Larry Coker would've been able to build on after 01'. And although the 03' Canes went 11-2, capped off w/ a 16-14 win, in a defensive struggle over their archrival Noles in the Orange Bowl, their offense became very erratic, w/ their defense only improving relatively marginally from 02'. And after 03', they didn't register another 10win season under Coker, ultimately firing him at end of 06'. But after the 01' season, the whole world thought that Coker would unquestionably stay the Hurricanes coach through the end of the decade, based on the euphoria and where the program was at after the 37-14 thrashing of Nebraska in the 01' Rose Bowl. And it all comes back to the 02' Tostitos Fiesta Bowl vs. Ohio State. This isn't to say that the Canes would still be as dominant now as in the early 00s, but a win over Ohio State in 02', would likely have extended Larry Coker's tenure, and that program's national title contention through the Brock Berlin & into the Jacory Harris era through 11'. It was a little different time still in the world then w/ some of the good teams just being athletically overmatched against the Miami 4.3 speed receivers, who also have size, and explosive programs like Miami do historically go through their down periods, and everybody started dispersing like never before in about the middle of the 00s, and it was before Nick Saban (today's Bear Bryant) got to Big Boy Alabama, or Urban Meyer (21st century's Tom Osborne) got to Florida, and national championships are hard to win. But I could definitely see the Canes winning at least 1 more national championship under Coker at some point in his remaining tenure till he decided to retire after the 15' season from the Roadrunners (in real life), w/ the 02' championship, and possibly 2 more. The loss against Ohio State prevented Larry Coker from being a legend, like a Bobby Bowden, Frank Leahy or Bud Wilkinson, who's now forever instead remembered as just another good coach who had 1 incredible season, for which the groundwork was laid out by Butch Davis.
The Florida teams in the 80s caused them to go on probation. No one thought of Florida in the SEC until Steve came along. It was Alabama and Tennessee as the big two.
I was an undergraduate student at the University of Florida when this game was played in Knoxville. I remember watching the game on television in Gainesville. Ah, fond memories...
I'm not a UF or any SEC school fan so there is no bias in this statement. UT, apart from 1998, has been a PERENNIAL " Also ran " program, for the overwhelming majority of its history.
Wuerrfal was the biggest beneficiary of " a system " that's ever played football! No disrespect. He's a good guy and I always liked him . But he's the textbook definition of a system player/QB
He’s one of the most accurate QBs I’ve ever seen, was tough and super smart. Did he have an NFL type cannon arm? No, but he’s one of the best to ever play QB in college.
They didn't make it a game. They never had the ball with a chance to win -- they scored on the last play of the game to cut it to 6. Nothing but a moral victory.
I envy you. I would have killed to be at that game. Did the fans come back after they started coming back? Even in the first quarter it looked like there were sections missing here and there, maybe cause of the rain. I could be wrong. Going to that game is well worth 100 $. I live in Kentucky and have NEVER watched a game at the swamp. I have watched Florida play UK, Tenn, Vandy, and S. Carolinas stadiums to see Florida play? I am sure you have been, please tell me what its like.
That first Tennessee td, now a days the guy would've celebrated and done a dance and put on a whole show like he just won the game! Guys celebrate making basic routine plays now every game. Soon they'll have a celebration for when they drop a td pass!
Really dont think Fulmer was 'terrible'. He was certainly a great recruiter. He generally out recruited Spurrier. Who was on record, saying he hated recruiting. Fulmer was a 'good' coach. and excellent recruiter. But, Spurrier was on 'another level' at the time.Spurrier completely changed the way College Football was played with his offense. Much as Urban Meyers did, at Florida some 10 years later. From 91-96, the most powerful conference in the Land was playing Catch Up with Spurrier and the Florida Offense. UF only won one more SEC Title after 96 with Spurrier. Played and lost in another (to Bama of all teams). The SEC had caught up by changing how the recruited (on both sides of the ball).
What a weird game. It’s funny how getting ahead so quickly can sometimes be a negative. It’s only human instinct to say something like well we’re up 35 nothing so let’s just coast from here
Just a joy to watch my Gators beat the snot out of the Voltards on their own field. It must gut Payton to know he never beat the Gators, never won the SEC, never got an NC. But always remember you can't spell Citrus without UT!
The Tennessee vs Florida games were really just to decide who would get embarrassed by the true elite team of this time Nebraska. Nebraska made both of these teams look like little league teams when they played them in bowl games.
Yeah, the infamous whimsical 60-3 run. I'm guessing you know that Ozzy was 4-1 (in bowls) during that stretch. The loss was to the coach that owned him (6-2) and had a very good bowl record when he retired. The wins were against coaches that retired with a combined 36-38 losing bowl record. Yes, it's true, one of the most important aspects of the 60-3 run, the bowl wins, were over lousey bowl coaches. Erickson 6-9, Spurrier 11-10, Beamer 11-12, Fulmer 8-7. (Erickson coached in Div 2 or whatever, their playoffs are their bowls like FBS is now.)
Honestly, the more I watch the more it looks like spurrier really got out coached. Thank god he had some good athletes to make some game changing plays on defense
No not really. UF ran the ball all 2nd half. Tennessee had no choice but to score as quickly as possible. 35 points is a big deficit in one half of football against another Top 4 team.
I don't buy into the theory that Spurrier remembered the Choke at Doak (Florida up 31-3 on Florida State in the 4th to "lose" 31-31) and went conservative. This was used by Florida fans to deflect from the fact that they blew another big lead! In his mind the score at half could have been 35-20. Truly a case of the victors writing history to their favor!
I will say that Tennessee and Florida had this in common in the 90s: Nebraska destroyed both of us. I couldn't believe how easy that beat both of those teams. That 1996 game you couldn't beat Florida down 35-0. A tough spot for Tennessee.
Manning sucks as a quarterback because he can't scramble and make plays on the run. He's no Baker Mayfield. The only way Manning can win is when his line blocks against the rush. If they do, they win. If they don't they lose. Manning is a weakling on the scramble, Baker Mayfield would have made Manning 2nd string quarterback.
Florida will never has many wins as Alabama and Tennessee. Urban saw the handwriting on the wall that Nick would be dominant with Alabama. When Manning retires from football and becomes a coach so many recruits will come and play for him. in addition,I am sure the recruits will say ",who the he'll is Wufferel?
+Kelsey Riffey Who would want to play for a team that chokes away their games in the 4th quarter? I hope y'all keep Butch. Keep UT in rebuilding mode forever
This year game between us was a classic. After you guys beat Ole Miss you guys look like the leader in the east this year. I will give kudos to the gators.
Tennessee has had won ten straight in this series as well. I was speaking of the 1996 game. Too many turnovers in that game for Tennessee. Are you bandwagon Florida fan who jumped on it when Meyer was coaching? Most Florida fans I have met have no clue about Steve being the coach . Last year's game the clock expired with that field goal attempt. Tennessee will always have more wins than Florida all time. Tennessee has never had a season in which they were winless Florida has though lol.
Kelsey Riffey Yea there's almost 0 chance most UF fan's you've met have no clue about Steve Spurrier being our former coach. Unless you are under probably 16 years old. And if you are around that age, UF just plain OWNS Tennessee since you've become a football fan. Sorry bud.
"Tennessee will always have more wins than Florida all time." Well, TN has played 77 more games than FL and really did not come to life until the 80's, your comment is misleading.
If it wasn't for the turnovers Tennessee scores over 40 easy. Florida most of the time gets lucky. Steve made you guys remember that. Tennessee and Alabama will always be the tops in wins in the SEC.
+Kelsey Riffey so what you're saying is that the entire offense at UT was that terrible that they couldn't beat UF with the great Peyton Manning? I'll take that.
I thought you gator fans were the apotheosis of language and manners? However,judging by your language and the behavior of fans in the past and today (and including robbing New Mexico States bus ) What class!
I don't think a UF team was ever more ready to play a game than this one. The build up to this game was beyond huge...we had two kegs this day. It was one of my fondest memories of college.
I’m shocked you remembered anything with two kegs. Lol, I thought you Florida boys knew how to party?
The Florida State rematch in the Sugar Bowl is def up there with this.
We should have won 4 national championship in the 90s..and 2 in the early 2000s
One of the all-time "not as close as the score" games. You look at the final and would think "wow that must have been a great game right down to the wire"
Exactly. After 0-0 Tennessee never had the ball with a chance to take the lead. Those two UF INTs on the Tennessee goal line in the first half really made a big difference though. Gators definitely took their foot off the gas a bit after they got to 35 points.
Basically the opposite of 1995.
In that game, a look at the 62-37 score and one would think 'Good lord, that game was over before it started."
Man it must of been awesome playing for spurrier as a quarterback or wide receiver they lit up defenses weekly for a decade straight
@@Nate-im3sg "Hard to believe they only won one title." Really? If someone said, I know a coach who was 6-5 in bowls at one school and 5-5 in bowls at another and he won a NC, most would say. How did he win a NC, he was a horrible bowl coach.
something clever they won 4 straight sec titles in a row at one point though
@@Freshy_Jones Yes they did. Very impressive
Or RB. Spurrier’s offenses were very balanced.
@@Nate-im3sg Because they did not beat FSU consistently.
Spurrier was a classic. He pretty much psyched out Fulmer on a yearly basis. Classic quotes and memorable quips. Spurrier was supposed to go to UT after high school, but they would not allow him to play baseball as well as football. Florida reaped the rewards.
Tennessee did not run a pro-style passing offense back then, but Ray Graves at Florida did; hence, Florida was a better option for Spurrier.
@@carltonreese4854 Tennessee actually still used the single wing.
Thanks for posting all the videos. Brings back some fond memories of my youth. This team was my favorite Florida team ever. Danny Weurffel (sp?) is my favorite player ever. I wore his number playing QB. He is STILL the best fade route passer in the history of college football. He was a great person, just like Tebow. Again thanks
Manning against Florida 0-4 lol
manning in his college career though is a 3-TIME citrus bowl MVP LOL!!
Steven A. Yet he could not beat one team 🤦🏼♂️🤷🏼♂️
FloridagatorBCS2014
the sarcasm flew over your head lol., obviously florida bought and sold manning many times over
Steven A. Oh yeah for sure they did I didn’t see the sarcasm my bad man. 😂
no prob bro let's def cheer for coach mullen to get the gators back to the top of the sec and eventually in the conversation for the national title game!! cheers from a gator football fan since 1995 from southern ontario canada :D
As a Gator fan I can say I respected Manning more than ANY other QB going against Florida. It really is crazy that he never beat Florida and also the year after he left T. Martin took over and led them to the title and he was NOWHERE near as good as Manning. I think Matin had a lot more play makers on his teams. Tennessee used to be called Wide Receiver U. Its not only crazy that he is still playing the game, but that he is tearing it up STILL, after sitting out a whole year and changing teams
Do you know who Tommie Frazier is
@@jonbicak7869 sure do. He ran the ball all over us in 95.
He had a more solid defense backing him too.
UT was really lucky to win it all in 98. They barely beat UF and got help from the refs to beat another SEC team.
@@michaelschaefer1904 trust me I remember the loss to them. I actually don't know what your referring to about the other team? What happened?
If Tennesee scores on one of those 2 drives for a TD before halftime instead of ints they would have had one of the greatest comebacks ever... ❤
This gators team was the best gators team ever and probably top 10 of all time
My friend and I drove up from Gainesville to go to the game. We got two tickets for $100 about 10 minutes before kickoff. Had a great time up in Knoxville. I will say this, many of the UT fans were leaving at the end of the 1st quarter. I'm not saying it to be a dick, just pointing out that not even the faithful had much faith in Peyton Manning on that day. Fall of '96 was my final semester at UF and I've always looked back on things with fondness and this game is always part of the memories.
Wow....yep I'm sure you'll never forget those memories. Those were the good ole days. Go Gators
Same thing happened in 2016 when the gators got that big lead in the first quarter. A lot of people left, only that time the vols actually managed to turn it around.
Fulmer owned again by Spurrier
Gosh, this was a great game. I remember thinking about this game every day for weeks leading up to it. I would break down each position matchup, ranking the Gators vs. Vols. On paper, these two teams were pretty event. That UT team was loaded with great talent, but Foolmer was a terrible coach.
had a friend describe the Choke at the Doke from the emotions he experienced as a FL fan. I laughed until my sides hurt like hell.
Really dont think Fulmer was 'terrible'. He was certainly a great recruiter. He generally out recruited Spurrier. Who was on record, saying he hated recruiting. Fulmer was a 'good' coach. and excellent recruiter. But, Spurrier was on 'another level' at the time.Spurrier completely changed the way College Football was played with his offense. Much as Urban Meyers did, at Florida some 10 years later. From 91-96, the most powerful conference in the Land was playing Catch Up with Spurrier and the Florida Offense. UF only won one more SEC Title after 96 with Spurrier. Played and lost in another (to Bama of all teams). The SEC had caught up by changing how the recruited (on both sides of the ball).
@@robjohnson8861 The new "Choke at Doak" occured on 9/11/2021 when Jacksonville State beat F$U on a walkoff miracle TD to win 20-17.
Fulmer was not a terrible coach. He won a NC in 1998. What did happen was the game evolved more into the spread offense while he continually focused on "pounding the rock". While other coaches spent their time developing offenses that created passing game mismatches, Fulmer was spending his time at Sonny's Pit Bar-B-Q chowing down on baby back ribs and Bar-B-Q beans.
man these flordia teams were loaded
Yeah! Yes they were. But not as loaded as them supremely talented Hurricane teams were down I-95 South. The 96' Gators were like a lesser version of them 01' Canes when ya think about it; don't you think?? They played like the identical style just about, other than that them 01' Canes had even more dynamic versions of the same play-makers that the 96' Gators did. Same thing w/ other seasons when the Gators & Hurricanes were red hot. The talented play-makers for the team in the swamp were good enough to make the NFL, whereas those same counterparts for the Canes were good enough to be superstars in the NFL. The 95' Gators were the same team as the one in 96'; only nobody was beating the team that Tom Osborne was able to put together for them Cornhuskers that year w/ triple option, an NFL All-Pro offensive line across the board that munch on corn from dusk to dawn, the 2 best running backs in collegiate football, senior Tommie Frazier at quarterback, black shirts on defense & what not. But if anybody could, I'd have to be the early millennium Hurricanes, who were the mid-90s Gators on steroids, for those ultra-talented Gators got absolutely taken to the woodshed 62-24. The Hurricanes weren't as consistent as the Gators or Seminoles in the Florida Bermuda Triangle of college football dominance, but at their best, their offense was college football's version of the St. Louis Greatest Show On Turf Rams of 99' & Air Coryell of the early 80s San Diego Chargers, w/ also a stacked defense. I mean the best offenses of the U, like in early millennium, late 80s & so on, would light up any of Nick Saban's great Bama defenses; they were that freaking talented!
Mary Akopyan go Canes!
Those Canes were running a crooked program most of those years. Maybe not the school but the boosters certainly were.
Mary Akopyan And those 01 Canes were a bitch next to the 06 and 08 Gators 😂
@flash 22
1 second ago
@flash 22 I disagree. The 96' Gators lost the FSU Seminoles the 1st time they met them in Tallahassee, w/ their offensive line being absolutely helpless at protecting Danny Wuerffel from getting lit up by the Noles' famed rush 32 times. Warrick Dunn ran also ran wild on the Gators D that whole Saturday for 185 clock-chewing yards. And that was your only chance at beating those Gators. Keep Wuerffel, Jacques Green, Ike Hilliard, Riedel Anthony, Elijah Williams & Fred Taylor off the field. Easier said than done against the #6 defense in the nation. Noles were #1, but w/ a less scary (though still good) offense. Thad Busby was like a Trent Dilfer for Bobby Bowden's ball-control-oriented offense, w/ speed on the outside, but that leans on its devastating defense. A rematch always unfairly favors the losing team from the 1st match, when two teams are evenly-matched. In 96', Gators were a bit more unbeatable than Seminoles, as that really was Steve Spurrier's best team of his coaching career, though his other ones were good. 96' Seminoles were roughly on par w/ Bowden's average team from that decade where they were so lights out, and they were the only defense that year that had the 3 standout corners that you needed to have, in order to be able to afford to load the box to rush Wuerffel, w/o getting burned downtown, most of the time.
02' Canes were still supremely dominant, but not as invincible as their 01' version that had 2 dominant tight ends w/ also Jeremy Shockey, 3 dominant safeties w/ also Ed Reed & Mike Rumph, arguably the nation's best corner in Phillip Buchanon, the nation's best left tackle in Bryant McKinnie (that year's Orlando Pace) & 1st team all-big East right tackle Joaquin Gonzalez, who's largely forgotten due to an underachieving NFL career. I remember even talks throughout the undefeated 02' regular season, about how the Hurricanes' offensive line is vulnerable at the guards positions. No wonder the same offensive line that only allowed 4 sacks all year in 01', had so much trouble protecting Ken Dorsey against Ohio State, and don't give me that they never faced a defensive line like Ohio State's. Florida's & Florida State's defensive lines are always ultra dominant in that era, and Nebraska's from the year before was still pretty much black shirts from the Tom Osborne era (though their offense was no longer supremely dominant like under Osborne). Also, anything can happen in a single-game, sometimes the other team just gets lucky too.
But 01' team also featured a 4-headed monster in the backfield w/ also Najeh Davenport, Frank Gore (out injured in 02') & Clinton Portis, to join a very young Willis McGahee in the backfield. Remember that when McGahee tore his knee in the middle of that game against Ohio State; it largely changed the dynamic of that game, even though Miami was still trailing by a little, but McGahee was starting to absolutely gash that Buckeyes defense. There was also the 3wks late flag in the end zone in the 1st overtime. And I think that if those same two teams play each other a 2nd time that year, the Canes crush the Buckeyes (w/ McGahee of course), but likely win by a little bit even w/o him, even though they had no other dominant running backs that year, though I'd make it close and dangerous for the Canes w/o McGahee. The Canes just happened to play their worst game of the season against a Buckeyes team that played a near perfect game on that night. And I'm probably missing a few names from my above list of what made the 01' team next to invincible (despite winning two close ones), compared to the 02' version that was still dominant, and more talented than everybody else on paper, but not a defense that was just shutting teams down week-in & week-out like the 01' version, and they weren't as deep on offense, largely due to so many blue chip Juniors entering the draft a year early after 01' championship. 01' Hurricanes average margin of victory was 34pts, compared to 22pts in 02'.
I'm not taking anything away from the 02' Buckeyes, they won the game, but it doesn't mean they were better in general, just that they were a combination of better & luckier that night. They actually had to win a bunch of close games that year, and were both good enough, and resilient enough to hang in there, and then came lady luck. If the 01' Canes had just as poor & unlucky day relative to their average that night against those same Buckeyes, they'd still beat them by about 10pts in regulation, cause their defense was much better, offensive line was much better, and once McGahee went down, they wouldn't have missed a beat w/ either Portis, Davenport or Gore. Some of their blue chip stars came back from the 01' team, but not even close to all of them like you had suggested, and certain positions where injuries, wear-&-tear + fatigue are so prominent, you have to look past just the starters when talking about bench players that play a significant number of snaps. 02' Canes would've beaten 02' Buckeyes 8 out of 10 times. 01' Canes over 02' Buckeyes 9 out of 10 times, and that's a significant difference when talking about a game that went into overtime. But I agree w/ you that the 02' Buckeyes were not that impressive for a national championship winning team, though I wouldn't say they were 1 of the worst. Probably worst than about 60% of the national champions, but I'd say relatively close to half they could beat if both teams have about their average day.
The only team I think could beat the 01' Canes if both teams play their average, are the 95' Cornhuskers, as the 01' Canes happened at a time when everybody was already a super ultra athlete (meant to be taken w/ a grain of salt), but all the great players still had the regional loyalty to all come to one school. Some of the perennial historic powers of yesteryear have become rather mediocre in recent times, due to talent dispersing to random programs that used to stay saturated within a region from high school to college, whether I'd be the track-&-field receivers of Miami, corn-eating offensive linemen of Nebraska, & so on. The 01' Canes are like the 96' Gators offense, combined w/ the 11' Alabama Crimson Tide defense under Nick Saban in one, and they have more than the speed to match up against an SEC team on the perimeter of 19', or the beef & tenacity to match up on the interior against a team like Michigan in 97'. They definitely should've beaten Ohio State in 02' even w/ what they still had left from the 01' team, and it was a monumental upset in my book, kind of like Villanova over Georgetown in 85', or Buster Douglas over Mike Tyson in 90'. An upset doesn't change who's better, but what the Ohio State team of 02' was able to do was stop a team on the verge of a dynasty. Cause now the early millennium Canes are forever remembered for what should've been, instead of what was.
They do have the 1 national championship from that run, yet they underachieved for the talent they had. Kind of like the 99' Rams in the NFL, but on steroids, since NFL teams are more evenly distributed, although there are fewer of them. The 02' Buckeyes were never a serious threat to become a dynasty, whereas the 01' Canes were favored to repeat the following year. Not repeating in 02' definitely costed them some recruits in 03', created some hangover amongst the returnees, and forever changed the success that Larry Coker would've been able to build on after 01'. And although the 03' Canes went 11-2, capped off w/ a 16-14 win, in a defensive struggle over their archrival Noles in the Orange Bowl, their offense became very erratic, w/ their defense only improving relatively marginally from 02'. And after 03', they didn't register another 10win season under Coker, ultimately firing him at end of 06'. But after the 01' season, the whole world thought that Coker would unquestionably stay the Hurricanes coach through the end of the decade, based on the euphoria and where the program was at after the 37-14 thrashing of Nebraska in the 01' Rose Bowl. And it all comes back to the 02' Tostitos Fiesta Bowl vs. Ohio State.
This isn't to say that the Canes would still be as dominant now as in the early 00s, but a win over Ohio State in 02', would likely have extended Larry Coker's tenure, and that program's national title contention through the Brock Berlin & into the Jacory Harris era through 11'. It was a little different time still in the world then w/ some of the good teams just being athletically overmatched against the Miami 4.3 speed receivers, who also have size, and explosive programs like Miami do historically go through their down periods, and everybody started dispersing like never before in about the middle of the 00s, and it was before Nick Saban (today's Bear Bryant) got to Big Boy Alabama, or Urban Meyer (21st century's Tom Osborne) got to Florida, and national championships are hard to win. But I could definitely see the Canes winning at least 1 more national championship under Coker at some point in his remaining tenure till he decided to retire after the 15' season from the Roadrunners (in real life), w/ the 02' championship, and possibly 2 more. The loss against Ohio State prevented Larry Coker from being a legend, like a Bobby Bowden, Frank Leahy or Bud Wilkinson, who's now forever instead remembered as just another good coach who had 1 incredible season, for which the groundwork was laid out by Butch Davis.
The Florida teams in the 80s caused them to go on probation. No one thought of Florida in the SEC until Steve came along. It was Alabama and Tennessee as the big two.
+Kelsey Riffey Keep living in the past. 11 in a row now.
Steve Spurrier the offensive wizard that has a great offense system.
Quit kidding yourself. Tennessee doesn't belong in the same conversation with Alabama.
Florida won 2 sec titles in 80s.
@@utc184 look who is living in the past now bc Tennessee just lit you up like a cigar and owns you as of this year
20+ years since this, 10+ years since they one twice in three years. Im getting old, FML.
This was also the same day #1 Nebraska was shutout 19-0 at Arizona State.
The combination of these two games moved Florida to the #1 ranking
I was an undergraduate student at the University of Florida when this game was played in Knoxville. I remember watching the game on television in Gainesville. Ah, fond memories...
One of the best quarters ever everything that could happen did then had to hold on the rest of the game hell of a ball game
Holy crap Jim Nantz and Michelle Tafoya 2 NFL announcers/sideline reporters nowadays
I'm not a UF or any SEC school fan so there is no bias in this statement. UT, apart from 1998, has been a PERENNIAL " Also ran " program, for the overwhelming majority of its history.
Wuerrfal was the biggest beneficiary of " a system " that's ever played football! No disrespect. He's a good guy and I always liked him . But he's the textbook definition of a system player/QB
He threw 114 td passes system or not.if that case then every oklahoma,baylor,texas tech,or any -big 12 qb is product of system
He’s one of the most accurate QBs I’ve ever seen, was tough and super smart. Did he have an NFL type cannon arm? No, but he’s one of the best to ever play QB in college.
I'd say Tebow was even more of a system QB.
I'm a diehard Gator all the way and I remember where I was during this game, but kudos to UT for coming back and making this a game.
They didn't make it a game. They never had the ball with a chance to win -- they scored on the last play of the game to cut it to 6. Nothing but a moral victory.
The first half of this game seemed to be a continuation of the 2nd half of last year's game. Total domination.
4th and 11...spurrier...legend
I envy you. I would have killed to be at that game. Did the fans come back after they started coming back? Even in the first quarter it looked like there were sections missing here and there, maybe cause of the rain. I could be wrong. Going to that game is well worth 100 $. I live in Kentucky and have NEVER watched a game at the swamp. I have watched Florida play UK, Tenn, Vandy, and S. Carolinas stadiums to see Florida play? I am sure you have been, please tell me what its like.
remember when Tennessee wasn't freaking terrible
This was my favorite game on the schedule for YEARS. Shame its fallen off like it has.
That first Tennessee td, now a days the guy would've celebrated and done a dance and put on a whole show like he just won the game! Guys celebrate making basic routine plays now every game. Soon they'll have a celebration for when they drop a td pass!
You don't think you're being a bit judgemental?
@@maryakopyan3224 No
Grainy 90s highlights... The last time Tennessee was any good.
Really dont think Fulmer was 'terrible'. He was certainly a great recruiter. He generally out recruited Spurrier. Who was on record, saying he hated recruiting. Fulmer was a 'good' coach. and excellent recruiter. But, Spurrier was on 'another level' at the time.Spurrier completely changed the way College Football was played with his offense. Much as Urban Meyers did, at Florida some 10 years later. From 91-96, the most powerful conference in the Land was playing Catch Up with Spurrier and the Florida Offense. UF only won one more SEC Title after 96 with Spurrier. Played and lost in another (to Bama of all teams). The SEC had caught up by changing how the recruited (on both sides of the ball).
Excuse me 35-0 so fast!lol
Talk about Murphy's Law for UT in the first half..
2:33 Florida went for a TD on *fourth and eleven.* _Did I hear that right?_ They throw on FOURTH AND ELEVEN?
One word - Spurrier
@@bcsgator1 Another word Hilliard - genius at WR.
@@michaelschaefer1904 it was actually Anthony who caught that TD pass.
If the first half Tennessee was asking if anyone got the licence plate no. of that truck?
26 Years Ago
This is why Peyton did NOT win the Heisman Trophy.
What a weird game. It’s funny how getting ahead so quickly can sometimes be a negative. It’s only human instinct to say something like well we’re up 35 nothing so let’s just coast from here
It was 21-0 so fast!
Manning choked in the first half but what a second half Go Gators!!!
As a Vol fan you couldn't spot that Florida team any points. That Florida team learned from how physical that Nebraska team was the year before.
Just a joy to watch my Gators beat the snot out of the Voltards on their own field. It must gut Payton to know he never beat the Gators, never won the SEC, never got an NC. But always remember you can't spell Citrus without UT!
For Tennessee fans: 6:09
Swing that Louisville Slugger Spur Dog will swing it right back
Kelsey you mad go gators
The Tennessee vs Florida games were really just to decide who would get embarrassed by the true elite team of this time Nebraska. Nebraska made both of these teams look like little league teams when they played them in bowl games.
Yeah, the infamous whimsical 60-3 run. I'm guessing you know that Ozzy was 4-1 (in bowls) during that stretch. The loss was to the coach that owned him (6-2) and had a very good bowl record when he retired. The wins were against coaches that retired with a combined 36-38 losing bowl record. Yes, it's true, one of the most important aspects of the 60-3 run, the bowl wins, were over lousey bowl coaches. Erickson 6-9, Spurrier 11-10, Beamer 11-12, Fulmer 8-7. (Erickson coached in Div 2 or whatever, their playoffs are their bowls like FBS is now.)
Wow it really seems like rb just spots em 35 right off! You really think fla woulda won if they had one more quarter?
You think Florida would have softened its defense had it not been up 35-0?
They had Fred Taylor as an RB. Doubt it.
National championship year
Honestly, the more I watch the more it looks like spurrier really got out coached. Thank god he had some good athletes to make some game changing plays on defense
I think Manning had something to do with it. Stoops was just getting his D in place.
Let's call what it is. Tennessee was high Team compare to Gators. Lol
I remember this one. We almost choked!
Then you obviously don't remember this one.
No not really. UF ran the ball all 2nd half. Tennessee had no choice but to score as quickly as possible. 35 points is a big deficit in one half of football against another Top 4 team.
Yep. If only Peyton did not throw two red zone interceptions.
Gator fans still rationalizing this outcome. Vols were an onside kick away from winning. Gators went soft and could not stop Manning for anything.
If whiff.
Actually youre the one rationalizing an alternative outcome. Much respect though. No one in cfb history dominated the Citrus bowl like UT.
@@primarylenders1663 Gator fans were peeing in their pants.
Manning NEVER beat the Gators! Lol 😆 🤣
You cant spell ciTrUs without UT..🍊😂😂😂😂😂
I don't buy into the theory that Spurrier remembered the Choke at Doak (Florida up 31-3 on Florida State in the 4th to "lose" 31-31) and went conservative. This was used by Florida fans to deflect from the fact that they blew another big lead! In his mind the score at half could have been 35-20. Truly a case of the victors writing history to their favor!
But they didn’t blow it, they won the game. Manning’s garbage TD with 10 seconds made it sound closer than the absolute blowout that it really was.
Florida was too strong for tennessee!!
Peyton never beat FLORIDA!!!
Manning never beat Florida. Think about that, College football hall of fame.
Fun fact. Peyton Manning never beat the Florida Gators.
I will say that Tennessee and Florida had this in common in the 90s: Nebraska destroyed both of us. I couldn't believe how easy that beat both of those teams. That 1996 game you couldn't beat Florida down 35-0. A tough spot for Tennessee.
@@kriffey75 UT's game was a bowl game. I think Manning was thinking about the NFL then.
@@michaelschaefer1904 I would agree with that
Manning sucks as a quarterback because he can't scramble and make plays on the run. He's no Baker Mayfield. The only way Manning can win is when his line blocks against the rush. If they do, they win. If they don't they lose. Manning is a weakling on the scramble, Baker Mayfield would have made Manning 2nd string quarterback.
The same baker that Florida picked off multiple times? Peyton was a very successful NFL quarter back
sliderulelover Tom Brady is a worse scrambler than Manning. Does he suck too?
Florida will never has many wins as Alabama and Tennessee. Urban saw the handwriting on the wall that Nick would be dominant with Alabama. When Manning retires from football and becomes a coach so many recruits will come and play for him. in addition,I am sure the recruits will say ",who the he'll is Wufferel?
+Kelsey Riffey You salty?
+jkcrusher18 . What ? Lol. I will say last week's game was a classic.
+Kelsey Riffey What was Manning's record against Florida?
+Kelsey Riffey Who would want to play for a team that chokes away their games in the 4th quarter? I hope y'all keep Butch. Keep UT in rebuilding mode forever
This year game between us was a classic. After you guys beat Ole Miss you guys look like the leader in the east this year. I will give kudos to the gators.
Tennessee has had won ten straight in this series as well. I was speaking of the 1996 game. Too many turnovers in that game for Tennessee. Are you bandwagon Florida fan who jumped on it when Meyer was coaching? Most Florida fans I have met have no clue about Steve being the coach . Last year's game the clock expired with that field goal attempt. Tennessee will always have more wins than Florida all time. Tennessee has never had a season in which they were winless Florida has though lol.
Kelsey Riffey Yea there's almost 0 chance most UF fan's you've met have no clue about Steve Spurrier being our former coach. Unless you are under probably 16 years old. And if you are around that age, UF just plain OWNS Tennessee since you've become a football fan. Sorry bud.
Kelsey Riffey Florida has beat Tennessee more times than Tennessee beat Florida overall record Florida 26 Tennessee 20
Hope you guys beat Vandy.
"Tennessee will always have more wins than Florida all time." Well, TN has played 77 more games than FL and really did not come to life until the 80's, your comment is misleading.
If it wasn't for the turnovers Tennessee scores over 40 easy. Florida most of the time gets lucky. Steve made you guys remember that. Tennessee and Alabama will always be the tops in wins in the SEC.
Kelsey Riffey Oh another butt hurt tenn fan. think you might break that 0-10 record this year and make it 1-10? lol
And another thing you have in common with Alabama is that neither one of you can count... 3 NCs>2
We had some good teams in the 60's, and we could have won 2 SEC titles and a national title in 80's...
And if we didn't jump up 35 to 0 like we did we would have never took our foot off the peddle like we did, so no you would have not scored 40
Lol
Too many turnovers for Tennessee. Who is a better qb in the NFL? Lol. Danny was a joke .
0-4...Peyton Manning chokes
+Kelsey Riffey so what you're saying is that the entire offense at UT was that terrible that they couldn't beat UF with the great Peyton Manning? I'll take that.
+Kelsey Riffey Damn you really are salty that your garbage team can't beat us. Who owns the all-time record in the series? Florida.
Danny retired early after Dan Snyder ticked him off.
I thought you gator fans were the apotheosis of language and manners? However,judging by your language and the behavior of fans in the past and today (and including robbing New Mexico States bus ) What class!
+Kelsey Riffey UF, as a university, is ranked higher than UT.
@@utc184 That is perhaps the understatement of the ages.
The joke was on Paton Manning 0-4 fuck the NFL ur a loser like he was lmao