More Florida-Tennessee Memories
The year was 2001 yes the time of 9/11. That dubious date fell on a Tuesday of the same week of the game. When everything happened the SEC had said it would go through with everything as planned. When the NFL decided to cancel its games for that weekend so did the SEC. That was very disappointing but understandable. So the game was moved to Dec 11. Again my dad and I made the trip to Gainesville with visions of victory in our minds. More so in my mind because at that time Steve Spurrier was the coach and as brash as he was I was that brash as a fan. I talked trash with the best of them. This day was no different and actually I was at my all time worst. We rode the shuttle to the stadium and all I did was try to induce the Vol fans into a discussion on how I felt they were going to get beat. When I say beat I meant destroyed. No fan would bite. As we entered the stadium I saw a little Vol fan and preceded to ask him ” Do you think you got a chance lil’ man” “You think your team is going to win”. To that he replied yes and I said yeah right. You have to understand the position that I was in at the time. Tennessee had not beaten any of its opponents by more than 10 points all year. That included the real easy teams like Vanderbilt,Kentucky, and others. The year before travis Henry broke the Tennessee rushing record in this game. This time it was Travis Stephens. Believe it or not he would beak the year old record by almost 30 yards rushing for 223 and three scores. It was horrible as the Vols jumped out to a 17-0 lead. In true Gator form we fought back regaining control with a 50 yard fieldgoal by Jeff Chandler 26-24 entering the fourth quarter. In that quarter it was all Tennessee. Taking a 34-26 lead with three minutes left to play. That is when Rex Grossman, that’s right Rex, and Jabar Gafney and Reche Caldwell began a march of 87 yards to pay dirt. Grossman hit Caldwell for a 11 yard touchdown with seconds remaining pulling the Gators within two at 34-32. The two-point conversion failed and the Gators would go on to lose by that same score. What left such an impression on my mind was the fact that a party was going on in the Swamp and the Gators were not invited. As I turned back to look at the lights on and Rocky Top being sung by the Vol fans that made the trip. Yes I had to eat crow and my Dad has never let me forget that. Also in a side note a few months later Spurrier decided to scratch his NFL itch by taking a head coaching job with Redskins making that game his last as a Gator coach.
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