Top 10 Memorable Games Between Steve Spurrier and the Tennessee Vols

Oct 25, 2014; Knoxville, TN, USA; Tennessee Volunteers fans line up for the Vol Walk outside Neyland Stadium prior to the game against the Alabama Crimson Tide. Mandatory Credit: Jim Brown-USA TODAY Sports

4. 1996: Florida Beats Tennessee 35-29

If you ask Vols fans anywhere games they would like to have another shot at, this one stands right behind the 2001 SEC Championship game loss to the LSU Tigers for many of them.

Despite the previous year’s loss to the Gators, Tennessee was to return everybody this year, including Peyton Manning, and signed another top recruiting class. They started the season ranked No. 2, and the hype grew with the expansion of the North End Zone to make Neyland Stadium the largest in the country.

After a 2-0 start, the largest crowd ever to witness a college football game at the time made their way to Knoxville for the showdown between the No. 4 ranked Gators and No. 2 ranked Vols.

And picking up right where they left off in the second half of the previous year, Steve Spurrier’s Gators shut everybody up quickly. Danny Wuerffel threw a touchdown bomb on fourth down to take a 7-0 lead. A series of four Tennessee turnovers led to total domination on the part of the Gators, and 20 minutes into the game, the Vols had spotted them a 35-0 lead.

But ironically, that is not why they would like to have the game back.

Even after spotting that lead, Tennessee and Manning fought back to make it 35-29 behind at the end of the game. And even after they had spotted the 35-0 lead, Manning had two turnovers in the red zone, which could have led to field goals. And they would not have gone for two twice later in the game, meaning the Vols would have won this one 37-35 had they simply not turned the all over AFTER they spotted the 35-0 lead.

Six turnovers were just too much to overcome, and it is honestly sickening to think back now about how close they came. To make it worse, the Vols were 11-1 the previous year, so there was no way they could actually have a better season unless Florida somehow lost two games.

But they clinched the SEC East on Nov. 9, and Tennessee was so defeated by that to the point they lost to Memphis later that night. If Tennessee had beaten Florida, there is no doubt they would have won the SEC and National Title that year.

Instead, they gave this game away, and became known as the guys who could not win the big one.

Next: #3: Tennessee Beats Florida 20-17 in 1998