Tennessee football: 10 heartbreaking game-winning TD drives Vols allowed
2. Sept. 16, 2000
No. 6 Florida Gators at No. 11 Tennessee Volunteers
Final score: Florida wins 27-23
Similar to Tennessee football’s loss to the LSU Tigers, fans remember one final play here. But the heartbreak of the drive was the final play in combination with the final drive and how everything unfolded in this game.
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For context, the Vols had completely outplayed the Florida Gators. They dominated the rushing battle, which is usually indicative of who wins in this series, and controlled the clock. The stats made it look like they should have been dominant.
But five field goals, three of which came after failing to score inside the 10-yard line and two after failing to score inside the five, combined with a red zone fumble and a pick-six by A.J. Suggs, allowed the Gators to stay in the game. Late, with the ball and a 23-20 lead near midfield, the Vols couldn’t convert a 3rd and short to keep the clock running.
So they punted and pinned Jesse Palmer and co. inside the nine-yard line. But as anybody knows, Steve Spurrier’s Florida offenses never really worried about field position Still, the defense had only allowed one touchdown all game. They just needed to hold one final time.
The Vols failed to do that. Palmer quickly got the Vols down the field. Aided by a couple of penalties, including a pass interference on a tipped ball, they got inside the Tennessee football 10-yard line. Now, the Vols were hoping to hold them to a field goal. But Palmer found Jabar Gaffney in the end zone coming out of a timeout.
In a major bit of controversy, Gaffney dropped the ball immediately. However, the referee threw up the touchdown sign extremely quickly and didn’t see him drop it. That resulted in a victory for the Florida. Vols fans never got over that call, and Spurrier admitted in the post-game that UF was very lucky to win. However, the drive overall was as heartbreaking as the call.
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This game stands above the LSU game because of its impact on the season. Had UT won, they would have clinched the SEC East and easily dismantled a bad Auburn Tigers team in the SEC title game. As it was, they lost this one and then fell to 2-3 early in the year and 0-3 in the conference. So the drive was heartbreaking enough but cost more than a game.