Tennessee football: 10 memorable games that gave Vols help in SEC race

9. Nov. 1, 2003

No. 24 Florida Gators vs. No. 4 Georgia Bulldogs

Final score: Florida wins 16-13

If the Georgia Bulldogs didn’t win the division based on an arbitrary tiebreaker, this one would be higher up. The above picture is from that same year, when the Dawgs beat Tennessee football in Knoxville 41-14.

That loss was thanks in large part to a momentum swinging play where, with time expiring at halftime, the Vols fumbled on the UGA goal line down 13-7 and saw the ball returned the other way for a touchdown to give them a 20-7 lead. It was the worst momentum change ever. That came a week after the Vols lost to the Auburn Tigers.

As a result, UT appeared out of the SEC East race. However, Georgia had already lost to the LSU Tigers, and the Vols did beat the Florida Gators, who beat LSU but lost to the Ole Miss Rebels. That meant that if Florida beat Georgia, they would all be in a three-way tie for first place.

Beating eventual national champion LSU rallied the Gators after starting 3-3, which included a heartbreaking loss to the Miami Hurricanes. After that game, they upset the No. 11 ranked Arkansas Razorbacks. Then came a bye and this game. One year earlier, Florida was UGA’s only loss, costing them a national champion.

They did it again here. While Rocky Top enjoyed an ugly homecoming win over the Duke Blue Devils, fans tuned into this major game. Florida won the game 16-13 after a late field goal by Matt Leach.

The Vols gained a ton of momentum after that and channeled it to a huge upset win over the Miami Hurricanes the next week. However, it wasn’t enough for them to win the East, as the tiebreaker went to the highest ranked team in the BCS, which was UGA. But it did help them capture a share of the division, which is why we have it on here.