5. 2001: Dec. 1 – Tennessee beats Florida 34-32
11-2 (7-1); SEC East title; No. 4 AP and Coaches; W Citrus Bowl
Not every Tennessee football game with Florida on this list tells the story of the season. This one is different. It was the watershed moment of the Vols against Steve Spurrier and the rivalry the two had in the mid-1990s. Over the past 11 years, Florida was 8-3 in the series, winning six SEC titles while the Vols won three. Both won a national title.
This game was delayed to Dec. 1 due to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, and both teams entered 9-1. A series of upsets meant the winner of this game would win the East and move up to No. 2 in the BCS, controlling their own destiny for the national title. Despite this, Florida entered 18-point favorites. Hey, UT hadn’t won in The Swamp since 1971.
Add in the Gators winning the previous two against the Vols and seven of eight along with Rex Grossman being a Heisman candidate, and on paper, it made sense. However, the Vols shocked the world. In what would be Steve Spurrier’s final home game at Florida as he resigned a month later, Travis Stephens ran for 226 yards in a thrilling 34-32 victory for Phillip Fulmer’s team.
That’s a top 10 win in school history. How did the Vols follow up? They suffered the worst loss in program history the next week, losing to a much inferior LSU Tigers team in the SEC title with a young coach by the name of Nick Saban.
A 45-17 Citrus Bowl win over the Michigan Wolverines did little to salvage that, but this still ended up being a solid season for the Vols. They finished 11-2 and in the top five with wins over Michigan, Florida, and the hated Alabama Crimson Tide.