Tennessee football: Five previous years Vols played Florida in Deceber

4. 1969: Dec. 27 (Gator Bowl) – Florida beats Tennessee 14-13

9-2 (5-1); SEC Title; No. 15 AP; No. 11 Coaches; Gator Bowl

Before 2001, Tennessee football’s last December meeting with the Florida Gators was way back in 1969. And just like 2001, it was a last game for a coach. In fact, it was a last game for both coaches. There’s a major storyline here.

The Vols had returned to elite status under Doug Dickey, winning the SEC title and a retroactive national title in 1967 and enjoying top 10 finishes in 1965, 1967 and 1968. In 1969, they were still rolling, and they had a young guy named Phillip Fulmer on the team. Wins over the Auburn Tigers, Georgia Bulldogs and Alabama Crimson Tide got them to 7-0 and ranked No. 3.

At this point, a national championship looked certain. However, the infamous mule game against Archie Manning came up, and the Ole Miss Rebels shocked the Vols 38-0. UT still went on to finish 9-1 and win another SEC title, but that cost them any shot at a national title. So just like 2001, this team suffered a bad loss to an inferior team to cost it a national title.

In a rare setting, the Vols went on to the Gator Bowl to face another SEC team, and that team was Florida. This program was still in its infancy of success but on the rise under Ray Graves, who helped it reach prominence with Heisman Trophy winner Steve Spurrier a few years earlier. Yes, we’re talking about that Spurrier.

However, in a very controversial game, Florida won 14-13. Dickey, who was a graduate of Florida, left immediately afterward to take the Gator job. So there are tons of connections here. There’s the Dickey-Florida connection, the bad loss to cost a title, a young Fulmer, a program built by Spurrier, and the fact that Peyton Manning’s father gave the Vols their worst loss.