Rickyvol77
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Yes we know our struggles against Florida after absolutely dominating them the first 30 years of the series, but when you really break it down, it really does seem to be a combination of psychological issues and pressure, bad luck, and simply being out-talented by better teams and better coaching at times.
1969 Gator Bowl - Tennessee, one of the best teams in the country agrees to play Florida in Gator Bowl just as HC Doug Dickey is agreeing to take the Florida job. Suddenly our top 5 team is getting coached to run 3 times and punt, and we get upset 14-13 and I believe that Dickey threw the game purposefully.
1970 - We get our revenge in Knoxville and dominate 38-7
1971 - After losing a devastating top ten matchup with Auburn 10-9, we beat 20-13 in Gainesville in the pouring rain as usual; great win
1976 - We lose 20-18 to a slightly better Florida team at home, a Bill Battle special with special teams issues
1977 - Johnny Major's first year of rebuilding, we lose 27-17 in Gainesville but we had ran out of gas already after a 2-5 start on the season
1984 - Coming off a brutal last second tie to Army and a crushing loss at Auburn, Tennessee plays a 9-1-1 Gator team at home, but loses 43-30. Later Florida is forced to be on probation for cheating during this season
1985 - SEC champs but lost to Florida (9-1-1) on the road 17-10, it was hot and we had some injuries from the close Wake Forest win the week before, but this Florida team also was on probation for cheating
1990 - The start of the "modern rivalry", UT took a close game and dominated Florida in every facet...speed, strength, etc. and won 45-3. This game marked when Spurrier knew he had to come up with ideas of how to match UT's talent
1991 - Tennessee was a good team, but Florida was better, winning 35-18 in the Swamp after beating an 11-1 Bama team and winning at LSU, this marked when Spurrier first got his true swagger as a HC there; Also our coach Jack Sells faxed our playbook to those cheaters before the game which didn't help
1992 - Two top teams battled hard in the Knoxville, but UT wore the Gators down, and Shuler played great, especially after the torrential downpour happened, 31-14 Vols
1993 - Tennessee lost in a shoot out in the Swamp 41-34, but this game began the Spurrier vs Tennessee Defense exploitation which would continue for another 5 seasons
1994 - Florida was the #1 team in the country, and dominated a UT team with injuries across the board and playing Todd Helton at QB...no contest
1995 - Both teams were among the top 3 in the country and were very similar on offense and defense, Fulmer came out coaching great, Peyton Manning had a dominant amazing performance and Florida was stunned going down 30-14 in the Swamp; However the entire game momentum switched on the illegal hit (not only not called personal foul as it would be today, but incorrectly ruled a fumble instead of a non-catch) and Florida's offense took Chavis to school after...That and multiple killer turnover fumbles by our players cost us a NC game appearance and this game was the one that set the "we can't beat Florida because they are in our heads" attitude that has continued to this very day
1996 - Billed as one of the biggest games in Neyland stadium history, a massive top 5 matchup, where we stopped Florida on the first series but allowed a long TD on 4th and 11 at midfield. After a couple of turnovers in the rain, Spurrier again toyed with Chavis yet again, moving up 35-0 in first half...After that we had a bit of a valiant comeback but the stadium crowd and team had been defeated way before the 4th quarter
1997 - This game was another where the teams were evenly matched talent wise, however Spurrier simply outcoached Fulmer. The offense had flashes of being good, but not playing Jamal Lewis was the difference in the game. Peyton's rushed interception and the offensive line being unable to contain Florida's blitzes were the difference in the game...Although Peyton marched the offense down the field to score and keep it close. once the defense gave up another long TD pass, again we were playing catchup, ended up winning the SEC and playing in the NC Game still ,but this game was just enough for ABC/ESPN to justify taking Peyton's rightful Heisman away
1998 - Tennessee played magical, especially on defense. No one expected a defensive struggle this game, but we made the plays (Al Wilson, Martin, Price, Grant, Hall) needed to win this in our first ever OT game...such a great night
1999 - During this game, it was clear that our talented team was not playing up to it's talent (as I believe this season was Fulmer's worst coaching job). Our offensive line was dominated by Florida's DL but the refs allowed at least 3 cheap shot personal fouls on Tee Martin...Our inability to figure out how to block Alex Brown was the main reason for this loss. When Grant got the late interception we had the bad luck of him having to run out of bounds with a wide open field bc of his hamstring....Them with a chance to win it, our horrible call on 4th and 3 sealed it...this one was all on coaches
2000 - Tennessee had a chance to start the new decade with a fresh start and almost pulled it off...The reason for this loss in Neyland was 1) Fulmer pulling a Butch Jones and settling for FGs despite the defense playing well, and because of Alma Matthews and that BS Gaffney call... you can say Florida might have scored or might not have at the end after, but either way that call cost us the SEC East and possibly the SEC title and gave Florida new hope for their program
2001 - Tennessee vs Florida moved to my birthday because of 9/11....One of the best road games i ever attended; We dominated most of the game thanks to Clausen and Stephens but we did allow them to come back at the end, but held on. Few people remember we should've won by 40 but Witten decided to have his worst game ever (2 TD drops, 2 turnovers)
2002 - Another hyped home game, but we simply could not handle the ball in the rain, and after Florida got up a bit, the team quit. It would've been understandable with the injuries we had that season, but the effort wasn't there at the end
2003 - Our last win in the Swamp 24-10...we really dominated the lines as we did in 2000, but weren't getting a lot of points for it...Fulmer almost played too conservatively. Clausen hit an amazing hail mary that ended up winning the game at half but the bad news was it gave Sanders an idea for Ainge to do the same play in 2004 against ND which got him hurt and cost us a chance at a major bowl
2004 - Another great game at Neyland winning 30-28. one of Fulmer/Sanders' best called games with the freshman QBs. 3rd and Chavis reared it's ugly head late but Wilhoit's goat to GOAT kicks were the stuff of legend, and Neyland at that GW kick was the loudest I had ever heard until Oklahoma 2015
2005 - Lost a close one in the Swamp 16-7, defense played amazing but offense had nothing, absolutely nothing, microchasm of that entire year
2006 - A great matchup between two great teams and honestly Tennessee should've won this going away. Leak getting that phantom roughing the passer call when we would've went up 24-7 on the turnover cost us the game and basically gave Florida a SEC and national title...Sander's 3rd down calls and Chavis' prevent defense also to blame here, losing 21-20
2007 - We won the SEC east, but Florida was by far the better team, we went to Gainesville and the difference in where the two programs were headed under Meyer and Fulmer could not be more clear. Our defense was one of the worst of all time and Florida dominated 59-20, it's almost amazing we literally were a bad pass away in Atlanta from winning the SEC
2008 - Again, Fulmer's swan song vs one of Meyer's best teams...no contest here losing 30-6
2009 - Kiffin talked a lot of BS, but in the end played to keep it close not to win; Florida was better and Eric Berry was amazing but in the end there was no chance to win
2010 - Dooley lost 31-17 to the first "average" Florida team in quite a while at Neyland; our offense had some flashes, but we just weren't there yet
2011 - In the Swamp, Dooley had high hopes to another 7-6 Florida team, but key turnovers and defense again proved to be our undoing...coaching matters
2012 - Dooley's best team offensively and finally started to make head way but an 11-2 Florida team was too much for our Sal Sunseri defense, 37-20 in Neyland
2013 - Butch Jones takes a stab and loses 31-17 to a 4-8 Florida team in the Swamp. Florida had lost a close game to Miami the week before but after a 4-1 start the team fell apart and lost the rest of the season; Starting Nathan Peterman in one of the worst HC decisions in UT history
2014 - One of the most frustrating games ever in Neyland, losing 10-9 to a 7-5 Florida team with no offense beat Butch because 1) we couldn't figure out who should be QB still 2) again attempted to settle for FGs instead of TDs and 3) the refs absolutely blew Florida's GW FG because the clock had expired before the snap by a full second and half.
2015 - Butch again cost us a great win in the Swamp, losing 28-27 because he didn't go for 2 and giving up that 4th and 14 TD; and we barely missed a 52 yd FG to lose it
2016 - Dobbs and Jennings and defense willed us to an unbelievable comeback win at home; down 24-3 and winning 38-28, such a great game in the series and gave us false hope that we could win the SEC
2017 - Another Butch coaching malpractice; losing to a 4-7 Florida team in the Swamp (even though our team was among the worst in UT history also) because we couldn't rush more than 3 on a hail mary
2018 - Pruitt's first team actually put up a fight early on; but Florida was simply a better team in Neyland (47-21)
2019 - Pruitt's 2nd team coming off losses to Ga State and BYU were not going to beat a better Florida team in the Swamp (34-3)
2020 - COVID year and playing Florida late didn't help in Neyland; We hung around but could not stop their offense (31-19)
2021 - Florida wasn't a great team however Heupel's short manned team played great keeping the game close for a while in the Swamp before the defense falling apart late; a killer turnover turned momentum
2022 - Heupel and Hooker beat Florida at home; Great called game, Florida tried to come back, but defense held tough at the end; W 38-33
2023 - This was a game that Heupel and crew should have won over a 5-7 Florida team, but the Swamp atmosphere gave us the first look at Joe Milton's offense following Hooker. Too many penalties and inconsistent offensive drives cost us late in the game L 29-16
2024 - Another great win at home; it wasn't pretty but Tennessee hung on and did what they needed to to win.
So in my opinion (FWIW), here is how I would factor in the reasons for our losses to Florida in the modern era:
1969 - UT Coach purposefully helped Florida to win
1976 - Lost to a better Florida team
1977 - Lost to a better Florida team
1984 - Lost to a better Florida team (on probation)
1985 - Coaching (Florida on probation)
1991 - UT Coach purposefully helped Florida to win/Turnovers
1993 - Lost to an evenly matched Florida team
1994 - Lost to a better Florida team
1995 - Coaching/Turnovers/Refs
1996 - Coaching/Turnovers
1997 - Coaching/Turnovers
1999 - Coaching/Refs
2000 - Coaching/Refs
2002 - Coaching/Injuries/Turnovers/Lost to better Florida team
2005 - Lost to better Florida team
2006 - Coaching/Refs
2007 - Lost to better Florida team
2008 - Lost to better Florida team
2009 - Coaching/Lost to better Florida team
2010 - Coaching/Turnovers
2011 - Coaching/Lost to better Florida team
2012 - Lost to better Florida team
2013 - Coaching/Turnovers
2014 - Coaching/Refs
2015 - Coaching
2017 - Coaching
2018 - Lost to better Florida team/Penalties
2019 - Lost to better Florida team
2020 - Coaching/Lost to better Florida team
2021 - Coaching/Turnovers/Penalties
2023 - Coaching/Turnovers/Penalties
1969 Gator Bowl - Tennessee, one of the best teams in the country agrees to play Florida in Gator Bowl just as HC Doug Dickey is agreeing to take the Florida job. Suddenly our top 5 team is getting coached to run 3 times and punt, and we get upset 14-13 and I believe that Dickey threw the game purposefully.
1970 - We get our revenge in Knoxville and dominate 38-7
1971 - After losing a devastating top ten matchup with Auburn 10-9, we beat 20-13 in Gainesville in the pouring rain as usual; great win
1976 - We lose 20-18 to a slightly better Florida team at home, a Bill Battle special with special teams issues
1977 - Johnny Major's first year of rebuilding, we lose 27-17 in Gainesville but we had ran out of gas already after a 2-5 start on the season
1984 - Coming off a brutal last second tie to Army and a crushing loss at Auburn, Tennessee plays a 9-1-1 Gator team at home, but loses 43-30. Later Florida is forced to be on probation for cheating during this season
1985 - SEC champs but lost to Florida (9-1-1) on the road 17-10, it was hot and we had some injuries from the close Wake Forest win the week before, but this Florida team also was on probation for cheating
1990 - The start of the "modern rivalry", UT took a close game and dominated Florida in every facet...speed, strength, etc. and won 45-3. This game marked when Spurrier knew he had to come up with ideas of how to match UT's talent
1991 - Tennessee was a good team, but Florida was better, winning 35-18 in the Swamp after beating an 11-1 Bama team and winning at LSU, this marked when Spurrier first got his true swagger as a HC there; Also our coach Jack Sells faxed our playbook to those cheaters before the game which didn't help
1992 - Two top teams battled hard in the Knoxville, but UT wore the Gators down, and Shuler played great, especially after the torrential downpour happened, 31-14 Vols
1993 - Tennessee lost in a shoot out in the Swamp 41-34, but this game began the Spurrier vs Tennessee Defense exploitation which would continue for another 5 seasons
1994 - Florida was the #1 team in the country, and dominated a UT team with injuries across the board and playing Todd Helton at QB...no contest
1995 - Both teams were among the top 3 in the country and were very similar on offense and defense, Fulmer came out coaching great, Peyton Manning had a dominant amazing performance and Florida was stunned going down 30-14 in the Swamp; However the entire game momentum switched on the illegal hit (not only not called personal foul as it would be today, but incorrectly ruled a fumble instead of a non-catch) and Florida's offense took Chavis to school after...That and multiple killer turnover fumbles by our players cost us a NC game appearance and this game was the one that set the "we can't beat Florida because they are in our heads" attitude that has continued to this very day
1996 - Billed as one of the biggest games in Neyland stadium history, a massive top 5 matchup, where we stopped Florida on the first series but allowed a long TD on 4th and 11 at midfield. After a couple of turnovers in the rain, Spurrier again toyed with Chavis yet again, moving up 35-0 in first half...After that we had a bit of a valiant comeback but the stadium crowd and team had been defeated way before the 4th quarter
1997 - This game was another where the teams were evenly matched talent wise, however Spurrier simply outcoached Fulmer. The offense had flashes of being good, but not playing Jamal Lewis was the difference in the game. Peyton's rushed interception and the offensive line being unable to contain Florida's blitzes were the difference in the game...Although Peyton marched the offense down the field to score and keep it close. once the defense gave up another long TD pass, again we were playing catchup, ended up winning the SEC and playing in the NC Game still ,but this game was just enough for ABC/ESPN to justify taking Peyton's rightful Heisman away
1998 - Tennessee played magical, especially on defense. No one expected a defensive struggle this game, but we made the plays (Al Wilson, Martin, Price, Grant, Hall) needed to win this in our first ever OT game...such a great night
1999 - During this game, it was clear that our talented team was not playing up to it's talent (as I believe this season was Fulmer's worst coaching job). Our offensive line was dominated by Florida's DL but the refs allowed at least 3 cheap shot personal fouls on Tee Martin...Our inability to figure out how to block Alex Brown was the main reason for this loss. When Grant got the late interception we had the bad luck of him having to run out of bounds with a wide open field bc of his hamstring....Them with a chance to win it, our horrible call on 4th and 3 sealed it...this one was all on coaches
2000 - Tennessee had a chance to start the new decade with a fresh start and almost pulled it off...The reason for this loss in Neyland was 1) Fulmer pulling a Butch Jones and settling for FGs despite the defense playing well, and because of Alma Matthews and that BS Gaffney call... you can say Florida might have scored or might not have at the end after, but either way that call cost us the SEC East and possibly the SEC title and gave Florida new hope for their program
2001 - Tennessee vs Florida moved to my birthday because of 9/11....One of the best road games i ever attended; We dominated most of the game thanks to Clausen and Stephens but we did allow them to come back at the end, but held on. Few people remember we should've won by 40 but Witten decided to have his worst game ever (2 TD drops, 2 turnovers)
2002 - Another hyped home game, but we simply could not handle the ball in the rain, and after Florida got up a bit, the team quit. It would've been understandable with the injuries we had that season, but the effort wasn't there at the end
2003 - Our last win in the Swamp 24-10...we really dominated the lines as we did in 2000, but weren't getting a lot of points for it...Fulmer almost played too conservatively. Clausen hit an amazing hail mary that ended up winning the game at half but the bad news was it gave Sanders an idea for Ainge to do the same play in 2004 against ND which got him hurt and cost us a chance at a major bowl
2004 - Another great game at Neyland winning 30-28. one of Fulmer/Sanders' best called games with the freshman QBs. 3rd and Chavis reared it's ugly head late but Wilhoit's goat to GOAT kicks were the stuff of legend, and Neyland at that GW kick was the loudest I had ever heard until Oklahoma 2015
2005 - Lost a close one in the Swamp 16-7, defense played amazing but offense had nothing, absolutely nothing, microchasm of that entire year
2006 - A great matchup between two great teams and honestly Tennessee should've won this going away. Leak getting that phantom roughing the passer call when we would've went up 24-7 on the turnover cost us the game and basically gave Florida a SEC and national title...Sander's 3rd down calls and Chavis' prevent defense also to blame here, losing 21-20
2007 - We won the SEC east, but Florida was by far the better team, we went to Gainesville and the difference in where the two programs were headed under Meyer and Fulmer could not be more clear. Our defense was one of the worst of all time and Florida dominated 59-20, it's almost amazing we literally were a bad pass away in Atlanta from winning the SEC
2008 - Again, Fulmer's swan song vs one of Meyer's best teams...no contest here losing 30-6
2009 - Kiffin talked a lot of BS, but in the end played to keep it close not to win; Florida was better and Eric Berry was amazing but in the end there was no chance to win
2010 - Dooley lost 31-17 to the first "average" Florida team in quite a while at Neyland; our offense had some flashes, but we just weren't there yet
2011 - In the Swamp, Dooley had high hopes to another 7-6 Florida team, but key turnovers and defense again proved to be our undoing...coaching matters
2012 - Dooley's best team offensively and finally started to make head way but an 11-2 Florida team was too much for our Sal Sunseri defense, 37-20 in Neyland
2013 - Butch Jones takes a stab and loses 31-17 to a 4-8 Florida team in the Swamp. Florida had lost a close game to Miami the week before but after a 4-1 start the team fell apart and lost the rest of the season; Starting Nathan Peterman in one of the worst HC decisions in UT history
2014 - One of the most frustrating games ever in Neyland, losing 10-9 to a 7-5 Florida team with no offense beat Butch because 1) we couldn't figure out who should be QB still 2) again attempted to settle for FGs instead of TDs and 3) the refs absolutely blew Florida's GW FG because the clock had expired before the snap by a full second and half.
2015 - Butch again cost us a great win in the Swamp, losing 28-27 because he didn't go for 2 and giving up that 4th and 14 TD; and we barely missed a 52 yd FG to lose it
2016 - Dobbs and Jennings and defense willed us to an unbelievable comeback win at home; down 24-3 and winning 38-28, such a great game in the series and gave us false hope that we could win the SEC
2017 - Another Butch coaching malpractice; losing to a 4-7 Florida team in the Swamp (even though our team was among the worst in UT history also) because we couldn't rush more than 3 on a hail mary
2018 - Pruitt's first team actually put up a fight early on; but Florida was simply a better team in Neyland (47-21)
2019 - Pruitt's 2nd team coming off losses to Ga State and BYU were not going to beat a better Florida team in the Swamp (34-3)
2020 - COVID year and playing Florida late didn't help in Neyland; We hung around but could not stop their offense (31-19)
2021 - Florida wasn't a great team however Heupel's short manned team played great keeping the game close for a while in the Swamp before the defense falling apart late; a killer turnover turned momentum
2022 - Heupel and Hooker beat Florida at home; Great called game, Florida tried to come back, but defense held tough at the end; W 38-33
2023 - This was a game that Heupel and crew should have won over a 5-7 Florida team, but the Swamp atmosphere gave us the first look at Joe Milton's offense following Hooker. Too many penalties and inconsistent offensive drives cost us late in the game L 29-16
2024 - Another great win at home; it wasn't pretty but Tennessee hung on and did what they needed to to win.
So in my opinion (FWIW), here is how I would factor in the reasons for our losses to Florida in the modern era:
1969 - UT Coach purposefully helped Florida to win
1976 - Lost to a better Florida team
1977 - Lost to a better Florida team
1984 - Lost to a better Florida team (on probation)
1985 - Coaching (Florida on probation)
1991 - UT Coach purposefully helped Florida to win/Turnovers
1993 - Lost to an evenly matched Florida team
1994 - Lost to a better Florida team
1995 - Coaching/Turnovers/Refs
1996 - Coaching/Turnovers
1997 - Coaching/Turnovers
1999 - Coaching/Refs
2000 - Coaching/Refs
2002 - Coaching/Injuries/Turnovers/Lost to better Florida team
2005 - Lost to better Florida team
2006 - Coaching/Refs
2007 - Lost to better Florida team
2008 - Lost to better Florida team
2009 - Coaching/Lost to better Florida team
2010 - Coaching/Turnovers
2011 - Coaching/Lost to better Florida team
2012 - Lost to better Florida team
2013 - Coaching/Turnovers
2014 - Coaching/Refs
2015 - Coaching
2017 - Coaching
2018 - Lost to better Florida team/Penalties
2019 - Lost to better Florida team
2020 - Coaching/Lost to better Florida team
2021 - Coaching/Turnovers/Penalties
2023 - Coaching/Turnovers/Penalties
