Ten years ago, an underdog Florida squad led by lame duck head coach Ron Zook went into Tallahassee and beat Florida State – something Zook’s predecessor Steve Spurrier never did.

In 2014, Will Muschamp has an eerily similar opportunity. Like Zook, Muschamp followed a national championship winning head coach. Like Zook, Muschamp’s players love him.

While the Zook-Muschamp comparisons are quite common, many fans forget the context of the Florida-Florida State rivalry in 2004 and how it compares to today.

While the Seminoles of 2004 were not kings of college football led by a Heisman Trophy winner, they were a team that had had the Gators’ number in recent years.

During the rivalry game the year before, in 2003, FSU quarterback Chris Rix tossed a 55-yard game-winning touchdown with a minute left to crush Gator Nation. Did you purposely wipe your memory of this play? Allow me to jog your memory:

Sorry to bring back such horrific memories, Florida fans. Many of you likely remember watching that play and throwing something at your television.

While Jameis Winston might be Public Enemy No. 1 today, let’s not discount the villain status at the time of Chris Rix, at least here in the Sunshine state. The cockiness combined with the legendary stories of Rix passing out business cards to females which stated “Chris Rix, Quarterback” made Florida fans boil with hatred toward Mr. Rix.

It was the reputation of Rix and the consecutive losses in 2002 and 2003 that helped set the stage for Florida fans heading into the 2004 game.

As the Gators traveled to Tallahassee in late November 2004, they were unranked with a 7-4 record. Head coach Ron Zook had been fired a few weeks earlier after losing to Mississippi State. The ‘Noles were ranked No. 8 in the country with an outside chance at getting into the BCS.

It was also a special night in Tallahassee as the field at Doak Campbell Stadium was being named “Bobby Bowden Field” in honor of the legendary FSU coach.

As we all know, Zook’s Gators squad ruined the festivities for the ‘Noles that night and helped redeem his three year run as the head coach in Gainesville. I can still see the face of Ron Zook as his players carried him off the freshly named Bobby Bowden Field into the tunnel and out of sight. It was the last time Zook took the field for the University of Florida. Not a bad way to go out.

The parallels are obvious as we look at Will Muschamp entering his final game as Florida head coach. While Florida is an underdog similar to 2004, this year’s Florida State comes in with a 27-game win streak – the longest active streak in college football. Florida State hasn’t lost since Muschamp’s Gators beat the Seminoles to finish the 2012 regular season.

With that said, Florida State is beatable in 2014. This isn’t the 2013 squad which crushed its opponent each week.

Last year’s championship squad ranked a ridiculous 1st nationally in scoring defense and 2nd nationally in scoring offense. Compare that to 29th in scoring defense and 26th in scoring offense for the 2014 season – respectable, but not nearly as dominant.

Make no mistake about it, Auburn played an outstanding Florida State team last year in the BCS Championship Game. But that team is gone. Rather than blowing out its opponent each week as they did last season, this season’s Seminoles have been escaping with narrow wins week after week against average teams.

Interestingly, former Florida coach Steve Adazzio may have helped soften up the ‘Noles last Saturday and provide the blueprint for Florida to pull the upset. Adazzio’s Boston College team lost narrowly 20-17 in Tallahassee with a very Muschamp-ish formula: 11 pass attempts, 51 rush attempts.

Add in some rivalry fuel and player motivation for Coach Boom’s last game, and you might have the makings for a special day in the Florida-Florida State rivalry.