The 5 most significant UF-FSU games since Spurrier left Florida

Earlier this season, former Florida coach Steve Spurrier announced his retirement from coaching college football. UF fans will always love Spurrier for his passionate appreciation of the school’s rivalries. Spurrier went 5-8-1 in 14 Florida-Florida State games from 1990-2001, including two Sugar Bowls, with his most notable victory over FSU, a 52-20 win in New Orleans, resulting in the 1996 national championship. Since Spurrier left for the NFL, the Gators have gone 7-6 against the Seminoles. Here are the five most significant Florida-Florida State games since Spurrier’s departure:

5. 2009: UF 37, FSU 10 – Tim Tebow, seniors and NFL-ready juniors finish undefeated against FSU
Florida’s 2009 season would be the swan song for true seniors such as Tim Tebow, Brandon Spikes and Riley Cooper, as well as draft-eligible juniors like Joe Haden, Major Wright, Carlos Dunlap and Aaron Hernandez, all veterans of the 2008 national championship team. In their final home game, the departing Gators let loose on FSU one last time. The six-game winning streak, the second-longest in the rivalry, was Florida’s best run since 1981-1986.

4. 2003: FSU 38, UF 34 – The Swindle in The Swamp
Ron Zook’s second Florida-Florida State game will forever be remembered by Gators fans for controversial officiating. Coaches’ challenges and official reviews have become an integral part of today’s game, but in 2003 the official replay booth did not exist. To this day, Florida fans believe that the ACC officiating crew helped the Seminoles win. The Associated Press references six controversial calls that all favored FSU, while UF fan accounts contend there were even more incorrect calls. In one of the rivalries’ uglier moments, Florida State players celebrated their thrilling 38-34 come-from-behind win by stomping on the midfield logo (then a giant ‘F’ instead of the Gator head), leading to a postgame skirmish.

3. 2004: UF 20, FSU 13 – Ron Zook Field
On the night that Florida State chose to recognize active coach Bobby Bowden with the naming of Bobby Bowden Field at Doak Campbell Stadium, Ron Zook pulled off an upset no one saw coming. Ironically, the fired coach (Zook) was able to do something the legend (Spurrier) never could: beat the Seminoles in Tallahassee. Gators players carrying Zook off the field has become an iconic image in Florida folklore. Ten years later, a fired Will Muschamp could not work the same magic.

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2. 2005: UF 34, FSU 7 – Urban renewal
When Urban Meyer took over as Florida’s coach in 2005, he set two defining goals: take back The Swamp and beat UF’s rivals (Tennessee, Georgia and Florida State). The Gators’ 34-7 win at home over the Seminoles put the exclamation point on both of those goals. Florida’s foes were effectively put on notice that the Gators were back and ready to reclaim their place at the top. In six seasons, Meyer finished a combined 16-2 against UF’s three most-hated rivals.

1. 2010: FSU 31, UF 7 – Fisher makes statement, rivalry dominance follows
Many Florida fans wrote off the 2010 season as a rebuilding year, having lost several players to the NFL after they posted a combined 26-2 record in 2008 and 2009. UF fell to 7-5 with a blowout loss to the Seminoles in Tallahassee, snapping the six-year winning streak in the rivalry. Much like Meyer in 2005, Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher saw his first Florida-Florida State game as an opportunity to make a statement. With the big win, FSU improved to 9-3, and finished 10-4 with a Peach Bowl victory. The dynamic of Fisher bringing FSU back to contending status in the ACC and state of Florida while Meyer abruptly quit on UF allowed the Seminoles to dominate in-state recruiting and build the foundation that led to winning four of the last five UF-FSU contests.

Andrew Olson

Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.