Spurrier's 11 Favorite Games on the Field to Bear His Name

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Many times over the years, Steve Spurrier has referenced "the power of the Swamp." I'm not sure he truly knew it existed before that first game as University of Florida head coach in 1990, but it took him about one minute and 50 seconds — the time elapsed for the Gators to go 70 yards in four plays for the first points of the Spurrier era — for everyone in the ball yard to realize it.

Think about this for a second: UF went 68-5 (that's a winning percentage of .931) at the place he coined the "Swamp" during his 12 seasons, with seven unbeaten home seasons. In the 14 seasons since Spurrier's departure, the Gators have gone undefeated at Florida Field four times.

No wonder, when UF takes on UMass in the 2016 opener Saturday, the joint officially will be renamed "Steve Spurrier-Florida Field at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium."

With that in mind, I asked the ball coach-turned-ambassador to pick the most memorable games he ever took part in at the field about to bear his name. Let the record show this was not an easy task for the man. That defeat of Georgia by his '64 freshman team came up ("Hey, they were keeping score, so it counted."), as did an all-star game of past Gator "Greats" vs. the campus fraternity champs in '69 ("Richard Trapp caught a touchdown and Boyd Welch, a basketball player, had a big sack at the end. We won 20-19."). Neither, though, made the list.

We hit 10 very quickly and the list of candidates just kept growing, but we had to stop somewhere. We eventually settled on 11, an appropriate number given that was the one he wore during his Heisman Trophy-winning career. In three seasons as a player, 12 as UF coach, plus another five visits with South Carolina, Spurrier had plenty of games to choose from. Of course, he picked all victories. And in a very ambassador-like move, he bypassed the Gamecocks' 36-14 throttling of the Gators in 2010 to clinch the only Southeastern Conference East Division championship in school history, which obviously holds a very special place in his heart.

Still, stopping at 11 was tough. Beating Alabama 35-0 in 1991, the worst shutout SEC loss for the Crimson Tide in 58 years, did not make the list. Neither did the '97 or '99 Tennessee showdowns, both thrillers. He brought up a 52-0 blanking of Mississippi State in 2001 for the mere reason the Bulldogs had flattened the Gators the year before in Starkville and some fan storming the field hit one of the UF managers. And remember crushing Florida State 37-13 in what turned out to be Spurrier's final home win in '01?

All good ones, but they didn't quite rise to the level of the below list.

Consider this a history lesson, complete with moving pictures.

NOV. 27, 1965 — FLORIDA 30, FLORIDA STATE 17

The setup: The 1964 meeting between the two teams — just the seventh in the series — produced the watershed first win for the upstart Seminoles against the state's flagship program. Spurrier was a sophomore for that 16-7 defeat and it did not sit well with him. Now he was getting FSU, just 4-4-1 but with an upset of No. 5 Georgia earlier in the year, at home for the first time.

The game: FSU marched 86 yards and scored on 2-yard pass from Ed Pritchett to Jerry Jones to take 17-16 lead with 2:10 remaining, sending the Florida Field faithful into shock. But Spurrier needed just 58 seconds to answer with a stellar six-play, 71-yard drive, capped when he rolled right, several Seminoles in chase, then motioned for end Charlie Casey to take his rout upfield, into the end zone. That's where the ball found Casey — a perfectly lofted 24-yard pass with 1:12 left for the go-ahead score. Allen Trammel's 46-yard interception return for a touchdown in the final minute made for as deceptive margin of victory. The win pushed UF to 7-3 and sent the Gators to the Sugar Bowl for a date against Missouri with the momentum of three victories in their last four games. Spurrier finished with 316 yards of total offense, leaving him 83 shy of the SEC single-season record of 2,187 set by Georgia's 1942 Heisman winner Frank Sinkwich.

Spurrier quote: "We didn't want to have to kick a field goal there at the end. We wanted the touchdown and the lead."

Gator quote: "We told Steve to work it down the field for a field goal. Last thing I said to him was, 'Good luck!' " — offensive coach Ed Kensler

Opponent quote: "Spurrier is every bit as good as I thought he was. No one will ever say he can't play under pressure." — FSU coach Bill Peterson

OCT. 29, 1966 — FLORIDA 30, AUBURN 27

The setup: Florida was unbeaten at 6-0 and ranked No. 7 in the nation, with Spurrier being mentioned among the leading candidates — along with Purdue's Bob Griese, Syracuse's Floyd Little and UCLA's Gary Beban — for the Heisman Trophy. The Tigers came in 3-3, but with a history of handing the Gators some thoroughly frustrating defeats, including a 28-17 upset the year before when a win would have given UF a piece of the conference title. In fact, that loss marked the third time since 1960 the Tigers had denied the Gators that elusive claim to a first league championship.

The game: It was back and forth, up and down. In the first half, the Tigers scored on an 89-yard kickoff return by Jimmy "Rattlesnake" Jones and when tailback Gusty Yearout scooped up a teammate's fumble and raced 91 yards. UF tailback Larry Smith rushed for 102 yards, while end Richard Trapp caught nine passes for 100 yards and a TD. Spurrier went 27-for-40 in passing for 259 yards and a score, but it was his right foot, not his right arm, that proved the difference. After Auburn tied the game at 27 on a 3-yard run by quarterback Larry Blakeney, Spurrier took over with four minutes to go and moved the Gators deep into Tigers' territory, only to be flagged with an intentional grounding penalty that eventually backed UF into a fourth-and-14 from Auburn 33. The coaching staff debated on the sideline whether to kick or go. The distance, though, was just beyond placekicker Wayne Barfield's range. That's when Spurrier chimed in. He wanted to kick it. Next scene: Spurrier lined up for a 40-yard field goal — and split the uprights for the go-ahead points with 2:12 to play. That's the day a legend was born. As Atlanta Journal columnist John Logue wrote from the game, "Blindfolded, with his back to the wall and hands tied behind him, Steve Spurrier would be a two-point favorite at his own execution."

Spurrier quote: "Those goal posts are wide enough that if you kick it right, it'll go through."

Gator quote: "I just asked Steve if he was ready. He said he was. And that was it." — backup QB Larry Rentz, who placed and held on the kick

Opponent quote: "You had to see it to believe it. Spurrier is just great. He runs, passes, punts, kicks field goals, directs his team. No one deserves the Heisman more." — Auburn coach Ralph "Shug" Jordan

SEPT. 8, 1990 — FLORIDA 50, OKLAHOMA STATE 7

The setup: Twenty-four years after winning his Heisman with his heroics on the field, Spurrier stood on the sidelines for the first time as UF's head coach. The Gators were coming off four straight years of mediocrity — a combined 26-21 record since '86 — that followed nearly two seasons on NCAA probation. Florida was considered an outlaw program, but now one of its favorite sons — by way of Duke, no less — had returned with the intent to lead the historically underachieving Gators, with zero SEC football titles in their history, to glory. This game, though, would come amid the grisly aftermath and eerie campus-wide terror left from the three-day rampage of a serial killer who murdered five college students the first week of classes.

The game: A record Florida Field crowd watched as a new-age offense was unleashed for the SEC and all of college football to see. The Gators took the opening kickoff and needed just five plays to go 70 yards for the first touchdown on Spurrier's watch on the way to 567 total yards, the 10th-most in UF history. Quarterback Shane Matthews, making his first career start, completed 20 of 29 passes for 332 yards (including 144 in the first quarter) and a touchdown. The Florida defense held the outmanned Cowboys to just 238 yards, forced three turnovers and registered a safety.

Spurrier quote: "The story was just that we were better than Oklahoma State and our players played with tremendous effort. We're really, really proud of them. … This is unusual for me. I have never had a team that was bigger and stronger and faster than an opponent like today."

Gator quote: "Hey, Coach Spurrier made a believer out of me. It's been a long time since I saw our offense moving up and down the field like that." — senior cornerback Richard Fain

Opponent quote: "We really didn't know much about Shane and their offense. We watched some Duke film from last year and that was probably misleading." — OSU coach Pat Jones

NOV. 3, 1990 — FLORIDA 48, AUBURN 7

The setup: Seven weeks after the NCAA hit Florida with a bowl ban that made the team ineligible for the SEC title, the No. 15 Gators, the lone blemish on their record a 45-3 road trouncing at Tennessee, played host to fourth-ranked Auburn. The Tigers were unbeaten and held shares of three straight league championships. It was a prime-time showdown that could determine the path to a national title. Earlier in the day, No. 1 Virginia was upset by Georgia Tech and No. 3 Nebraska had lost to Colorado. Auburn (6-0-1), at No. 4 and with a tie against Tennessee, figured to vault second-ranked Notre Dame, already with a loss, and square into the national title picture, if it went to Florida and beat the Gators for a fourth straight season. In the three previous meetings, the Gators had totaled 13 points and averaged just 236 yards.

The game: It was utter domination, with Florida rolling up 280 rushing yards to Auburn's minus-14. Redshirt freshman tailback Errict Rhett had 142 yards and two touchdowns on just 15 carries. Backup tailback Willie McClendon had 73 yards and three touchdowns. Matthews didn't throw for any scores (and only 207 yards), but didn't have to, either. Not with a UF defense that held the Tigers to just 172 yards and eight first downs in what would be Auburn's most lopsided defeat in 10 years. By halftime, UF had 34 points (on 265 yards), which was the most it had scored in any of the previous 68 games in a series that dated to 1912.

Spurrier Quote: "We felt like we were a good team even though people tried to remind us that we could get blown out again [like against Tennessee]. I never really thought that was going to happen; not if our offensive line protected our quarterback — and not with our defense."

Gator quote: "I'll remember this one for the rest of my life; a prime-time, national-TV butt-whipping." — senior middle linebacker Jerry Odom

Opponent quote: "We played a fine football team that was very well prepared in every sense. Florida played an average team that was poorly prepared in every sense. When the dam broke, it was like a flood. There was no stopping them. They did some things we just weren't ready for." — Tigers' coach Pat Dye

OCT. 13, 1991 — FLORIDA 35, TENNESSEE 18

The setup: In their game a year before, the Gators got pounded in Knoxville, with the 42-point margin the program's worst since 1982; and in Spurrier's home state of Tennessee, no less. So here came the No. 4 Volunteers, unbeaten and two-time defending SEC champs, into newly expanded Florida Field, with its North End Zone section ready to pack the largest crowd ever to see a game in the Sunshine State. With nine straight home wins, Spurrier had his Gators believing their were invincible at home. Witness the 35-0 blowout of Alabama (the Crimson Tide's worst SEC shutout since 1957) in Week 2 and 16-0 blanking of LSU just a week before.

The game: Freshman cornerback Larry Kennedy returned an interception 44 yards with 3:25 remaining for the game-sealing touchdown as the record crowd of 85,135 erupted into bedlam. The win put the No. 10 Gators alone atop the SEC standings and in the driver's seat for the program's first league crown. On a night when the Gators were far from perfect — UF was out-gained by UT in total offense 441-360 — the defense made up for it by forcing five turnovers and limiting three promising second-half UT drives to field goals, while special teams blocked a punt to set up a short scoring drive. Matthews passed for 245 yards and a couple TDs, but was picked off three times. Rhett scored on a pair of short TD runs, but managed just 49 yards on the ground. The Vols were held to 49 yards rushing as a team, but Andy Kelly threw for 392 yards and a score, with wideout Carl Pickens good for seven catches for 145 yards. Kelly was intercepted three times, though, none bigger than Kennedy's clincher that was intended for Pickens.

Spurrier quote: "This was one of the best team victories I've ever been around. Our defense was truly outstanding. We gave up some yards in the middle of the field there, but we never let up, never got down and kept them from scoring touchdowns."

Gator quote: "This game meant everything to us. We didn't care how bad we beat them, as long as we beat them." — Rhett

Opponent quote: "That was a rugged ballgame, and our mistakes were important to the outcome." — Tennessee coach Johnny Majors

NOV. 16, 1991 — FLORIDA 35, KENTUCKY 26

The setup: Just seven days earlier, Florida demolished Georgia 45-13, an outcome that secured no worse than a share of the first SEC title in the program's 58-year association with the league. UF celebrated the victory over the Bulldogs that day, but not a piece of that championship. Spurrier, after his '90 team was denied the title due to NCAA sanctions, wanted the Gators to horde the whole thing for themselves — outright. Enter the Wildcats (3-6, 0-5), who were 36-point underdogs. The party figured to start early. Maybe that was the problem.

The game: UK linebacker Don Robinson picked off Matthews and returned the ball 53 yards to the Florida 22. One play later, Wildcats quarterback Pookie Jones took off for a 22-yard touchdown run with 7:07 to play. Kentucky, down by 25 in the second quarter and 28-6 at intermission, trailed 28-26 and Florida Field was hauntingly quiet. The Gators began the ensuing possession on their 29 and on first down got hit with a 15-yard face mask penalty, bringing up a first-and-26 at the 13. More silence. But under the cool guidance of Matthews and workhorse skills of Rhett, UF drove — and kept driving. The two hooked up to convert a huge third-and-5. Then Rhett barreled his way to a couple first downs on three carries. McClendon broke free for a 17-yard run. On third-and-goal from the UK 2, Rhett pounded the pile and nudged into the end zone for the put-away score with 2:22 remaining. The party, finally, was on.

Spurrier quote: "I think it's fitting that we were tested. It was a different kind of game, but I'll tell you one thing: the Gators won. We're going to the Sugar Bowl. We should've been there last year, too. That ['90] team really paved the way for this team's success. They showed us we could finish in first place and it wasn't any big deal."

Gator quote: "Jeez, you talk about Gator history ... that would have fit right in. We were about to get out the razor blades to slit our wrists. If we had blown this, it would have been the biggest choke in history." — senior defensive tackle Brad Culpepper

Opponent quote: "Things happened so fast. It seemed like we were down by a million points as soon as the game started. And then we weren't." — Kentucky coach Bill Curry

NOV. 30, 1991 — FLORIDA 14, FLORIDA STATE 9

The setup: With that long-awaited SEC championship, the No. 5 Gators turned their sights on another longtime elusive goal — a school-record 10 wins. It marked the eighth time in UF history, the Gators had reached nine victories in a season (including Spurrier's inaugural '90 season). Enter third-ranked Florida State, armed with an offense and defense every bit as explosive as its rival's. Two weeks earlier, the Seminoles had been the No. 1 team in the nation, only to be upset by Miami in the infamous "Wide Right" (the first). Now, FSU got the Gators and was riding a string of four mostly lopsided wins in the series, including a 45-30 rout the year before in Tallahassee to welcome Spurrier back to the Florida-Florida State fray. Once again, the largest crowd to ever see a game in the state awaited.

The game: In one of the greatest defensive duels ever waged at Florida Field, senior cornerback Del Speer knocked away Casey Weldon's fourth-and-9 end zone pass intended for wideout Kez McCorvey to set off a wild celebration for the host Gators and their emotionally drained fans. The win gave UF its first 10-1 record, capped the greatest regular season in school history and the second straight unbeaten season at home. Rhett had a 3-yard touchdown run in the second quarter to give Florida a 7-3 halftime lead. Matthews was not sharp in hitting just 13 of 30 passes with three interceptions, but his 72-yard touchdown toss to senior Harrison Houston — on a rolling-right play when the UF quarterback was blasted by a couple FSU defenders — proved enough in the end. Barely. Terrell Buckley's 26-yard punt return with just over four minutes remaining put the Seminoles at UF's 49 with a shot at a game-winning drive. Weldon marched his unit to the 14, where his rolling-right pass for McCorvey was batted into the air by safety Will White and headed in the direction of FSU's Matt Frier. That's when Speer arrived, with a helmet to Frier's breast plate, breaking up the pass with just over two minutes to go.

Spurrier quote: "It was one of the most emotional games I think I've ever been around, as a player or as a coach. There was constant electricity and it seemed like the game depended on every play. Our fans really helped out, no doubt about it."

Gator quote: "We were not going to play scared or tentative against these guys. We just went out there, made plays and, in the end, just wanted it more than they did." — senior defensive tackle Tony McCoy

Opponent quote: "Any loss disappoints me. I can't stand them. But I don't know if there's anything more painful than the last two." — FSU coach Bobby Bowden

SEPT. 16, 1995 — FLORIDA 62, TENNESSEE 37

The setup: The Gators, ranked fourth in the country, had two straight SEC titles and a ton of players coming back, including an excellent quarterback in junior Danny Wuerffel. But Tennessee had Peyton Manning, the prototype and slam-dunk future No. 1 overall NFL pick who just might win a couple Heisman trophies. UF had won 31-0 in Knoxville in '94, with Manning, then a true freshman, entering for mop-up duty in the fourth period and remaining under center the rest of the season as the Vols won their last five, including a bowl game. Sports Illustrated sent a writer to UT to spend the week with Manning anticipating a big-time, breakout quarterback performance on national television. They got one, all right.

The game: Wuerffel completed 29 of 39 passes for 381 yards, passing for an SEC record six touchdowns while running for another as the Gators obliterated the Vols and hung the most points on a UT football team since 1893. Florida, which actually trailed 30-14 in the second quarter after a 46-yard fumble return by safety Raymond Austin, rolled up 584 yards, totaled 28 first downs, converted 10 of 13 third-down opportunities and at one point scored 48 unanswered points — a chunk of them coming in a torrential fourth-quarter downpour — to positively overwhelm Manning (326 yards) and friends. Terry Jackson rushed for 119 yards. Ike Hilliard tied a UF single-game mark with four TD catches. When the game was over, the two teams had combined for 99 points, 1,044 yards and 54 first downs. Oh, and Wuerffel appeared on that SI cover the following week.

Spurrier quote: "I felt we could score every time we got it — and we came pretty close."

Gator quote: "You could see it in Danny's eyes. All we had to do was get him the ball." — Hilliard

Opponent quote: "It's just hard to beat a team like Florida and nearly impossible if you make the kind of mistakes we did." — Manning

NOV. 25, 1995 — FLORIDA 35, FLORIDA STATE 24

The setup: Never in school history had the Gators finished a regular season undefeated. The last chance to do so was in 1928 when a shot at the Rose Bowl was at stake. They lost. And don't think Spurrier didn't remind his players of those previous 90 years of road blocks when UF took its 10-0 record into the "Swamp" to face sixth-ranked FSU, which came to town with a 3-0-1 record against UF over the previous three years and hell-bent on ruining the Gators' record-setting season.

The game: Wuerffel ripped the Seminoles for a career-high 443 yards and four touchdowns, while his defensive counterparts held FSU to a season-low 322 yards in a rollicking showdown. The Gators took control early and never let go. Wuerffel threw a pair of scoring strikes to Hilliard, plus one each to Jacquez Green and Chris Doering. Hilliard's second was a 72-yard bomb late in the fourth quarter that opened up a 35-14 lead. Jackson rushed for 99 yards and a score. The UF defense gave up 121 yards rushing to Warrick Dunn, but made life miserable on quarterback Danny Kanell, who finished just 17 of 44 for 184 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions. The win meant Florida would go to the SEC Championship Game against Arkansas with a perfect 11-0 mark and a chance for a third straight league title, plus a berth in the Fiesta Bowl national championship game.

Spurrier quote: "This one is for all Gators, past and present, here and gone. It makes our game with Arkansas extremely important. We'll get over this one, I can assure of that."

Gator quote: "I'm probably a little biased, but this is the biggest win ever for the Gators. Now, we have all those other possibilities." — Doering

Opponent quote: "Nothing lasts forever. You can beat people only so many times." — Bowden

NOV. 16, 1996 — FLORIDA 52, SOUTH CAROLINA 25

The setup: The game marked the final home appearance for UF's winningest senior class, a crew that included that Wuerffel fellow. The Gators came in ranked No. 1, with a 9-0 record and the SEC East Division wrapped, but also coming off a near-disastrous 28-21 survival at lowly Vanderbilt the week before. Florida was looking to regain its edge, while Spurrier had a chance at a personal achievement very close to his heart.

The game: Wuerffel completed just 11 of his 34 passes and was intercepted twice, while the Gators were hit with 14 penalties for 144 yards in a mess of a victory that had both the head coach and players thoroughly frustrated. Still, UF improved to 10-0 for the second straight year, thanks to Fred Taylor's 21 carries, 149 yards and three touchdowns. Florida led just 35-22 heading into the fourth period, but a Bart Edmiston field goal and TD runs of 27 and 25 yards by Taylor put the game away. Florida finished with 494 yards, but about the only positive Spurrier took from that sloppy Saturday was that his 71st win as UF coach moved him past Ray Graves (70-31-4 from 1960-69), the UF coach from his playing days, as the winningest head coach in school history. In the locker room afterward, Spurrier presented Graves with the game ball and posed for pictures with his mentor. It was for that moment this game appears on this list.

Spurrier quote: "We had a lot of bad plays … and a lot of not-so-Danny plays. The really close games are going to start in the next few weeks. At least, I hope they're close. Hopefully, we won't get blown out."

Gator quote: "I don't care if we scored 250 points, we need to improve. And if we don't improve, we're gonna be in trouble." — senior offensive guard Donnie Young

Opponent quote: "There was a time there where I thought we were in striking distance, but Florida just has too many weapons. They wore us down in the fourth quarter." — USC coach Brad Scott

NOV. 22, 1997 — FLORIDA 32, FLORIDA STATE 29

The setup: A case can be made other games were more thrilling, more pulsating, more electrifying, but they'll likely lose in a head-to-head matchup with this epic clash at the "Swamp" that came not quite 11 months after UF demolished FSU 52-20 in the Sugar Bowl national title game the season before. The Gators, though, would not defend that national crown, thanks to loses at LSU and against Georgia earlier in the season. The Seminoles were No. 1 and bee-lining for a national-title showdown with Nebraska. All they needed was a victory against a UF team that had lost its passing game mojo and could not decide on whether struggling sophomore Doug Johnson or walk-on Noah Brindise should play quarterback. FSU, meanwhile, would throw the nation's No. 1 defense and ferocious pass rush at the Gators. How could Florida possibly move the ball?

The game: Since Spurrier couldn't decide between Johnson and Brindise, he went with Option 3; one exactly no one saw coming. He played them both. Not just per series, but by shuffling them in play-by-play. Spurrier would explain later that his staff was suspicious FSU's coaches had deciphered the UF play-calling signals. So he eliminated them. Next thing the newest record Florida Field crowd knew, a shootout broke out. Up and down the field both teams went. The two-headed Johnson-Brindise monster passed for 318 yards and a score. FSU's Thad Busby heaved for 219 and a touchdown, plus two interceptions. Seminoles tailback Travis Minor rushed for 149 yards and a score, only to be outdone by Taylor's 22 carries, 162 yards and four touchdowns. After a gut-check goal-line stand by the Florida defense, Sebastian Janikowski kicked a 20-yard field goal with 2:38 to go to push the Seminoles ahead 29-25, with Janikowski mocking the crowd with the Gator chomp. That moment gave way, however, to one of the greatest plays in Florida lore. On first down from the 20, Johnson dropped, pump-faked and hit Green, the All-American, on a deep pass over All-America cornerback Samari Rolle. Green caught the perfectly thrown ball on his fingertips and raced 63 yards to the Florida State 17. Two plays later, Taylor plowed over from the 1 to retake the lead with 1:50 left. Linebacker Dwayne Thomas intercepted Busby three plays into the next series to seal the deal. The Gators finished the season 9-2 and would play in the Citrus Bowl.

Spurrier quote: "We're 9-2 and that's a good year, not a great year. Without a championship, we can't have a great year — but this helps."

Gator quote: "It sounds crazy, but I guess it's not. Look at the scoreboard." — Brindise on the alternating QBs strategy.

Opponent quote: "I'd rather lose 52-20 than the way we did tonight. One play separated us." — Bowden.

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