Florida Football: Top 5 Wins Against Tennessee in the last 15 years

Over the last decade, Florida football has played some of their best games against the Tennessee Volunteers in The Swamp and Neyland Stadium.

We thought it would be a great idea to make the Vol fans relive some terrible memories from the last 15 years.

Series Statistics: Florida 26 wins – Tennessee 20 wins; Current Streak – Tennessee 1 

5. September 20th, 2008, Florida (4) 30 – Tennessee 6

It wasn’t a close game by any means, but this victory was extremely gratifying for all Gator fans.

After kick and punt return specialist Brandon James returned the opening kickoff to Tennessee’s 44-yard line, Tim Tebow led the Gators to the end zone with a jump pass to tight end Aaron Hernandez for the opening score.

Jonathan Phillips tacked on 3 more points to extend the Gators lead to 10 within the first 7 minutes of the game.

A couple minutes later, James gave the Volunteer fans a reminder of his speed and ability to find the end zone, like he did the 2007 match up.

James sliced and diced through the Tennessee special teams unit, making 6 defenders miss in open space, before running straight up the middle for a 78-yard touchdown on the first punt of the game, giving the Gators a commanding 17-0 lead in the first quarter.

Phillips knocked another field goal through the upright to give the Gators a 20-0 lead, and Tebow poured it on the Volunteer defense, finding WR Percy Harvin for a 15-yard touchdown to give the Gators a 27-0 lead.

Tennessee’s Jonathan Crompton was able to punch the ball over the goal line for Tennessee’s first score of the game in the first minute of the fourth quarter, but Phillips connected on his third field goal of the day, adding insult to injury and giving the Gators a 30-6 victory over the Volunteers, as they marched their way on to their second SEC Championship and National Championship in the Urban Meyer era.

4. September 15th, 2007, Florida (3) 59 – Tennessee (24) 20

If you liked watching offense, this game was probably among the top of your list in this rivalry.

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This beating on Tennessee was historic, as it helped showcase Tim Tebow to the college football world in his first SEC start at quarterback, throwing 14 completions on 19 passes (74%), 2 touchdowns and 1 interception, adding 18 carries for 61 yards and 2 touchdowns on the ground.

Brandon James started off the game, returning an 83-yard punt to the house to give the Gators some early momentum.

Before you knew it, Florida was up 28-13 going into halftime.

Tennessee’s Eric Berry picked off Tim Tebow halfway through the third quarter and returned the INT for a 96-yard pick 6 to close the gap on the Gators, but then the Florida offense exploded. Cam Newton made one of his only appearances in a Gators uniform before his off-field issues and contributed with a 4-yard touchdown run.

Florida scored 31 unanswered points in the second half, giving the Gators one of the most lop-sided victories in the series.

3. September 15th, 2012, Florida (18) 37 – Tennessee (23) 20

After already winning 7 in a row over the Tennessee, the Volunteers all of a sudden were “back” and had an enormous amount of hype around the program for the first time since Phillip Fulmer was at the helm.

With the Gators coming into Neyland for a night game, this was the first time both teams were ranked in the rivalry since 2007. Tennessee and Florida were back and forth in the first half, with the Vols ahead 14-10 at halftime, but Will Muschamp and the Gators offense found life.

With Trey Burton in the Wildcat formation, running around the right tackle and down the sideline 80 yards for a touchdown to provide the spark the Gators needed to tie the game at 20.

QB Jeff Driskel later found TE Jordan Reed for a 23-yard touchdown and the lead, in which was Driskel’s best throw at Florida.

Driskel found WR Frankie Hammond on an 8-yard completion that turned into a 75-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter to ice what would be a 37-20 win to give the Gators 8 wins in a row.

2. September 16th, 2006, Florida (7) 21 – Tennessee (13) 20

This matchup was one of the best games in Florida/Tennessee history.

The Gators started off the game with QB Chris Leak throwing a touchdown to WR Jemalle Cornelius for the first score of the game. Tennessee countered back with a field goal from James Wilhoit and a 48-yard bomb from QB Lucas Taylor to WR LaMarcus Coker to extend the Volunteers lead to 10-7.

Tennessee RB Montario Hardesty plowed through the goal line to give Tennessee a 17-7 lead, forcing the Gators to respond quickly.

Leak drove the Gators down the field 78 yards, setting up a 4-yard touchdown to WR Dallas Baker to narrow the gap to 3, but Wilhoit connected on a 51-yard field goal to give the Vols a 20-14 lead.

Leak found Baker again for a 21-yard touchdown to give the Gators a 21-20 lead with just over 6 minutes to go in the ballgame and holding on to secure the 21-20 victory over Tennessee in Neyland Stadium.

1. September 26th, 2015, Florida (28) – Tennessee (27)

This was the by far the best game ever played in this rivalry.

Tennessee actually dominated Florida most of the game and had a 2-touchdown lead with just over 10 minutes to go in the fourth quarter.

Florida looked like they were done for until QB Will Grier found WR Brandon Powell at the front left pylon of the end zone to bring the Gators within a touchdown with a little over 4 minutes left in the game.

Tennessee Head Coach Butch Jones went extremely conservative with the playcalling and ran the ball with QB Josh Dobbs and RB Jalen Hurts, but the Florida defense was able to dig deep and stop the Vols on two crucial third downs late in the game.

On 4th and 14 with 1:39 left on the clock, Will Grier connected with WR Antonio Callaway, who shook two defenders and took off down the sideline to score the go-ahead touchdown with 1:26 left on the clock, giving the Gators a 28-27 lead after a Jorge Powell extra point.

With 3 seconds left, Tennessee K Aaron Medley lined up and missed the game winning field goal from 55 yards out by about 6 inches of the right field goal post to give the Gators 11 straight victories over the Tennessee Volunteers.