Florida football: Top 5 games Gator fans would like to forget

Date: December 1, 2001
Venue: Ben Hill Griffin Stadium – Gainesville, Fl. 

It wasn’t known at the time, but Dec. 1, 2001 would be the last time Steve Spurrier would be on the field as the coach of the Florida Gators.

Florida was taking on Tennessee in a make-up game that was postponed from its Sept. 15 date due to the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11.

In addition to the usual emotion surrounding Florida/Tennessee, both teams were 6-1 in the conference and the winner would win the Eastern Conference and play in the SEC title game in Atlanta.

But, while ESPN College Game Day’s Kirk Herbstreit predicted a Florida blowout at The Swamp, it turned out to be anything but.

Tennessee running back Travis Stephens had 225 yards on 19 carries while the Gators had its best team — according to Spurrier — since the 1996 national championship team.

While the Gators actually held a 23-21 lead going into the fourth quarter, they were hampered by the absence of running back Earnest Graham, who was nursing a knee injury from the previous game with Florida State.

Florida football managed just 36 yards on the ground against the Volunteers.

Despite having 362 yards passing, it was Grossman’s attempt to find Jabar Gaffney late in the game that told the tale.

Flushed out of the pocket, Grossman looed for Gaffney, but Tennessee cornerback Buck Fitzgerald handled Gaffney as Grossman’s pass went out of bounds.

Tennessee ended up beating the Gators, 34-32 in a painful loss for any Gator fan who remembers it.

Then, a month later, Spurrier decided it was time to call it quits and he stepped down as Florida football coach.