History despite a hurricane: The day Florida stood tall in Death Valley

The history between the Florida Gators and the LSU Tigers is hostile. Whenever the Gators and Tigers meet, it’s about who’s going to roar louder and bite harder.

And one game was the true test of the grit and tenaciousness of both teams. No one will ever forget the night Florida held LSU out of the endzone with a goal-line stand.

Florida Gators had a goal line stand to beat LSU

Florida and LSU were originally scheduled to play each other on October 8, 2016, at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, FL. But with a very dangerous category four Hurricane Matthew bearing down on the state of Florida and expected to potentially make landfall that weekend, state and local officials, along with administration from the University of Florida and the NCAA felt it was best to postpone the highly anticipated matchup for the safety of the teams and everyone who would potentially be traveling to Florida for the game.

That’s where the tension started as LSU was not happy about the decision, calling it a “joke” that the game was not going to be played in neutral territory on the same day outside of the state of Florida. But Florida wanted to give its players and their families time to prepare.

After back-and-forth deliberation, Florida agreed to concede to LSU and play the game on November 19, 2016 at Death Valley, making it a “home away” game for LSU, already putting them at a slight advantage.

Tensions rose even before the start of the matchup that now had SEC title implications on the line. The two teams scuffled at the 50-yard line about an hour before the game, law enforcement and security having to step in to diffuse the situation. And the game had yet to even start.

After being down 7-3 going into the half, Florida scored a touchdown in the third quarter to go up 10-7.

They followed that by two field goals in the fourth to LSU’s one to make it a 16-10 game late in the half with Florida on the verge of history and an SEC East title.

LSU continued to fight back in the game of tensions. They had the momentum, driving all the way down the field to the one-yard line.

It was then one of the most iconic moments in Florida Football history took shape.

Florida stopped LSU not once, but twice on the one-yard line as Florida had pulled off the most emotional victories of that season, an upset of No. 16 LSU on their own home field after LSU had tried to humiliate Florida for doing what they felt was based in light of a massive, very dangerous category four hurricane.

After injuries, setbacks, negative media attention while preparing for a hurricane, being called cowards who were avoiding the game, Florida’s heart prevailed.

“I can't tell you how proud I am of our players and our staff, and I'm happy for our Gator fans who don't think we're very good, but all we do is end up back in Atlanta,” said McElwain in a post-game interview with ESPN.

When the controversy that led up to the November 16th matchup was revisited after the Gator win, McElwain was eager to respond. "The way I look at it, they got what they deserved -- and it should have been worse," McElwain said.

With the win, Florida got to celebrate an SEC East title at Death Valley. Instead of facing defeat, they faced victory. They overcame. They did not back down. They claimed victory over a very talented LSU team, showing the true heart of Gator Nation.

That game will forever be marked in history as one of the greatest victories in Florida football history.