I was at the Gator Vol games many years ago. The Vols ran over us in the first half. At half time SOS said “we got em right where we want em” (or words to that effect). The Gators roared out at the beginning of the second half and annihilated the Vols! It was a great one!!
I've only missed 4 our our games here in Knoxville since I moved here in 1994. Most of them had happy endings, and the ones that didn't I seem to remember most. The games we won enroute to NCs in '96 and 2008 were a lot of fun. Zook/Grossman's first game up here was probably the most memorable with many vignettes and stories I share with my eldest son.
What a deluge that day. UT fans were completely over confident and the UT players couldn't hold onto the football.
Most of my games have a story. This game has many: Story 1 Pregame was just overcast with a threat of rain. We got to Neyland early and were hanging in the NE section where the Gator fans are seated. James Bates was doing his pre-game walking around and sees my 13-year old son with his Gator jersey on and asks if he wants to be interviewed for WRUF. My son agrees and James starts chatting with him and Batesy asks my son's name and he tells him then they start chatting about who's going to win, tec. Unbeknownst to me my mom, living in St Augustine and listening to WRUF hears the interview and frantically calls my wife to "turn on the radio! Ross is on the radio!" - mom forgetting that we don't get WRUF in Knoxville! Story 2: We move to our seats down along the goal line in the opposite corner from friendly Gators. It's raining by now. The Neyland PA announcers are introducing the Gator starters and the crowd yelled "SUCKS!" after every name. Cute. They start to introduce the Vols, and my son, with his pre-adolescent pitched voice yells "SUCKS!" after every one. I'm so proud. Then they called one name and after my son piped "SUCKS!" a tall black gentleman stands up and turns to say "That's my son." My son apologized and gave me a "who knew?" shrug. That tells you how hostile the UT fans were back in those days - that a dad would be an asshole to a 13-year old kid. And once the game started, it only got uglier, esp in that end of the stadium. I have three more but they are too long for an already too-long post but it only got better!
It'll be well into fall before my attic cools enough to rummage through my college keepsakes. Last I knew this newspaper photo was in a tribute (WLOCP) display case in the Jax airport. I think the SW terminal.
My Knoxville story. I got married in summer of 1996. My fiancé had suggested we marry on Saturday September 21, as in a nice fall wedding. I tell her we cant marry during college football season. So we move the date up to the summer. Time for UF to go up to Knoxville, Danny vs Peyton. She wants to go. It is her first ever Gator game. Not being from FL, she doesn't really understand the religion of SEC football. We fly up with a bunch of crazy Gators, go into stadium, we take a big lead early. The Gators are rocking, but it begins to drizzle so she says she'll go down below and get us some cover (like big garbage bags?) and food. I wait. 3rd quarter starts. No wife. Middle of 3rd, no wife. Hmmm. She had wandered outside of the stadium and they wouldn't let her back in. She did not have a flip phone on her to call me. She thinks, ok, who would let me in? A cop. So she tells a cop outside of the changed wedding day, and her first SEC game. He laughs and escorts her in and makes sure she finds me by end of 3rd qtr. But she didn't bring any food. That is also the game in which Spurrier gave his famed Pre-Game speech: Guys, when the game is over, remember to act cool, like you knew you were going to win. It was also the Gator's first drive, we went for it on 4th down, but instead of a run, Danny threw deep to Reidel for a TD. Also, a key first down late in game with Terry Jackson getting it with the Emory and Henry formation that befuddled UT (bumfuzzeled if Bowden was talking).
It did rain, like the UT game in Gville when they had Heath Bar Shuler, but being a long time suffering Gator, I have found (in my memory) that it really didn't rain that hard (due to my huge Joy) when looking back on great victories. Now the 1968 Uga game is a different story, with Noah passing by in an ark.
