The Gators’ annual battle with the Bulldogs is one of the best rivalries in all of sports. Pat Dooley shares his 10 favorite games [hint: we won them all].

by Pat Dooley (BSJ ’76)

In this ever-changing world of college football, there’s no telling what’s around the corner. We only know this: Florida will play Georgia every season.

At least we hope so.

With the new SEC schedule, those two are permanent opponents … But, as we know, everything can change. Then change again.

We also know that in a couple years the stadium in Jacksonville will undergo a two-year renovation and the annual Florida-Georgia game will be played elsewhere. It’s still going to matter. The World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party is unique. I’ve been to Texas-Oklahoma, and that rivalry game isn’t even close.

Florida-Georgia has its own Hall of Fame, its own line of books written about it, a legacy unlike all others. You can start watching YouTube clips of old games at dawn and next thing you know the sun is setting.

Of course, you’re only going to watch games the Gators won. There was a time I wondered if we were ever going to win again. (Thank goodness Steve Spurrier carried a grudge against the Bulldogs when he coached here.)

On that note, these are my 10 favorite Florida-Georgia games. (I could have done my 10 favorite stories from the rivalry, but many of them aren’t for public consumption.)

1. 2008: A Dish Best Served Cold
Urban Meyer and I were at dinner with Tim Tebow at SEC Media Days in 2009 (name dropper), and Meyer told us about an idea he’d had the prior season. After Georgia stormed the field in 2007 — and with the Gators rolling in 2008 — Meyer wanted to tell Tebow to throw the ball as hard as he could into the Bulldogs section of the stands to scatter their remaining fans.

Instead, he called two timeouts in the waning seconds of a 49-10 blowout to make the then-No. 8 team in the country sulk on the field in shame. Some of the national media didn’t like it. I loved it. Payback.

2. 1993: The Mud Bowl
It was raining so hard the kickers put baggies over their socks to keep water out. Judd Davis still nailed all four of his field goal tries, relying on his golf knowledge to dig the ball out of the turf. Holder Shayne Edge got sprayed with mud each kick, but he told Davis, “Just keep making ’em and it’s fine.”

The game had so much more, too. Danny Wuerffel benched after struggling with the wet ball. Errict Rhett going Beast Mode. Georgia QB Eric Zeier throwing a would-be tying touchdown with one second to go … but UF cornerback Anthone Lott calling timeout right before the snap. A Bulldogs catch in the corner of the endzone the very next play … but out of bounds. A subsequent Gator celebration … but a flag on the Gators for interference. One more attempt for Zeier from the 2-yard-line, with no time on the clock … but incomplete.

That’s the ballgame. Gators, 33-26.

I’m tired just typing all the stuff that happened.

3. 1984: Was Orwell a Gator?
Even George couldn’t have foreseen what would happen. Let me preface this by saying Gator fans had almost reached the point where we expected to come up short after six losses in a row to the Doggies.

The interim coach that game, Galen Hall, loosened things up and the Gators had a late goal line stand. Two plays later, Kerwin Bell hit Rick “The Rocket” Nattiel on a 96-yard touchdown to clinch a 24-0 win.

Our fans stormed the field. And I don’t mean just students.

4. 1995: Tobacco Juice and a Media Guide
As legend has it, on the way to the game Spurrier noticed in Georgia’s media guide that no team had ever scored 50 points in UGA’s Sanford Stadium. (This was during another renovation project at the Jacksonville stadium, and Florida-Georgia had moved to a home-and-home series.)

Late in the fourth quarter — with 90% of the Bulldogs fans cleared out — Spurrier was still throwing the ball to score 52 points. An irate Georgia fan threw a full cup of tobacco juice at the Head Ball Coach as the Gators walked to the locker room, but bodyguard Dock Luckie stopped it like a Secret Service agent protecting a president.

Oh, and that night the Braves won the World Series, too.

The annual battle between SEC titans Florida and Georgia is depicted in this 1985 poster.

5. 1990: A Star is Born
You know why this is a big one for me? I started really paying attention to Gator football the year Spurrier was a UF senior in 1966 and we were 6-17-1 in the years after, going into the 1990 season. I was sick of losing to the Bulldogs.

The HBC showed me with his first Florida-Georgia game as a coach that everything was going to be OK. We stormed to a 38-7 victory. The schematic advantage was on our side now. Spurrier went on to an 11-1 record against the Bulldogs, and then tormented them again coaching South Carolina.

6. 1973: Ooooo, that Smell
This game was hardly a classic. Neither was the old Gator Bowl stadium. I’ll never forget sitting in the south endzone that day with assorted smells wafting around me. Cheap cigars. The papermill. The Maxwell House plant next door. Overflowing toilets.

And it was cold in howling wind.

But against that wind, the Gators drove for a score when Lee McGriff jumped higher than I thought possible to catch the ball before it sailed out of that stinky stadium. Florida went for two — Don Gaffney to tight end Hank Foldberg — and we had an 11-10 victory. I can still smell it on my clothes.

7. 2010: One Last Shot
We didn’t know this would be Meyer’s last Florida-Georgia game. And it was a doozy.

In overtime, UF free safety Will Hill returned an interception 89 yards to almost end it. Four plays later, punter Chas Henry — who was called into emergency duty because starting kicker Caleb Sturgis was injured — made a 37-yard, game-winning field goal, 34-31.

Before the kick, the Bulldogs called timeout and UGA’s defensive coordinator, grabbing his own throat, screamed to Henry, “You’re gonna [bleepin’] choke!”

Henry’s clutch kick gave us a shot at another SEC title.

8. 2020: Mullen Not Sullen
At the time, this felt so big. We handled No. 5 Georgia, 44-28, and our offense seemed unstoppable. It looked like we were headed in the general direction of the College Football Playoffs.

What we didn’t know was this Florida-Georgia game was the beginning of the end for Mullen. Even so, there were a lot of happy Gators that day when we beat the Dogs.

9. 1994: Another Sloppy One
Driving to the game that day in a torrential downpour, I’ll never forget the guy running down the middle of University Avenue yelling at the top of his lungs, “KEEP RAY GOFF! KEEP RAY GOFF!”

We liked Georgia’s coach.

Florida dominated, 52-14, as James Bates ran back an interception for a score and Darren Hambrick had the greatest fumble return for a touchdown in school history. At least that’s my opinion.

10. 2002: New Coach, Same Result
Ron Zook had said 436 times at his opening press conference, “I’m not Steve Spurrier.” He wasn’t. Seven games into Zook’s first season, we had three losses. It was a clear indication that the HBC was gone.

When the Florida-Georgia game came around, we fans didn’t expect much — the Bulldogs were ranked No. 5 in the country, and Zook ran to the wrong bench when the teams took the field.

Then, he coached the Gators to a 20-13 victory.

Zook beat them again the next year. So, maybe there was a little Spurrier in the Zooker after all.

Sportswriter Pat Dooley (BSJ ’76) covered the Gators for The Gainesville Sun for 33 years until his retirement in 2020. He still shares his love for Gator sports through his podcast, “Another Dooley Noted,” and WRUF radio program, “Dooley’s Back 9.” His Gator Nation News column does not necessarily reflect the views of the University of Florida.