Florida Football: Top 5 greatest all-time rivalry games vs. Florida State

4. Florida 31, Florida State 31 (1994)

While both the Gators and Seminoles were definite long-shots for the national title by the time of their late-November meeting, the game still had major bowl implications riding on it.

Each team had only once found itself in the loss column that year. The Gators came up on the short end of a nail-biting affair with Auburn, ,while Florida State was upset by a Miami team that would play Nebraska for No. 1.

The game would prove to be a battle of the “Dannys” at quarterback. Florida’s Danny Wuerffel and Florida State’s Danny Kannell had guided their offenses to successful seasons and both teams won their respective conference titles. The teams were seen as being on roughly equal footing going into the game. It was a sentiment that would prove to be literal by the end of the contest.

Florida State took the ball first and made good use of comfy field position to cap a 47-yard drive with a 35-yard field goal from Dan Mowery. From that point, however, it was all Gators.

Wuerffel found Aubrey Hill for a 58-yard touchdown strike. Florida State fumbled on a subsequent drive, but Florida was unable to turn the turnover into anything. The Gators forced FSU to punt, and Wuerffel and Co. got the football at their own 39. The Gators marched 61 yards upfield and Danny found Jack Jackson to give Florida a 14-3 lead. Florida added another field goal from Judd Davis and extended the score to 17-3.

Kannell threw an interception and this time the Gators were able to capitalize with another Wuerffel to Jackson connection for a 24-3 halftime lead. The mood at Doak Campbell Stadium was dark.

Florida State took the ball first in the second half, and what looked like a promising drive produced nothing when Mowery missed a field goal. Florida put together another 80-yard touchdown drive, this time with Wuerffel doing the honors himself, and with a 31-3 advantage, Gator fans who had cell phones were likely calling to order tickets to Miami for the Orange Bowl.

Florida and Florida State were able to do nothing else in the third quarter. Seminole faithful somberly headed toward the final period down by 28 points.

Then, you could almost hear Yogi Berra say “it ain’t over ’til it’s over”.  Florida State began an 84-yard drive that bled into the fourth quarter and Henri Crockett found pay-dirt from five yards out — all of a sudden it was 31-10 Florida.

Florida went three-and-out and on FSU’s next at-bat, Kannell found Kez McCorvey for a huge gain to the Gator 25. Then two plays later, he connected with Andre Cooper to make it a two-touchdown game. Florida yet again had to surrender the football and Kannell marched his troops on another scoring drive, adding his own rushing touchdown to make the score 31-24.

When Wuerffel hit Reidel Anthony for a 48-yard gain, it appeared to be the start of a game-icing possession for the Gators. His next pass was intercepted by James Colzie, and the ‘Noles had a shot at a tying score.

Kannell once again delivered.

Starting on their own  40, the Seminoles got a boon when Warrick Dunn turned a Kannell pass into a 37-yard gain. Some safe passes from Kannell to the likes of Crockett, McCorvey, Aaron Dely and ‘Omar Ellison put FSU on the Florida 5-yard line. Rock Ellison scored and the game was tied at 31.

There would not be overtime in college football for another two years. Steve Spurrier surmised that a tie looked better than a loss, so when Wuerffel could not muster a third-down conversion, the OBC sent Shayne Edge out to punt it away. FSU did not have time to drive down field, and thus the game ended in a 31-31 draw.

Gator fans lament the game as “the choke at Doak”. They still sear about blowing a 28-point lead and possible outside national championship shot to their arch rival. The Gators would best Alabama to win their second straight SEC championship, and accepted a bid to the Sugar Bowl.

So did Florida State.

Florida State was able to ice the cake, winning 23-17 in a game that was not as close as the score would indicate. November 26, 1994, is a day that lives in infamy in the minds of both Gator and Seminole fans.