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

1. Florida 32, Florida State 29 (1997)

Florida entered 1997 defending a national championship, but its roster now lacked the likes of quarterback Danny Wuerffel and receivers Ike HIlliard and Reidel Anthony. With those players now playing for pay, new heroes had to emerge.

Noah Brindise often shared snaps with fellow signal-caller Doug Johnson, the combination worked with the exception of losses to LSU and Georgia.

Florida State, meanwhile, was yet again in the championship hunt, and looking to avenge their hated nemesis for the merciless beating the Gators inflicted on them in the Sugar Bowl to win their No. 1 spot. Quarterback Thad Busby and his army of blue-chip skill players were ready to come into enemy territory and take one away from Florida.

It would prove to be one of the most nail-biting contests in the history of the series, whose participants ruled college football in the decade of the 1990s. The game in retrospect, has been called possibly “the best ever” in the series by ocala.com.

The home team drew first blood when Florida’s Fred Taylor scored from three yards out early in the first. Florida State didn’t turn their first offensive possession into points but got on the board when Sam Cowart picked up a Gator fumble and took 15 yards to the end zone, giving a 7-6 lead to the Seminoles as Florida had earlier missed the extra point after Taylor’s touchdown.

Florida turned it over deep in their own territory once more, enabling Sebastian Janakowski to add another field goal to make it 10-6. In the second quarter, Busby found Melvin Pearsall for a five-yard score to make it an 11-point affair in the Seminoles’ favor.

Florida was finally able to put together a series and score again, with Travis McGriff catching a six-yard strike from Johnson to cut the lead to five as a two-point conversion failed. Florida got ahead with 4:13 left in the half when Taylor found pay-dirt from six yards out, but yet another failed two pointer left the score at 18-17.

A Janakowski boot early in the third gave a 20-19 lead to FSU. The Gators were in a dogfight.

Taylor’s illustrious 61-yard touchdown sprint put the Gators ahead 25-20. Then Florida State went on the move as Busby executed a 74-yard drive that ended with Travis Minor taking it to the house from 18 yards out, making it a 26-25 ballgame in FSU’s favor.

Both defenses had hands on hips, gasping for air as quarter number four loomed. Florida State and Florida traded punts before the Gators missed a field goal.

Florida had been alternating the quarterback spot between Johnson and Noah Brindise and each had shown strengths and weaknesses throughout the game. There was no better illustration of this then a three-and-out midway through the fourth in which both quarterbacks failed to gain traction.

Florida State took possession at 4:58 with the intention of icing the game.

They had the football on the Gator two-yard line and hoped for a touchdown to put it out of reach, but instead were stuffed and had to settle for a Janakowski field goal, making it only a four-point game. Janakowski’s kickoff went for a touchback, and the Gators had 2:38 to produce the game-winning score.

They only needed 52.

JacQuez Green took a Johnson pass 63 yards, with Tay Cody saving — or at least delaying — the touchdown. Taylor took the football to the Florida State 1 and scored his third touchdown of the game on the next play.

Florida State still had over 1:30 to answer for a game-winning score, but Busby was faced with a critical third down, and threw a fatal interception.

Brindise and Johnson each got to take knees to run the clock out on the Gator victory. There was no revenge for Florida State that day. Many argue that this was the greatest game ever played at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, and the fall-from-ahead loss still causes FSU backers to stew to this day.

Florida State beat their frustrations out on Ohio State in the Sugar Bowl, while the Gators — who were absent from the SEC title game for the first time since its inception — settled for the the Citrus Bowl, defeating Penn State.

This was a watershed game in the history for the series.

In conclusion…

The Florida-Florida State series is one of college football’s finest in-state rivalries. Even though the two teams are no longer the year-in, year-out national title contenders they once were, it is still a thrill to watch no matter who you pull for. We’ll look at the best games from other non-conference rivalries in the coming weeks, so stay tuned.