Revisiting Tennessee's last victory against Florida in 'The Swamp'

In recent memory, trips to Gainesville have been less than fruitful for Tennessee football. The Vols have failed to beat Florida in every trip they have made to Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in the past two decades. Their last victory in Gainesville came in the 2003 season, a 24-10 result. It was something current Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel didn't shy away from to start his preparations for facing the Gators this week. "We talked about it today, briefly," Heupel said in his media availability on Monday. "Showed a video just of the rivalry. The great players, great moments. What it takes to go win in this game, ultimately. This is a great game. It's going to be a great stage. One play doesn't have anything to do with the next. Previous trip down to Gainesville doesn't have anything to do with it. Got to prepare the right way." The Tennessee-Florida rivalry was one of the most storied in the SEC in the 1990s into the 2000s. A lot of that had to do with the importance of that contest in the conference championship picture. From the establishment of divisions in the league in 1992 through the next 11 seasons, either Tennessee or Florida won the SEC East 10 of those years. Eight times the winner of the matchup between the Vols and Gators won the division. However, that wasn't the case in 2002. Florida came into Knoxville and took care of UT 30-13, avenging a massive Tennessee victory in "The Swamp" in 2001. It wasn't enough to win the division, though, as a 7-1 conference record by Georgia clinched the East. Both the Vols and Gators went 8-5 in that '02 season. While not terrible, neither side felt it was up to the standard set by both programs' success throughout the previous decade. That also put a major emphasis on the mid-September meeting in Gainesville in 2003. Tennessee got off to a 2-0 start to the '03 season with non-conference wins over Fresno State and Marshall leading into an open date the week before the SEC opener at Florida. The Gators, meanwhile, opened the year by going 2-1 with wins over San Jose State and Florida A&M and a road defeat to Miami. In the steamy noon timeslot, the No. 12 Vols faced off against No. 17 Florida at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in what became a defensive slugfest early on. The Gators got on the board first with a 47-yard field goal with 9:26 to go in the first quarter. For much of the first half, those three points looked closer to 30 points for both offenses. Tennessee and Florida traded punts after the field goal before senior quarterback Casey Clausen was intercepted deep in Florida territory early in the second quarter. The Gators couldn't do much against the Volunteers' defense, as they once again had to punt. The turnover trend continued for UT on its next drive, as Cedric Houston lost a fumble at midfield. Florida, though, gave the ball right back on an Ingle Martin interception by Mark Jones. Both sides continued to be stuck in quicksand until the closing moments of the half. Set up by a screen pass to Houston, Clausen connected with James Banks on a 48-yard Hail Mary to give Tennessee a 7-3 lead at the intermission. "The ball looked huge," Banks said postgame. "My eyes (were so big) I looked like I was in a horror movie." The play gave the Vols all the momentum they needed to earn their second victory in a row in Gainesville. James Wilhoit knocked in a 51-yard field goal to put UT a touchdown, then Jabari Davis later cased in an 80-yard drive with a one-yard rushing score to make it 17-3. Florida got back within one possession in the fourth quarter, but Davis put the game back out of reach with his second rushing touchdown of the half with 8:38 left in the contest. Davis totaled 78 yards on 20 carries to lead the UT rushing attack, while Clausen completed 12-of-23 passes for 235 yards. The Vols' defense was very opportunistic, creating three turnovers traditionally as well as forcing a pair of turnovers on downs. If the Vols want to make 2025 look like 2003 on Saturday, the formula will likely have to be similar – create takeaways and be able to lean on the ground game.