Florida vs. Missouri: A weird and wacky history
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — There has been a decided lack of Star Wars references and barbs tossed between the head coaches this week. The Florida Gators enter this weekend’s contest on a six-game conference losing streak, including a 2021 loss that ended Darth Vader’s tenure at Florida, while paying him enough to buy a new Death Star.
The Gators and Tigers have played 11 times. The first meeting set the tone for what would turn into one of the stranger series in Florida’s football history. Florida first met Missouri with Steve Spurrier on the field. Not as a coach, but as a player. Spurrier’s team trailed 20-0 heading into the fourth quarter. The junior Spurrier led three touchdown drives but the Gators were unable to convert on any of their three two-point conversion attempts, falling to Missouri 21-20 in 1965.
Three two-point conversion attempts in a game are unusual, and not converting any of them even more. It forboded what would be a wild, weird, wacky, often lopsided series.
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The 11th meeting between the two teams as conference opponents will be the seventh different pairing of head coaches. Missouri has outscored Florida 232-225 but when they win they do it in spectacular fashion, averaging a winning margin of 19.2 points per game.
It’s homecoming week in Gainesville. The last time Florida hosted Missouri for homecoming was in 2014. The Gators’ defense held Missouri to 119 yards of offense. They could not, however, account for Marcus Murphy, who returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown and then a punt later in the game. The Tigers also returned a fumble for a touchdown in a game that resembled UF’s 2012 win over South Carolina.
Here’s a recap of the series since 2012.
Gators vs Tigers by the year
| Year | Location | Outcome | Coaches | Synopsis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Gainesville | UF 14-7 | Will Muschamp/GaryPinkel | Jeff Driskel led the Gators to its first win over Missouri. Josh Evans’ interception in the end zone sealed the game. |
| 2013 | Columbia | Mizz 36-17 | Muschamp/Pinkel | The Gators’ worst season since 1976. A lopsided loss on the road was the second in what turned out to be a 7-game losing streak to end the year. |
| 2014 | Gainesville | Mizz 42-13 | Muschamp/Pinkel | The Gators surrendered touchdowns on kickoff, punt, and fumble returns for TDs. Florida turned the ball over seven times. |
| 2015 | Columbia | UF 21-3 | Jim McElwain/Pinkel | The Gators rolled into Missouri after an epic win over Tennessee. Will Grier led Florida to a win, but it would be his last game in Orange and Blue. |
| 2016 | Gainesville | UF 40-14 | McElwain/Barry Odom | Cornerbacks Teez Tabor and Quincy Wilson scored as many touchdowns as Missouri. |
| 2017 | Columbia | Mizz 45-16 | Randy Shannon (interim)/Odom | Fake death threats and a mutual parting of ways between UF and Jim McElwain doomed this game before the Gators’ charter even left Gainesville. |
| 2018 | Gainesville | Mizz 38-17 | Dan Mullen/Odom | Drew Lock torched the Gators for the second year in a row, making up for those two touchdown passes he threw to UF cornerbacks in 2016. |
| 2019 | Columbia | UF 23-6 | Mullen/Odom | The Gators’ defense forced Missouri to punt 10 times. |
| 2020 | Gainesville | UF 41-17 | Mullen/Eli Drinkwich | The lopsided game is known more for Dan Mullen going ballistic before halftime and then wearing a Darth Vader costume in his post-game press conference. |
| 2021 | Columbia | Mizz 24-23 (OT) | Mullen/Drinkwich | Eli’s revenge. The Mizzou HC elected to go for two in overtime to secure a win, then produced a miniature lightsaber in his post-game press conference to troll Mullen, who was fired the next day. |
