Recalling 5 huge Cocktail Party wins for the Gators

The Florida Gators have 44 all-time wins in 101 tries vs. the Georgia Bulldogs entering this year’s edition of the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party. Today, we’re looking back at five of the most memorable.

-1984 – Florida 27-0: Among all-time memorable Florida wins, this one certainly has to be near the top. The 10th-ranked Gators entered the game 6-1-1 and after beating Auburn the program’s first-ever SEC title was now very much within reach. But standing in the way was Florida’s old foe. Georgia was 7-1, ranked No. 8 and owned a six-game winning streak over the Gators.

Florida dominated from the start but down 17 Georgia attempted to rally and got inside the Gators 1. Florida stopped the Dawgs on 4th-and-goal and a few plays later quarterback Kerwin Bell hit Ricky “the Rocket” Nattiel down the left sideline for a 96-yard touchdown that had the old Gator Bowl shaking. Florida won 27-0 and Gators fans carried the goalposts out of the stadium.

Florida finished 9-1-1, won the SEC and claimed with the program’s first national title.

-1990 – Florida 38-7: When Steve Spurrier arrived at Florida as head coach after the 1989 season, the former Gators QB made a point to prioritize this rivalry. At the time, the Bulldogs had won 15 of the last 20 in the series and three straight. But in his first season at Florida as coach, Spurrier made it crystal clear that the dynamic of this rivalry was about to change.

The Gators arrived in Jacksonville with a No. 10 ranking and 7-1 record. Georgia, under second-year coach Ray Goff, was just 4-4. This one was never close. Gators quarterback Shane Matthews passed for 344 yards and linebacker Tim Paulk had a pick-6. Florida won easily and Spurrier would go 11-1 vs. the Dawgs.

On a rainy day, the Florida Gators shocked the Dawgs

-1993 – Florida 33-26: This Florida team won the school’s second SEC title but the Gators wouldn’t have even reached the SEC Championship Game without beating the Bulldogs in Jacksonville. And it almost didn’t happen. The Gators were No. 10 and 5-1 after a heartbreaking 38-35 loss at Auburn the previous game. Georgia was just 4-4 but had a three-game winning steak. On a rainy day, the field quickly turned to mud. Wuerffel struggled with the wet ball and Spurrier put things in the hands of quarterback Terry Dean and running back Errict Rhett. 

Rhett carried a school-record 41 times for 183 yards and two touchdowns. But the Bulldogs, down seven, threatened in the final minute. With five seconds left, Georgia quarterback Eric Zeier threw an apparent touchdown that would have tied it with a PAT. But the score was waved off because Florida cornerback Anthone Lott called timeout an instant before the ball was snapped. Zeier then threw incomplete and the Gators escaped with a 33-26 win.

-1995 – Florida 52-17: With the stadium in Jacksonville being rebuilt for the Jaguars, the series left the city on the river for two years. The 1995 game was played in Athens, Ga., making the first Florida-Georgia game there since 1932. The year before, the Gators won at The Swamp 52-14. This time, they entered the game unbeaten and ranked No. 3. 

And it was a complete blowout (again). Quarterback Danny Wuerffel passed for 242 yards and five touchdowns before exiting in the third quarter. But Florida wasn’t done. Backup quarterback Eric Kresser threw two more touchdowns in relief as the Gators became the first visiting team to score 50 points at Sanford Stadium.

The Gators went 12-1.

Revenge was a dish best served in Jacksonville

-2008 – Florida 49–10: When Georgia beat Florida the previous season in Jacksonville, the Bulldogs shocked the Gators with a mass celebration following the matchup’s first touchdown — a run by Georgia’s Knowshon Moreno. Known as the “Gator Stomp,” that act lingered with the Gators for the next 12 months. And in exacting revenge against 8th-ranked Georgia, the No. 5 Gators showed no mercy. 

Florida took control with a 21-point third quarter outburst and quarterback Tim Tebowaccounted for five scores. Meanwhile the Florida defense picked off Georgia quarterback Matthew Stafford three times. But of all the things fans remember from that day, a bone-crushing hit by Florida linebacker Brandon Spikes on Moreno early in the game probably is at the top of the list. Florida went on to win the program’s third national title.

The Gators finished 13-1 and won the national title for the second time under Urban Meyer.