Remember When

Present day memories of the Florida-Georgia rivalry are so ingrained in the nation's psyche that one has to step back to remember a time when the game was more of a regional affair. Although Georgia has been on the national football scene for a century, Florida is more of an upstart and has not consistently earned attention beyond the SEC until the 1960s during the coaching era of Ray Graves. Under Graves Florida won nine games in a season for the first time ever in 1960 and earned their first-ever Sugar Bowl bid after the 1965 season. The Gators of 1966 were ready to challenge for what would have been the school's first SEC title.

Georgia, meanwhile, had slipped a bit during the 1950s and '60s, but was ready to return to prominence under new coach Vince Dooley. Beginning his Hall of Fame coaching tenure with the Bulldogs in 1964 with a 7-3-1 record, Dooley also had his charges prepared for a successful 1966 season. The 1966 version of the Florida-Georgia rivalry would have great implications for both the conference race and national rankings. As recapped in The USA Today College Football Encyclopedia, this game would feature two squads ready for the big time:

Georgia 27 Florida 10 (Jacksonville): Favored Florida (7-1) had never won SEC title since league's inception in 1933, and Georgia (7-1) was its last hurdle to conf glory. Gators ate more than 5 mins of clock on opening drive that ended by FB Graham McKeel's TD push. Florida led 10-3 at H. Reforcusing on their run attack, Bulldogs tied it late in 3rd Q as FB Ronnie Jenkins scored from 4YL after QB Kirby Moore converted 4th down run at Gators 28YL. Under intense pressure from stalwart DT George Patton, Gators QB Steve Spurrier (16-29/133y, 3 INTs) threw INT that Bulldogs DB Lynn Hughes ran back 39y for go-ahead score at 17-10. Georgia D soon forced punt and later made 4th down stop. Each time UGa halted Blue and Orange, it led to important score: K Bob Etter's FG and Moore's TD run. Florida's O completely faded as it was limited to single 1st down in 2nd H.

Georgia finished tied atop SEC with Alabama at 6-0, with Florida one game back at 5-1. The Bulldogs finished as the no.4 ranked team in the final AP Poll. Despite the rough performance against Georgia, Spurrier won the Heisman Trophy that season by a more than 2-1 margin over runner-up Bob Griese of Purdue.