Florida–LSU football rivalry

The Florida–LSU football rivalry is an American college football rivalry game played by the Florida Gators football team of the University of Florida and the LSU Tigers football team of Louisiana State University. Although both universities were founding members of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) in December 1932, the Gators and Tigers did not meet on the gridiron for the first time until 1937, and have been annual opponents only since 1971. When the SEC instituted divisional play in 1992, Florida was placed in the SEC Eastern Division and LSU in the Western Division, and Florida and LSU were selected as permanent cross-division rivals. The Gators and Tigers have combined to win five national championships and eleven SEC titles over the past two decades.

Notable games
1960: Wristband Robbery

Throughout the first half of the 1960 game, in which the Tigers were favored in Baton Rouge, LSU quarterback Jimmy Field effectively moved the ball time and again using plays from his wristband. But in the second quarter, with LSU up 10-0, the Gators sent a nine man blitz against Field. He never saw it coming, and a sea of Gators piled on top of him. When he came out of the mass of bodies, his wristband was gone. The Gators then held Field to just 12 yards passing in the second half, with a lone first down. The Gators came back to win 13-10, and after the game a Gator coach gave the wristband to an official, saying one of his players had found it on the field.

1964: Hurricane Delay

During the build up to the 1964 game in Baton Rouge, all signs pointed to an exciting game to be played, with LSU playing especially hot at the time. UF, though unranked, was beginning to make some waves of its own with an exciting up-and-coming young player (and future Heisman Trophy winner) named Steve Spurrier. Then, after being delayed several weeks to the season finale due to Hurricane Hilda, the game ended up being anti-climactic with UF rolling to a surprisingly easy 20-6 win over the #7-ranked Tigers. Particularly noteworthy is the fact that it was Spurrier's first win over LSU - the first of a long win streak that he would have over the Tigers as both a player and head coach.

1972: Flooded Swamp

A massive rainstorm inundated Florida Field during the game, allowing a 4-4 Florida team to hang close enough with #8 LSU to tie the game, 3-3, with 2:08 remaining. LSU missed an incredible 7 field goals during the deluge. The front page of the Youngstown Vindicator reported the next day that during the pre-game invocation, Catholic priest Michael Gannon prayed, "And if it be Thy will, we'd like You to stop the rain." It immediately started raining harder and continued heavily throughout the game.

1989: College Football's First Overtime Game

In what was jokingly referred to as an "overtime" game in Steve Harvey's nationally-syndicated "Bottom Ten" column, the match appeared to end in a 13-13 tie as UF attempted to throw the ball out of bounds to stop the clock. Fireworks were even set off over Tiger Stadium in celebration, for the holding off of a late Gator comeback. Then, an official ruled that 1 second needed to be added back to the clock, allowing the Gators time to attempt the game-winning field goal. The unexpected setback sent LSU reeling into a losing streak and its first losing season in years. The manner in which LSU lost the game helped push them into the top spot of that week's Bottom Ten.

1997: LSU's Revenge

Humiliated by the previous season's 56-13 thrashing, LSU came into the 1997 game ready to play. Once again, the Gators were favored in this matchup in Baton Rouge. But it was LSU who jumped out to a big early lead, scoring two touchdowns in the first 8 minutes on runs by Herb Tyler and Tommy Banks. The Gators came right back with two TD runs by Fred Taylor, each of which capped off an 80 yard drive.

Then, Doug Johnson threw an ill advised pass and Cedric Donaldson picked it off and returned it for a touchdown to give LSU a 21-14 lead. The Gators' frustration mounted when another Johnson pass was picked off, this time by Mark Roman, and when Herb Tyler scored another touchdown to give LSU a 28-14 lead with 11:40 to go, the Gators appeared to be in big trouble.

Undaunted, Johnson tried to redeem himself with a 13 play, 78 yard drive that ended with Fred Taylor banging into the end zone to cut the Tigers' lead to 28-21. LSU could do nothing with their next possession, and Doug Johnson began moving the ball downfield again. He then faced a rush on a third and two and threw up a hail mary- and Raion Hill intercepted it. The Tigers held on, 28-21 for the upset.

2006: Tebow Domination

The 9th ranked Tigers visited the 5th ranked Gators favored by a point and a half. Early in the first quarter, JaMarcus Russell connected with Jacob Hester for a touchdown.

However, the Tigers soon ran into an ambush when freshman QB Tim Tebow entered the game. Tebow accounted for three touchdowns, including a jump pass. The Gators won 23-10, en route to a BCS National Championship.

2007: 5 for 5 on fourth down

The 9th-ranked Gators traveled to Baton Rouge to take on the top-ranked Tigers. Early on, it appeared that Florida was heading for a big win when they raced out to a 10-0 lead. The two teams then traded punches, scoring two touchdowns each to make it 24-14 late in the third quarter.

LSU rallied behind Matt Flynn to score a touchdown to cut it to 24-21. Then they stopped Tebow and got the ball back with just a few minutes left. They faced a fourth and two in their own territory, and got it. Not even a minute later, they faced another fourth and two. They converted that one as well.

By now, they were on the Florida 12 yard line. Once again, the Tigers faced a fourth and 2. But rather than kick the game-tying field goal with a minute left, Les Miles ordered a dive play. And for the fifth time in the game, the Tigers converted. Soon after, LSU took the lead when running back Jacob Hester bulled across the end zone with under a minute left.

But Tebow had one more shot. In three plays, he'd gotten Florida across midfield. There was time for one more play—a 45-yard hail Mary play. It was batted down in the end zone and LSU hung on, 28–24.

In 2010, college football analysts[who?] declared this game to be the second best game of the decade, after the 2008 SEC Championship when Florida defeated Alabama 31-20 by erasing a 20-17 fourth-quarter deficit.

2008: Battle of champions

12th ranked Florida played host to 3rd ranked LSU in a matchup of the past two BCS National Champions. Led by Tim Tebow and Percy Harvin's two TD combinations, Florida jumped out to a 20-0 lead.

But then the defense, which had allowed 4 first quarter yards for LSU, then began busting coverages all over. Midway through the third quarter, LSU had sliced the Gator lead to 20-14, perhaps making Gator fans nervous by making them remember the previous year's collapse. But Tebow was not to be denied. He completed a bomb to Louis Murphy to the LSU 2 yard line, then rolled out and tucked the ball under his arm and walked in. That made it 27-14 Florida and the floodgates opened up. Jeff Demps followed Tebow's run by taking a pitch 44 yards for a TD and now it was 34-14.

When it seemed it couldn't possibly get any worse for LSU, it did. On the first play of the fourth quarter, Jarrett Lee was picked off by linebacker Brandon Spikes, who went 52 yards for another touchdown. Spikes punted the ball into the stands in celebration, and though he was flagged, the game was well over. The final score was Florida 51, LSU 21. Florida went on to win the BCS Championship again in 2008, the third straight time the winner had come from this rivalry.

2010: The Fake Field Goal

The 12th ranked Tigers came to the Swamp eager to erase bitter memories of the last time they played in the home field of the 14th-ranked Gators. Each team snatched the lead from each other back and forth for awhile. Eventually, however, LSU pulled ahead 26-14 early in the 4th quarter. But Andre Debose answered with a kickoff return TD, and following a defensive hold by the Gators, QB John Brantley got the ball with a chance to be a hero with 7 minutes left and trailing 26-21. He led a long, punishing drive that ended when running back Mike Gillislee plowed into the end zone with three minutes left. Brantley completed the two point conversion to Omarious Hines to increase the Gator lead to 29-26 with just under 3 minutes remaining.

Undaunted, Jarrett Lee led a drive that found LSU at the Gator 36 yard line with 34 seconds to go. LSU coach Les Miles ordered a 53 yard field goal attempt by Josh Jasper. Or so it seemed. Holder Derek Helton blindly pitched the ball over his head, hoping for a miracle. It hit the ground, but took a perfect bounce right into the arms of Jasper, who picked it up and crossed the first down line.

Lee then threw a long pass to Terrence Toliver to the Florida 5 yard line with 9 seconds remaining. On the last play of the game, he tossed the game winner to Toliver. LSU won, 33-29.

Game results
Florida leads the all time series, 31–25–3. The longest winning streak in the LSU–Florida series is held by Florida, with nine victories from 1988 to 1996. LSU's longest winning streak is four, from 1977 to 1980.

The visiting team in the series has been unusually successful in recent years. Since 2001, LSU has a 3–3 record at the Swamp, while Florida is 3–3 at Tiger Stadium. Both the Gators and Tigers each won two national championships during that time period and boasted impressive home records against other opponents.

''Florida victories are colored ██ blue. LSU victories are colored ██ purple. Ties are white.''

Sources: 2011 Florida Gators Football Media Guide, 2011 LSU Football Media Guide, and College Football Data Warehouse.