Blake Dowling: The Sunshine Showdown turns 65

In 1994, I went to one of the craziest football games ever.

My friend Adam lived across from the Florida State stadium, and in the fourth quarter of the FSU versus UF game, I walked back to the never-ending game-day party.

When I left the game, Florida was up 31-3; at the end of the day, the score was 31-31.

A tie? Pretty sure our friends at the Tallahassee Democrat said Noles won 31-31 (or something like that) on the next day’s front page.

Just to be sure, to this day, my comfortable margin during a game is 29 points. While Tennessee and Georgia are Florida’s biggest rivals (I think most Florida State fans would say Miami is their biggest conference rival), the FSU versus UF game has its own glorious significance to all of us who live in the Sunshine State — and games like that certainly add to the rivalry lore.

I first attended this game in the 1990s, and Game Zero for me was the 14-9 contest in 1991.

It was the perfect introduction to all things Gators versus Seminoles.

Two college football legends oversaw both teams, and both squads were peaking, riding a wave of success that would bring national dominance to both teams for the entire decade. Coaches Bobby Bowden and Steve Spurrier were leaders during that era. While the most recent games in the series feature chatter about flags and stolen turf, those 1990s games were pre-internet master classes in gamesmanship. There was the line about “Free Shoes University,” there are Hall of Famers like Deon Sanders and Emmett Smith (the two schools have 103 NFL first-round draft picks combined — Florida with 56; Florida State with 47 — and most importantly, there was excellence (both teams in the Top 10 was the norm) all over the field as the teams were incredible.

The winner of the game during the dual golden era played for a national championship in 1993, 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999 and 2000.

The UF-FSU series began in 1958, and the game has been played every year since, except for the 2020 season.

Some highs would be in 2022, which showcased the most points scored (83), as the Seminoles took the W, 45-38, or the most significant margin of victory (39 points) would be from 1983, with the Gators taking the W for a 53-14 total.

For my 33 years following the series, we moved to 1996 and watched in person as FSU somehow knocked off the top-ranked UF at Doak Campbell.

What followed was one of the unlikely series of events in all my years of watching sports — leading to a rematch between the two teams in New Orleans for the national championship. Ultimately, Florida won their first national title in a rematch against their instate rival. After the loss, I decided to skip the postseason game and go skiing with some family friends.

The Gators were in the national title game the year before, so it was all-or-nothing in those college football fan snobbery days.

However, with Texas beating Nebraska and putting FSU versus UF in the brawl, we somehow found a flight from Colorado to Louisiana. Thanks to my dad, he cashed in Saints ticket vouchers for two Sugar Bowl tickets and had them sent overnight to the hotel.

After the game, we walked around Bourbon Street all night with the team and various fans; I eventually came to the rather unpleasant realization I had no flight or car ride home.

My date to the game was headed to Colorado, so this was a pickle. This was the pre-cellphone world; lady luck smiled as I just happened to bump into my friend Teddy Jawde in a hotel lobby. He smiled and said we had plenty of room with the luggage.

He wasn’t kidding; my victory ride home was on top of everyone’s luggage in his black Pathfinder. (Teddy is a legend in the tech sector these days.)

The overall series of 65 games has Florida up 37-28 with two ties. Both teams have three Heisman winners and three national championships. While the stakes are lower, the Gators (nickname beginning in 1911) got their seventh win last week as the Noles (the nickname used since 1947) suffered the worst season in 50 years.

However, winning is always far behind important to both programs to keep recruiting up and for the crucial bragging rights and small talk shenanigans at social gatherings, office break rooms, and everywhere until the next battle.

I last attended the game in 2023, when the Noles enjoyed a perfect regular season, including the defeat of the Florida Gators. This year, I watched the match from the comfort of my home. Shoutout to all who braved the cold to support our teams.

We will see what the next few years hold for Coach Mike Norvell and Coach Billy Napier. Only the clock’s ticking will reveal what NIL and the new 12-team playoffs have in store for our beloved rivalry.

Most importantly, we will see a classic fight in Florida continue, with two of the sport’s most legendary programs battling it out.

Perhaps, just maybe, if the football overlords bless us, the implications of the game could once again be an opening act for a playoff-bound team seeking the elusive natty.

As the series continues, we will hear tall tales as new heroes and villains emerge and trade friendly (and not-so-friendly) barbs between those who treat this game and all football as sacred.

Maybe, just maybe, those first-year QBs from last week’s game will turn one or both programs into national title hunt No. 4 gear in the coming years.

The series’ future is a beautiful open playbook, and thankfully, it will never include any more tied games.

___

Dedicated to the memory of my friend Quinn Toulon, who had never missed an FSU-UF game in all the years I had known him.