College Football Old School Game of The Week: Florida Holds Off Georgia in Controversial Finish

Florida players celebrate while Georgia players including Eric Zeier(10) sits on his knees in disbelief following the finish of the 1993 Florida-Georgia game.

In college football rivalries such as the one between the Florida Gators and the Georgia Bulldogs, they are games in the series that will spark a lot of debate.
One such game is the 1993 version of the game formerly known as "The World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party" which ended in such controversial fashion that it is still debated to this day.
Florida came into the game #10 in the country with a 5-1 record but were coming off a shocking 38-35 loss at Auburn.
The Gators were coached by Steve Spurrier, who was in his 4th year as the Gators head coach, and had lead Florida its first 10-win season and first SEC title back in 1991, then lead the Gators to the inaugural SEC Championship Game where they lost 28-21 to the eventual national champion Alabama Crimson Tide.
Despite having All-SEC running back Errict Rhett in the backfield, Spurrier could not settle on a quarterback as he played musical chairs with junior Terry Dean and freshman Danny Wuerffel.
Wuerffel got the start for the Gators as they entered their annual showdown with the Bulldogs as 11-point favorites.
Georgia came into the Florida game with a three-game winning streak as they would fighting to get bowl eligible as they stood with a 4-4 record under fifth-year head coach Ray Goff.
The Dawgs were lead by junior quarterback Eric Zeier, who was shattering Georgia passing records, which included a 544 passing yard performance just three weeks earlier in a Georgia win against Southern Mississippi.
If the Dawgs were going to upset the Gators, it was going to a strong performance by Zeier to do it as Georgia hoped to end beat Florida for the first time since 1989.
Torrential downpours in the morning made the field at the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville a total mess leading to this version of the Florida-Georgia rivalry to be known as the "Mud Bowl".
It would also be known as the "Timeout Game" after the finish of the game.
Florida received the opening kickoff of the game and were immediately in Bulldogs territory as Jack Jackson returned the kick 46 yards to the Georgia 39-yard-line.
Wuerffel hit Chris Doering for a 22-yard pass to the Bulldogs 15-yard-line, but the Gators could only pick up seven more yards, forcing them to settle for a 29-yard field goal by Judd Davis to give Florida a 3-0 lead just three minutes into the game.
The Gators defense would force the Bulldogs to punt on their opening possession, but the Dawgs would get the ball back quickly when Rhett fumbled the football which was recovered by Georgia free safety Ralph Thompson at the Florida 25-yard-line.
Zeier was able to get the Dawgs to the Gators' five-yard-line before they had to settle for a 22-yard field goal by Kanon Parkman which tied the game at 3 with 5:33 left in the first quarter.
However, Parkman would shank the ensuing kickoff, giving the Gators the ball at the Georgia 49-yard-line.
Three plays later, the Gators were in the end zone as Rhett, who carried the ball all on three plays of the drive, punched it in from nine yards out for the first touchdown of the game and give Florida a 10-3 lead with 3:49 left in the opening quarter.
Just two plays after Rhett's touchdown, Zeier fumbled a snap from center, which was recovered by Florida defensive lineman Ellis Johnson, giving the Gators the ball at the Dawgs' 37-yard-line.
The Gators would travel 26 yards before having to settle for another Davis field goal, this one from 27 yards out, to extend their lead to 13-3 with 37 seconds left in the first quarter.

Georgia quarterback Eric Zeier would complete 36 of 65 passes for 384 yards and throw two touchdown passes.

Following Davis' field goal, the Dawgs would drive 83 yards in eight plays behind the right arm, who completed his first five passes on the drive, including three to tight end Shannon Mitchell for a total of 37 yards, and a big 26-yard completion to Hason Graham, the longest play of the drive.
The drive was capped off by a two-yard touchdown pass from Zeier to Brice Hunter which cut the Gators' lead to 13-10 with 13:09 left in the second quarter.
The Dawgs' defense would force their second turnover of the game on the Gators' ensuing possession when linebacker Mitch Davis intercepted a Wuerffel pass and returned it 13 yards which became 28 yards when Florida was called for a 15-yard face mask penalty on the return, putting the ball at the Florida 17-yard-line.
The Gators defense seemed poised to force another field goal attempt but Zeier scrambled for eight yards on a 3rd & 7 from the Florida 14-yard-line, giving Georgia a 1st & goal at the six-yard-line.
After an incomplete pass, Zeier would hit Mitchell for a six-yard touchdown pass to give the Dawgs their first lead of the game at 17-13 with 11:03 left in the first half.
Then after forcing the Gators to punt, the Dawgs would drive 48 yards in 12 plays, which included Georgia converting on two 3rd down situations, the first being a a 11-yard pass from Zeier to Mitchell for 11 yards to the Gators' 27-yard-line, followed by another Zeier run, this one for 12 yards and a 1st down at the Florida 15-yard-line.
From there, the Gators defense would stiffen and force the Dawgs to call on Parkman to kick a 27-yard field goal to extend Georgia's lead to 20-13 with 6:56 left before halftime.
When the Gators' offense came back on to the field with the ball at their 36-yard-line, Spurrier took Wuerffel out and put Dean in at quarterback after Wuerffel had gone 3-of-9 for 37 yards and threw one interception.
Hoping to get the Florida offense, Dean did just that as he completed his first four passes as he directed the Gators to the Georgia nine-yard-line until back-to-back sacks by Mitch Davis forced the Gators to settle for another Judd Davis field goal, this one from 36 yards out to cut the Georgia lead to 20-16 with 1:35 left in the first half.
Georgia was set to get the ball at their 28-yard-line after the ensuing kickoff but after Florida was called for offsides, Goff forced the Gators to re-kick.
However, the decision backfied on Goff as Graham fumbled the kick after a hit by Florida linebacker Ed Robinson which was recovered by Sam McCorkle at the Georgia 35-yard-line.
That is when Spurrier when for the juggler as Dean dropped back and fired a deep pass that was caught by Harrison Houston in the end zone for a 35-yard touchdown to give Florida a 20-16 lead as they had scored 10 points in just 27 seconds.
Zeier used the last 1:08 to lead the Dawgs to the Gators' 21-yard-line only to have Parkman miss a 38-yard field goal as time expired in the first half, keeping the score 23-20 in favor of the Gators.
The Dawgs got the ball to start the second half and promptly drove to the Florida six-yard-line before calling on Parkman to attempt a 23-yard field goal.
But for the second straight time, Parkman missed the field goal and Florida still held on to a 23-20 lead.

Terry Dean came off the bench and completed eight of 12 passes for 105 yards, threw a touchdown and lead the Gators to four straight scoring drives.

After the ball was moved up to the Florida 20-yard-line following Parkman's missed field goal, the Gators would put together a drive for the ages.
The drive started off with two straight runs by Rhett for nine yards, which was followed by a quarterback sneak by Dean for two yards on 3rd & 1 to pick up the 1st down.
After a two-yard run by Rhett, Dean hit Doering for 12 yards and another 1st down at the Florida 45-yard-line.
Then after Rhett picked up five yards on 1st down, only to lose four on 2nd down, Dean would hit Jackson for 10 yards which put the Gators in Georgia territory at the Dawgs' 44-yard-line.
Rhett would carry the ball on the next four plays, picking up 22 yards, until Dean threw two straight incomplete passes forcing a 4th & 3 situation from the Georgia 22-yard-line.
Even though Judd Davis had connected on all three of his field goal attempts, Spurrier decided to go for the 1st down.
The gamble paid off as Rhett ran for six yards and the 1st down, which was followed by a seven-yard run by on the following play from scrimmage to put Florida at the Dawgs' nine-yard-line.
After Rhett was dropped for a three-yard loss on 2nd down, Dean threw an incomplete pass on 3rd down only to get a defensive pass interference penalty to give the Gators a 1st & goal at the two-yard-line.
After Rhett picked up one yard on 1st down and Dean was stopped on 2nd down, Rhett jumped over the top of the Georgia defense for a 1-yard touchdown run to complete the 21-play, 80-yard drive that took up nearly 11 minutes as Rhett carried the ball 14 times for 50 yards on the drive including the touchdown to push the Gators' lead back to 10 points at 30-20 with 13 seconds left in the third quarter.
The Dawgs responded with a 10-play, 48-yard drive that was capped off with a 21-yard field goal by Parkman, even though the Dawgs a 1st-and-goal at the Florida two-yard-line, to cut the Gators' lead to a touchdown at 30-20 with 12:12 left in the game.
The Gators responded by driving 42 yards in 11 plays which ended with Judd Davis' fourth field goal of the day, a 31-yarder to push the Gators' lead back up to 10 points at 33-23 with 6:42 to go.
Going to a no-huddle offense, Zeier would drive the Dawgs back to inside the Gators' 10-yard-line but two straight incomplete passes forced Georgia to settle for a 25-yard field goal by Parkman to make it a one-touchdown game at 33-26 with 5:06 to play.

Errict Rhett carried the ball 41 times for 183 yards and scored two touchdowns.

Once the Gators got the ball back, they went back to Rhett, who would carry the ball 28 times for 115 yards in the second half, to pick up some 1st downs and chew up time off the clock.
Rhett would do that until the Gators were faced with a 4th & 2 at the Georgia 36-yard-line when Dean threw a pass that was knocked down by Bulldogs defensive lineman Phillip Daniels, giving the Dawgs 96 seconds and 64 yards to try and drive for a touchdown.
With the ball in his hands, Zeier hit Mitchell for 15 yards on the first play from scrimmage to put the Dawgs in Florida territory at the Gators' 49-yard-line.
After a six-yard pass to Hunter, Zeier would hit Mitchell on back-to-back completions totaling 13 yards which was followed by a incomplete pass setting up a 3rd & 4 from the Florida 30-yard-line.
Georgia would get the 1st down as Zeier found Jeff Thomas for four yards, then hit Hason Graham for 14 yards to put Georgia at the 12-yard-line where Zeier spiked the ball setting up 2nd down with just five seconds left.
As the two teams lined up for what probably would be the final play of the game, Florida cornerback Antoine Lott noticed that the Gators had only 10 men on the field and called timeout just at the moment the ball was snapped to Zeier who found for Jerman for an apparent 12-yard touchdown.
But as the Dawgs were getting to ready to go for two and the win(there was no overtime in the FBS division in 1993) the referees came in to rule that the play had been ruled dead and the touchdown did not count.
When you watch the replay you can whistles blow as Zeier throws the pass to Jerman, but did Lott get the timeout in time? You decide by watching the clip below:

The five seconds were put back on the clock and the ball put back at the 12-yard-line.
Zeier took the snap and dropped back to the 20-yard-line before lofting a pass for the left corner of the end zone intended for Graham, which he caught out of bounds as time expired, only to have Lott be called for defensive pass interference.
Since the game cannot end on a defensive penalty, the Dawgs were given one last shot as the ball was placed at the two-yard-line with no time on the clock.
In the shotgun, Zeier took the snap and fired a pass that was hit Thomas in the left hand and fell incomplete, finally ending the game as the Gators escaped with a 33-26 win.
The Dawgs felt like they were robbed, believing the timeout was not called in time and that Zeier's touchdown pass should have counted.
It proved to be costly for the Bulldogs as they finished the season with a 5-6 record, meaning if they had won the Florida game they would have been bowl eligible and could have played in a bowl game.
Meanwhile, the Gators would go on to win their second SEC title in three years as they knocked off Alabama in the SEC Championship Game, then ended West Virginia's undefeated season with a 41-7 shackling in the Sugar Bowl, to finish the season with a 11-2 record and a top 5 ranking in the final AP and coaches polls.
Goff would never get as close to defeating Florida again as he did in 1993 as Georgia lost the next two games with Florida by a combined score 104-31, ultimately leading to his dismissal as the Bulldogs head coach after the 1995 season.
It wouldn't be until 1997 when the Dawgs finally beat the Gators thanks to a four-touchdown performance by Robert Edwards to give Georgia a 37-17 win to end their seven-game losing streak against the Gators and the only time the Bulldogs would defeat Spurrier in his 12-year tenure in Gainesville.
But if you talk to a Georgia fan, they believe it shouldn't have been seven losses in a row and that they should have won the 1993 game if not for the officials.