Embarrassing Program Losses

[Escambia94]

This weekend the unranked (98) Virginia Cavaliers upset the #10 (17) North Carolina Tarheels 31-27. On paper, UNC should have won this game, but these games are played on grass and not on paper. Tarheel fans are calling this their most embarrassing and demoralizing program loss. This led me to unfortunately rehash some of the worst losses that Florida ever had. Here is my list of embarrassing losses, mostly to unranked teams.

• 2013 Georgia Southern, 20-26. Jeff Monken and Brent Davis are masters of the masters of the triple option and they were able to rally their FCS team to beat the Gators in a season where the Eagles went 5-4 (4-4 SoCon) before moving to the Sun Belt Conference the next year and switched to the spread option under a new head coach.
• 2008 Ole Miss, 30-31. The Gators had the talent and motivation to achieve the program's first undefeated season, but that fell apart in front of Houston Nutt's unranked Ole Miss Rebels (as they were called then). Ole Miss went on to beat #18 LSU in Death Valley 31-13 and #8 Texas Tech in the Cotton Bowl 47-34. The Rebels barely lost to #2 Alabama 20-24 in Bryant-Denny Stadium and they did get ranked six weeks after defeating Florida, so this loss was more excusable than the 2013 loss.

The Gators also have some less embarrassing but still gut-wrenching losses to ranked teams that Florida could have beaten on the way to championships and undefeated seasons.

• 1998 Tennessee, 17-20 (OT). #2 Florida lost its first overtime game in history (after recent rule change) when Cooper Collins missed a 32-yard field goal and gave Tennessee their first victory over Florida in six years. This happened to occur in front of the largest crowd in college football history-- 107,653 fans packed into Neyland Stadium. The Volunteers went 13-0 that season and won a national championship. The Gators struggled a bit and had to alternate between QBs Doug Johnson and Jesse Palmer just to stay competitive in this game. The Gators finished the 1998 season 10-2 (7-1) and wrapped up the season with a 31-10 victory over #18 Syracuse in the Orange Bowl. To address the elephant in the room, the #4 Gators lost to the #5 Noles 12-23. The Noles overcame a loss to unranked NC State in September to earn a spot in the Fiesta Bowl where they lost to #1 Tennessee.
• 1994 FSU, 31-31 and 17-23. The Choke as the Doak was a matchup of 9-1 rivals ranked #4 and #6/7. The Gators were up 24-3 at the half, scored only once in the 3rd quarter, and failed to answer FSU's 28 points in the 4th quarter. The 28 points in the 4th quarter tied an NCAA record for largest 4th quarter comeback to win or tie. Nole fans celebrate the tie because it allowed them to earn a Sugar Bowl spot and then beat Florida; however, FSU's earlier loss to #13 Miami denied them the opportunity to defend their national title.
• 1984 Miami, 20-32. The #17 Gators lost to the defending national champion Hurricanes who went on to finish 8-5 under first-year coach Jimmy Johnson. Granted, that team was loaded with NFL talent (Bernie Kosar, Vinnie Testaverde, Alonzo Highsmith, et al), but so was Florida (Neal Anderson, Lomas Brown, Ricky Nattiel, et al). In a series of what-ifs, Florida had the opportunity to strengthen its claim to a national championship if the program were not slapped with NCAA sanctions, and if the Gators had beaten Miami or if Florida had been declared SEC champion and allowed to face Nebraska in the Sugar Bowl. BYU was declared the national champion by most authorities, but Florida did appear on some sources as the national champion.
• 1985 Georgia, 3-24. The 1985 Gators were ineligible for the SEC championship due to NCAA probation, but in an alternate universe where Florida were eligible, they were probably talented enough to beat #2 Miami in the Sugar Bowl to fight for a national championship title. Florida had beaten Miami 35-23 to open the season. Oklahoma was declared the national champion, where their only loss was to Miami in a battle of future Dallas Cowboys coaches. Oddly enough, Florida does appear on some sources as a national champion.
• 2006 Auburn, 17-27. The Gators still won the national championship, but it would have been nice to get that win in Jordan-Hare to get that undefeated season. The Gators needed help from other teams to earn a spot in the BCS championship, which they made the most of in a 41-14 rout of the Ohio State Buckeyes.

Some losses are just embarrassing for a multitude of reasons not related to national championships, undefeated seasons, and lower division losses.

• 1980 Georgia, 21-26. Run Lindsay Run. It is so annoying having to listen to that sound snippet. The Gators were not very good in 1980, and losing to the #2 team in the nation is not a bad thing, but that snippet and the way the Gators lost is just annoying.
• 2003 Miami, 33-38. The 2003 Gators were not very good in an 8-5 (6-2) season. This loss sticks out because it was to former Gator QB Brock Berlin in a game where Florida failed to score in the 4th quarter and let the Hurricanes notch another win over Florida and FSU in the same season.

What are some other embarrassing or demoralizing losses? What makes it embarrassing?

 

[DRU2012]

You seem to have hit all the "low" points--complete with the proper "background commentary"...So many gut-grinding BUMMERS!
A coupla extra "sidenotes":
That Ol' Miss loss in '08 DID give rise to TT's postgame "Promise" speech--which in turn propelled us on to inspired, seeming inevitable Championship play throughout the rest of that season. Yes, we had the talent to get there anyway, with or WITHOUT all that, and it WAS finally our best shot at the still illusive "Undefeated Season", but it has found a special place in Gator lore in any event.
Do NOT care to talk about "Run Lindsay RUN!"
(I was THERE, at the Cocktail Party that day; ruined an otherwise PERFECT DAY).
I had other comments, but it really comes down to this: IS it any WONDER we despise our IN-STATE RIVALS? And which is "cause", and which is "effect"? Do we hate them BECAUSE of such moments in such games, or do these things happen because we all HATE each other so much? Well, let me clarify that:
I DESPISE FSU--but it is to some extent just a matter of pitying them having to go there...
But I actually do HATE Miami. Don't get me started on THAT one.
OK. Nuff said.

 

[Leakfan12]

There's the 2020 LSU Game, Thanks Marco Wilson. I could make it a case the two losses against Texas A&M and Alabama in the SEC title game because like the LSU game, one mistake cost the Gators the win with a fumble (TA&M) or an interception that turned into a fumble (Bama). The Gators should have been undefeated in 2020 and gone to the playoffs.
The 2007 Auburn game which I think should have been winnable but unsure what play calls Mullen was making in that final Gators drive.
2001 Tenn game
and of course the infamous 2009 SEC title game which I'm pretty they haven't recovered since.
The 2012 Georgia game though would the Gators beat Bama if they went to the SEC title game that season?
Losing to ex-coaches like Spurrier in 2005 though lit a fire under Meyer and then the team in the airport, Strong in the 2013 Sugar Bowl, and Mullen in 2010.

 

[DRU2012]

There's the 2020 LSU Game, Thanks Marco Wilson. I could make it a case the two losses against Texas A&M and Alabama in the SEC title game because like the LSU game, one mistake cost the Gators the win with a fumble (TA&M) or an interception that turned into a fumble (Bama). The Gators should have been undefeated in 2020 and gone to the playoffs.
The 2007 Auburn game which I think should have been winnable but unsure what play calls Mullen was making in that final Gators drive.
2001 Tenn game
and of course the infamous 2009 SEC title game which I'm pretty they haven't recovered since.
The 2012 Georgia game though would the Gators beat Bama if they went to the SEC title game that season?
Losing to ex-coaches like Spurrier in 2005 though lit a fire under Meyer and then the team in the airport, Strong in the 2013 Sugar Bowl, and Mullen in 2010.

Yeah--"the Shoe Toss" in 2020 was a standout "Moment of Frustration" (I remember just frozen in place, muttering "What the F...?!!".
But bad as that was, it wasn't NEAR the extended pain and extreme let down that the '09 SEC Championship entailed:
There was TT running up and down the sideline throughout the 2nd half, PLEADING with teammates to come together, single-handedly WILLING the win--but not to be: They'd already checked OUT...and yes, the ensuing "Twelve Year Slide", while its roots were earlier, essentially began right there.

 

[Leakfan12]

Yeah--"the Shoe Toss" in 2020 was a standout "Moment of Frustration" (I remember just frozen in place, muttering "What the F...?!!".
But bad as that was, it wasn't NEAR the extended pain and extreme let down that the '09 SEC Championship entailed:
There was TT running up and down the sideline throughout the 2nd half, PLEADING with teammates to come together, single-handedly WILLING the win--but not to be: They'd already checked OUT...and yes, the ensuing "Twelve Year Slide", while its roots were earlier, essentially began right there.

Also, it didn't help Carlos Dun@$$ got a DUI before that game and got suspended. Granted unsure if Dunlap being there would have helped, Bama leaned toward the running game which would have limited him.

 

[DRU2012]

Also, it didn't help Carlos Dun@$$ got a DUI before that game and got suspended. Granted unsure if Dunlap being there would have helped, Bama leaned toward the running game which would have limited him.

Frankly, Carlos' DUI was a symptom of the same "Team-wide Checkout"...Pissed me off at the time, but really just emblematic of the "ME ME ME"-culture that had come to full-bloom under Meyer by then. I mean, let's face it: Urban was checking out TOO!

 

[Escambia94]

Frankly, Carlos' DUI was a symptom of the same "Team-wide Checkout"...Pissed me off at the time, but really just emblematic of the "ME ME ME"-culture that had come to full-bloom under Meyer by then. I mean, let's face it: Urban was checking out TOO!

My thoughts exactly. The 2009 team was doomed. Complacency set in. The team was used to days when Florida was one of the top five programs with NFL stars. Urban Meyer chickened out and then checked out.

I do not consider the 2009 game to be an embarrassing one. I suppose I could add it to the list of gut-wrenching losses.

 

[DRU2012]

My thoughts exactly. The 2009 team was doomed. Complacency set in. The team was used to days when Florida was one of the top five programs with NFL stars. Urban Meyer chickened out and then checked out.

I do not consider the 2009 game to be an embarrassing one. I suppose I could add it to the list of gut-wrenching losses.

I suppose when you get right down to it, I don't either--I wasn't all that "embarrassed" YET--not really: I was VERY frustrated, and somewhat embarrassed that at the end of a season that began with such promise (including TT's decision to return for his Senior year) and one where we had managed to at least BRING TO WITHIN STRIKING DISTANCE of the "Repeat", all the "darkness at the edges" came bursting through, in and around us at the very end--the 2nd half of the SEC Championship Game (at that time and point the defacto "Prelude to CFB Championship").
Of course, "EMBARRASSMENT" was something we would soon be immersed in--acceleratingly so in the years that followed. By now, its once sharp pain has become a long, dull ache instead.
More's the pity...A necessary emotional defense, I suppose, but I hate that we've become somewhat inured to losing. I don't WANT to see us USED to it!
I understand that it will take time to build us back--and if done right, maybe we can get and STAY "there" (y'all KNOW which "there" I'm talking about!) a little longer and more solidly this time. So even if somewhat unrealistic at times (like this one), there is still something reassuring in Gator Nation's unrelenting expectation in that ultimate return.