The Gator Chomp and the Tomahawk Chop.
Steve Spurrier and Bobby Bowden. Mr. Two Bits and Osceola.
Emmitt Smith and Warrick Dunn. Tim Tebow and Charlie Ward.
The Swamp and the Doak.
Regardless of where your loyalties reside, there’s no mistaken the characters of one of college football’s greatest dramas: the Florida-Florida State rivalry. Orange & Blue vs. Garnet & Gold.
These schools first met in 1958 and right from the opening kickoff this rivalry offered promise of indelible moments when FSU’s Bobby Renn took Joe Hergert’s initial offering 80 yards. The Gators won that day and for most of the first two decades when the Gators and Seminoles tangled.
In time, a true dislike developed, the first ingredient in any real rivalry.
In the 1990s the Florida-Florida State game was must-see TV as both teams competed annually for the national title.
Spurrier and Bowden rose to iconic status as they matched wits – and oftentimes barbs – in what became the game’s top rivalry for a decade.
The Seminoles won a national title in ‘93. The Gators answered three years later, and to the chagrin of Seminoles forever, beat FSU to do it. The Seminoles won another in ’99, and then after Spurrier departed and Urban Meyer arrived a few years later, the Gators took hold of the rivalry while winning national titles in 2006 and ’08.
Bowden’s historic run ended in 2009, and soon it was Jimbo Fisher’s turn to lift the national championship trophy in triumph.
This football rivalry continued on to other sports, making the Fresh From Florida Sunshine Showdown Series what it is today.
Through it all, whenever the Gators and Seminoles get together in anything, it means something.
On those days, friends can become enemies. Next-door neighbors are sometimes to be avoided. Family members might not be on speaking terms for a day or two.
That’s Florida-Florida State.
A real rivalry.
- Scott Carter
