Tennessee vs Florida 2004: Revisiting Vols controversial win over rival Gators 20 years ago

Tennessee football has played plenty of exciting games against rival Florida. However, the 2004 matchup between the two programs may go down as the wildest and perhaps most controversial.

The Vols defeated the Gators 30-28 on Sept. 18, 2004, at Neyland Stadium, on a field goal by James Wilhoit with six seconds left, completing a comeback for Tennessee for its second straight victory and third in four years over Florida. However, the victory would be the last in the series for the Vols between 2005 and 2015, when the Gators rattled off 11 straight wins.

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The matchup featured four lead changes, three ties, a controversial penalty, and a missed extra point which set up the game-winner.

Here's a look back at the 2004 Vols' victory over the Gators:

James Wilhoit, Tennessee football beat Florida 30-28 in 2004

The back-and-forth affair between the two rivals was played in front of 109,061 fans at Neyland Stadium, the stadium's record for highest attendance for a football game.

With six seconds left, Wilhoit's 50-yard field goal proved to be redemption for the then-sophomore kicker. With 3:40 remaining in the game, Ainge hit Jayson Swain for a 13-yard touchdown pass to bring Tennessee within 28-27. However, Wilhoit pushed his extra-point attempt

Prior to the missed extra point, the teams had found an answer for one another, with neither team leading by more than a touchdown all game. The Gators opened the scoring when Chris Leak and O.J. Small connected on a 5-yard touchdown in the first quarter. The Vols responded with a 1-yard TD run by Jabari Davis.

On Florida's next drive, Jason Allen picked off Leak, setting up a 16-yard touchdown pass from Erik Ainge to Justin Reed for the Vols' first lead of the game. Florida responded with a Leak pass to Jemalle Cornelius for a 16-yard touchdown on its next drive. Terrence Holmes picked off Ainge on the ensuing Tennessee drive, and two plays later, DeShawn Wynn scored a 1-yard TD to give UF a 21-14 halftime lead.

Florida missed a field goal in the third quarter, leading to no scoring. However, the scoring action picked back up in the fourth quarter. With 13:20 remaining, Ainge connected with Bret Smith on a 23-yard touchdown pass to tie the game. The drive was an impressive 14 plays and 96 yards, coming after a 12-play drive for the Gators, which resulted in a missed field goal.

After trading a pair of punts, Leak connected with Chad Jackson for an 81-yard touchdown to give Florida a 28-21 lead with 7:42 left. Ainge then hit Swain with the 13-yard touchdown with 3:40 left to set up the rest of the end of the game.

Controversial unsportsmanlike penalty on Dallas Baker gives Tennessee life

With 55 seconds remaining in the game and Florida trying to run out the clock, Vols cornerback Jonathan Wade slapped Florida receiver Dallas Baker on the helmet after a third down play. Baker slapped Wade back and was instantly hit with a 15-yard unsportsmanlike penalty by side judge Bobby Moreau.

It was later announced that the penalties should have been called offsetting, negating Florida's 15-yard penalty. The Gators had to punt the ball from inside their own 20-yard line instead of the 35-yard line, setting up Tennessee with good field position. On top of that, officials did not restart the clock correctly , giving Tennessee extra time to drive down the field for the game-winning drive.

The Vols did not have any timeouts left, and Florida should have been able to reduce the clock to 10-15 seconds before the punt. Instead, Tennessee started the drive with 43 seconds left.

Tennessee wide receiver Chris Hannon made a pair of big grabs from Ainge to get the Vols into position to kick the game-winning field goal.

2004 Tennessee-Florida stats

Freshman Brent Schaeffer actually started the game for the Vols and completed 3 of 4 passes for 40 yards and seven rushes for 32 yards, but it was Ainge who did the heavy lifting. He finished 16 of 24 passing for 192 yards, three touchdowns and an interception. Ainge was the last freshman to beat the Gators, something Nico Iamaleava will look to match this week.

Gerald Riggs led the Vols rushing attack with 15 rushes for 63 yards, while Hannon led the team with eight receptions for 89 yards.

Leak, then a sophomore, completed 22 of 31 passes for 286 yards, three touchdowns, and an interception. Ciatrick Fason led the Gators with 15 rushes for 69 yards and O.J. Small led the team with eight catches for 76 yards and a score.

Florida outgained Tennessee 421-403, and the Vols turned the ball over four times to the Gators, one turnover. Yet the Vols picked up the victory, moving the all-time series record to 19-15 in Tennessee's favor at that time. Florida has led the series 17-2 since.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Tennessee vs Florida: Revisiting controversial Vols win over Gators from 2004