College football is a passionate sport. Annual rivalry games add a special spice to the stew. Although some teams will face each other twice in a season in a conference championship game or a playoff game, most rivals face off only once per year. To the victor goes the spoils of bragging rights for the next 365 days.
There is much debate among college football fans as to what is the greatest rivalry. Most consider the contest against their own arch rival to be the greatest. There are many in state rivalries that divide family loyalties and are special in their own right. But for many, border state rivalries are the most special. While some alternate between home and away games, a select few hold their annual contest on neutral ground. The dynamic of having a staduim with the fan bases evenly split 50/50 eliminates a home field advantage and makes for a special environment. The annual showdown between Army and Navy is a classic. The Red River Rivaly between Oklahoma and Texas has produced many fabulous contests. Spirted as they are at least the participants in these two games agree how many times they have met on the gridiron.
When it comes to the annual showdown between Georgia and Florida, the two universities cannot even agree on the number of times they have faced off. Known as “The World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party” with the exception of times the staduim has undergone remodeling, and one cancellation due to WW2, the schools have played at a neutral location in Jacksonville every year since 1933. Before that they played in a variety of locations. Florida claims the first meeting was in 1915, Georgia contends the first meeting was a 1904 game played in Macon, Georgia. The 1904 game resulted in a 52-0 victory for Georgia over a team that called itself Florida. Some older Florida record books included the loss in their history. However, at some point Florida began denying the loss based on the fact that what they call the “modern” University of Florida in Gainesville did not hold classes until 1906. The 1904 team was fielded by the University of Florida at Lake City, one of 4 instututions that mergered to become the “modern” University of Florida.
Georgia loyalists point out that the University of Florida lists 1853 as their establishment date on the official seal of the University of Florida. Regarding the 1904 game, the colorful late Georgia graduate and longtime Georgia tennis coach Dan McGill stated “that’s where Florida was back then. We can’t help it if they got run out of Lake City’.
One thing is for sure. The Georgia Florida game is one of the grandest rivalries in college football. The contest will leave Jacksonvile for 2 years while the all new $1.4 billion “stadium of the future’ is constructed in Jacksonville. They will face off again for the 108th or 107th time again along the banks of the Saint Johns river in 2028. But who’s counting?
