Steve Spurrier’s ownership of Peyton Manning is legendary
Peyton Manning probably doesn’t give Steve Spurrier a second thought. After he’s a legend, he’s won two Super Bowls, and he’s been paid an awful lot of money to sell everything from insurance to pizza.
Steve Spurrier probably doesn’t Peyton Manning a second thought. He’s a legend in the College Football world, and he’s one of the Kings of Smacktalk.
But if you look closely, Steve Spurrier has gone 5-0 against Peyton Manning, and in snipey comments, probably more than that.
He’s also 1-0 against the Manning family in Heismans, and has won 1 more National Championship, 5 more SEC titles and 15 more SEC East titles than the rest of the Manning family put together).
He never played against Archie Manning at football in his collegiate or NFL days, and his teams never faced Eli Manning in the pro of college level.
But boy, did he own Peyton Manning. And it wasn’t just at SEC level, either.
You could say Manning made somewhat of a mistake choosing not to go to Florida, opting instead for East Tennessee and Neyland Stadium.
So here is the list.
- 1994 – No.1 Florida 31, No.15 Tennessee 0: Peyton Manning’s rookie season started with UF giving Neyland Stadium it’s worst home loss in 70 years. It was Florida’s first road win against a Top 25 team since 1990. Manning was part of a quarterbacking trio that Philip Fulmer put out that day….and the Gators’ defense owned each one- sacking them five times. “The Gators used everyone in uniform except one of the Florida tuba players”,Gene Wojciechowski of the LA Times wrote. Fred Taylor’s epic taunt was the best: “I saw tonight was a lot of silver from all those empty seats. Yeah, I guess (Tennessee) had a chance. I guess they did . . . until the whistle blew.” Spurrier himself came up with a zinger: “The thing I like, we didn’t hear `Rocky Top’ all that much,” but that was not Taylor’s.
- 1995 – No.4 Florida 62, No.8 Tennessee 37 “I felt we could score every time we got it,” Coach Steve Spurrier said, “and we came awfully close,” Spurrier said after the game. Strangely, Florida was down 30-21 at half-time before scoring 41 straight in an almighty victory – Tennessee’s worst defensive performance since 1893. Manning – who everyone had written-in as the future Heisman winner for this game, went 23-36 for 236 yards and 2 TDs. He’s wasn’t bad, but Danny Wuerffel was better, leading the Gators to touchdowns on six straight possessions. Manning, sounding like he was giving up already, said after the game: “It’s just hard to beat a team like Florida.
3. 1996 – No.4 Florida 35, No.2 Tennessee 29 This must have been one of the hardest to take for Manning. His defensive let him down. By half-time, the Gators were leading 35-0 in KnoxVegas. “At intermission Neyland owned another record: Most Seats Vacated by Halftime,” carped the Chicago Tribune, noting that the game was held up by a photographer wanting to a take a panoramic view of the stadium. “The Volunteers should frame the picture. It was the last moment anyone took them seriously as a national title contender. Manning might have been considered a Heisman contender, but in this game, he was just awful, throwing the ball for INTs four times in the first half – including two on Florida’s goal-line. Although Tennessee came back and Manning had 492 yards and 4 TDs by the end, he would be looking at Danny Wuerffel celebrating a Heisman Trophy, not him. Spurrier afterwards? “We didn’t want you accusing us of running up the score”.
4. 1997 – Florida 33, Tennessee 20 Manning came back from Knoxville for his senior year. Cue famous Spurrier snide comment: “I know why Peyton came back for his senior season. He wanted to be a three-time Citrus Bowl MVP!”. By then also, people were talking about this time. This time the Vols would beat Spurrier. The big weapons for Florida were gone. Manning was going to win. It didn’t happen. As the Chicago Tribune put it, Manning “spent much of the day running madly from onrushing Gators. from o – including an 89-yard pick 6. He threw for 353 yards and 3 TDs, but The O-For-Spurrier was complete (Tennessee had the last laugh that season by winning the SEC East and the SEC Championship, though).
But Spurrier owning Peyton Manning wasn’t over yet, either.
5. 2002: Washington Redskins 26, Indianapolis Colts 21 Manning had the chance to beat Spurrier – this time in the NFL. The Colts were fairly abject during his rookie year with them, but this wasn’t a total surprise. Manning started the season 4-2, while Washington was 2-4. Redskins – expecting Spurrier-like fireworks on his arrival to the Nation’s Capital – certainly weren’t getting them. In the game that unfurled, Manning went for an ugly 23-32 with 2 picks and 2 TDs, and was sacked 3 times. For once, Spurrier didn’t have a mean comment.
The final straw…
On a night in Neyland Stadium in 2005, Peyton Manning’s No.16 was retired by the Tennessee Volunteers. There were celebrations and high-fiving were for one of the team’s greatest-ever players. Neyland Stadium was on its feet before the game.
The game? South Carolina. The coach for South Carolina? Steve Spurrier.
South Carolina won on a field goal with 2.45 left, and battled to take away the 16-15 victory.
Shortly after the season finished, Philip Fulmer was fired.