re: Gator Week : Rembering the greatest game in Tiger Stadium history.

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We didn’t win anything in 97.

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We might not have won any title in 97, but winning that game felt like winning a national championship and a million dollars at the same time for the pure joy that was in the air when the clock hit 00:00. LSU fans were so hungry back then and UF humiliated us for so long that it turned into the perfect storm that night. With DiNardo and the defensive coordinator bringing back the Chinese Bandit package for Florida, it was so unique too. The crowd went nuts every time they came running onto the field on 3rd downs. They outcoached Spurrier with the element of surprise.

UF was on a 25-game winning streak in the SEC and was winning by an average of 29 points per game during that streak. That 97 UF team beat #1, #4, #6 and #11 and only one of those came within 2 TDs (that was #1 FSU who was undefeated until they met up with UF in the last game of the season). Beating that team was an accomplishment. And it was the first time LSU had ever beaten the #1 team. There is no time like the first time.

2007 was phenomenal too and might have actually been a better game with the back and forth and 4th down conversions, but we were expected to win. In 1997, we shocked everyone and was the best feeling imaginable running onto the field. Steve Spurrier said the only time his wife was ever was scared on a trip was during 97 when LSU fans went up to the Gator bus and started rocking it. Enough said.