There’s a reason it’s called “The Swamp”
No. 20-ranked Kentucky visits No. 12-ranked Florida on Saturday night at Gainesville’s Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, aka “The Swamp,” the site of many a Kentucky football nightmare over the years.
This is a different Kentucky team (ranked), Kentucky program (four straight bowl wins) and Kentucky coach (Mark Stoops) than most previous visits. Still, “The Swamp” has been home to many a Wildcat lowlight and one tremendous highlight.
A scattering of “Swamp” scenes I’ve witnessed:
1987: Florida 27, Kentucky 14
My first trip to Gainesville to cover a football game. Jerry Claiborne coached UK. Galen Hall coached Florida. Emmitt Smith was a freshman running back for the Gators. What I remember most was the concrete-feel of the stadium. It wasn’t called “The Swamp” back then. The field was Astroturf. The stands were nondescript. A lot has changed at the venue since then, and for the better.
1994: Florida 73, Kentucky 7
— Back in the day, league coaches had lunch with the media at the annual SEC Media Days. I was sitting with former Herald-Leader sports columnist John McGill when who should sit down at the table but Nashville Banner sports columnist Joe Biddle and with his old high school friend, new Florida coach Steve Spurrier.
Spurrier was in the middle of telling how UK Coach Bill Curry didn’t retain him on the staff when Curry became the coach at Georgia Tech. Biddle quickly informed Spurrier his lunch companions were from Lexington. Didn’t matter. Spurrier kept right on disparaging Curry. In 1994, Spurrier got his revenge.
1996: Florida 65, Kentucky 0
True freshman quarterback Tim Couch started his first collegiate game that afternoon. Talk about wrong player, wrong place, wrong coach, wrong offense, wrong opponent. Couch was 6-of-18 for just 13 yards passing with one interception. (“I was a little embarrassed for them,” Florida’s Jevon Kearse said afterward of the Cats.) With a new coach and a new scheme, Couch would get better. Much better.
1998: Florida 51, Kentucky 35
The first trip for Hal Mumme’s “Air Raid” to The Swamp as Kentucky coach. On his return visit, Couch completed 41 of 60 passes for 406 yards and two touchdowns. Craig Yeast returned a kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown and turned a catch-and-sprint pass from Couch into a 97-yard score. On the afternoon, Yeast caught six passes for 206 yards.
2002: Florida 41, Kentucky 34
No Mumme vs. Spurrier this time around. Guy Morriss, who passed away Monday at the age of 71, was the Kentucky coach. Ron Zook was the Florida coach. UK scored 28 points in the third quarter and pulled within 39-34 with 5:24 left. Derek Abney returned a kickoff 100 yards for one score and a punt 49 yards for another. It was just the seventh time in college football history a player had taken a kickoff and a punt to the house.
2008: Florida 63, Kentucky 5
What I remember is the shock on the faces of UK Coach Rich Brooks and his players. They thought they were well past such an embarrassment. Florida blocked punts on Kentucky’s first two possessions and it was all downhill from there. “Our kicking game was a disaster,” said Brooks, who still managed to get the Cats to another bowl game.
2014: Florida 36, Kentucky 30 (OT)
The infamous “play clock” game. Mark Stoops made his first trip to Gainesville as the UK coach and left fuming. Facing a fourth-and-7 from the Cats’ 9-yard line in the second overtime, the Gators failed to snap the ball before the play clock expired. The officials didn’t notice, apparently. Jeff Driskel hit Demarcus Robinson with a 9-yard TD pass and the Gators eventually pulled out the win.
2018: Kentucky 27, Florida 16
The breakthrough game. It was UK’s first win over Florida since 1986, its first win in Gainesville since 1979. Benny Snell rushed for 175 yards. Terry Wilson completed 11 of 16 passes for 151 yards and two touchdowns, while rushing for 105 yards, including a 24-yard score. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a happier team celebrate a victory.
