How Steve Spurrier’s Hatred For Georgia Inadvertently Gave Birth to Kirby Smart’s Desire to Break UF

if you were a Georgia fan in the 1990s Steve Spurrier was the face of misery Spurrier wor his hatred for Georgia proudley and he went 11-1 against the Bulldogs as head coach of the Gator from 1990 to 2001 before he ever came the coach of Florida Spurrier was a star quarterback for the Gator he won the 1966 Heisman Trophy and for most players that might be enough but for spier 1966 is also when his hatred for Georgia became fully cemented let's flash back to November 5th of that year Spurrier and the gator rolled into Jacksonville for their annual matchup with Georgia undefeated and looking for their first perfect season and first ever SEC Championship the Gators went up 7 nothing early after an 86 yd touchdown drive to start the game down 10 to3 late in the third quarter George's rushing attack started to come alive a bulldog touchdown tied the score at 10 and all the eyes in the Stadium started to turn towards spier the Heisman favorite who had a knack for fourth quarter comebacks unfortunately for Steve this wouldn't be his day spurrier's second interception of the half was run back for a touchdown by ug defensive back Lyn Hughes to give the Bulldogs a 17-10 lead simply put Spurrier never forgot about it the Bulldogs would continue to control the game with their rushing attack and defense and they would get the ball back one more time with just a few seconds remaining that's when Georgia Twisted the knife with only a second left on the game clock Bulldog quarterback Kirby Moore launched himself into the end zone for a final touchdown Georgia 27 Florida 10 spurrier's hatred for all things ug was cemented when he became the coach of Florida spur used every opportunity he got to get even with the Bulldogs his funing gun offense changed college football nobody could seem to stop it including the Bulldogs in 1994 and 1995 the Georgia Florida series came on campus while the gator ball was under construction the 95 Georgia team included a face you might recognize a young defensive back out of Banbridge by the name of Kirby Smart he wore the number 16 and you can see him in this next clip smart was in with all the other backups as Florida LED 3810 late in the fourth quarter the Gators continued to move the football down the field and scored to make the score 4 510 this wasn't exactly unexpected Spurrier loved to twist the knife on Georgia whenever he was given the opportunity he even called then head coach Ray go Ray goof where the outrage came was with a minute 10 remaining on the clock that's right a 4517 Spurrier called a reverse pass a few moments later Florida became the first team to ever score 50 on Georgia and Sanford Stadium here's the play but guess who that is yep that's right number 16 Kirby Smart the current Georgia head coach spurrier's hatred for Georgia was born out of that late Hutch down back in 1966 is it possible that he gave birth to a similar type of force but this time in red and black after the game Steve was Unapologetic about what had happened somebody told me they never scored 50 against Georgia here and our guys W score 50 in 2016 Kirby Smart returned home to Athens become the ug head coach I firmly believe that you can take and develop players and you can show Improvement within a team and we need to do that here smart quickly built Georgia into a Powerhouse appearing in the national championship game in his second season and winning back-to-back national titles in 2021 and 2022 in that second season the dogs blew the Gators out 42 to7 that was Smart's first win over Florida and since then it's become clear that the Georgia Florida game is not just another game on the schedule to Kirby Smart he'll dance in the locker room with his Players He'll celebrate with fans like Spurrier he seems to take a little extra pleasure in winning this game smart has also made the Rivalry more one-sided in George's favor than it has been since before Spurrier arrived as the head coach in Gainesville unlike spier he's remained respectful to the guy across the sideline a lot of respect for Billy I always uh have um like Billy a lot he does a really good job um as a football coach as a man person despite that occasionally the fire that smart has for beating Florida will shine through ftmf has become a bulldog fan rally and cry in the Years following the 2018 Georgia Florida game while all rivalries have plenty of hate Georgia and Florida seem to self-perpetuate in a unique way former Georgia head coach Vince dly won 15 out of 20 against the gator in the 70s and the 80s but it was the win over Florida in 1966 that spawned spurrier's hatred spurrier's hatred fueled a decade of Gator dominance throughout the 1990s but that same hatred caused him to call a reverse pass with a minute 10 left while leading by 28 points in Sanford Stadium the kid playing safety that day probably never forgot it and when he looks across the field on Saturday in Jacksonville Kirby Smart will want to break the florig Gators physically physically I want to break them break these oh he missing open