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Play it again

There was The Flop and The Catch. The Oranges, the Tolling of the Bell and The Bumper Sticker.

As if 14 years of animosity separated by 300 miles weren't enough of a reason for Florida and Miami fans to hate each other.

The teams have played 50 times. Each has won 25. But Hurricanes and Gators have not faced each other during the season since 1987, since Florida purged Miami from its schedule.

Florida says it's about the money generated by a sixth home game each year, a game Miami can't guarantee. Miami fans put it more simply: They're afraid of us.

Whatever, anyone who has ever bled orange and green or orange and blue gets an adrenaline rush just thinking about Hurricane-Gator games.

This one has resurrected the finger-pointing, bravado, whining and everything else that comes with disdain from a distance.

Tonight, though, no excuses, regardless of national ranking. Blowout or nail-biter, the Hurricanes and Gators have issues to be dealt with -- and a few chunks of history to live up to.

Nov. 27, 1971, Orange Bowl; Florida 45, Miami 16

They were called the Super Sophs, Florida kids who had gone 9-1-1 in 1969. Now, two years later, they were 3-7 and playing for pride -- and for John Reaves, 343 yards shy of Stanford quarterback Jim Plunkett's career passing record.

"Coach (Doug) Dickey let us throw the ball early and often," Reaves said. "All of sudden there were about three minutes left and I needed 14 yards for the record."

The Gators forced a Miami punt -- and Harvin Clark ran it 82 yards for a touchdown.

"He ran over and said, 'John, I'm sorry,' " Reaves said, "and I said, 'Great run, man. Awesome.' "

Miami took the kickoff and began running -- the ball and time off the clock, until it was on the Florida 8 with barely a minute remaining. As the Orange Bowl crowd chanted "Let 'em score," Clark, also Florida's defensive captain, called timeout and made the same plea to Dickey. The coach said his players could do whatever they wished.

Clark called the defensive play: When the ball is snapped, he said, take a step back and fall down. Ten of them flopped to the turf; only safety John Clifford remained standing, and he just watched as befuddled Miami quarterback John Hornibrook meandered into the end zone.

With 50 seconds to go Reaves got his record with a 15-yard pass to flanker Carlos Alvarez. After the game the Gators sprinted to the end zone and dived into the pool, home to the Miami Dolphins mascot.

Miami coach Fran Curci went ballistic. "I guess they just wanted to humiliate us, and they did," he said.

Said Reaves: "It wasn't premeditated. We meant no disrespect or humiliation. We were just a bunch of kids kind of caught up in the moment."

In retrospect, Dickey said, he might have done two things differently. He might have told Clark to fair catch the punt. And he might have joined his players in the pool.

Sept. 3, 1983, Florida Field; Florida 28, Miami 3

The game was hardly memorable, unless you think it was important that Jeff Davis' field goal with three seconds remaining derailed the Gators' first shutout of Miami in 23 years.

Or that Wayne Peace threw two touchdowns while Bernie Kosar was intercepted three times and Miami fumbled the ball away four.

"I had back surgery that summer. I didn't know if I was even going to be able to play," Peace said. "And looking at Kosar -- it was his first start -- it was easy to see the guy had a lot of potential."

"It was sort of like the first time for everyone," UM fullback Alonzo Highsmith said. "Eddie Brown's first game at wide receiver, Bernie's first start, and mine and some other guys. We knew we had talent, but it was all new to everybody."

Miami coach Howard Schnellenberger said it wasn't as bad as it looked. "Except for the mistakes we had better offensive and defensive stats," he said. But Schnellenberger admits even he didn't know just how good a team he had.

Florida won eight games after that, including the Gator Bowl, and finished No. 6 in the AP poll.

Miami won every game after that, including a thriller over Nebraska in the Orange Bowl and, for the first time, stood atop the final rankings.

And in Gainesville, Gators fans celebrated their long-ago victory with bumper stickers proclaiming: Florida 28, National Champions 3.

Sept. 1, 1984, Tampa Stadium; Miami 32, Florida 20

It was Florida redshirt freshman Kerwin Bell's first college game. The one-time walk-on fifth-string quarterback replaced Dale Dorminey, injured earlier in the week.

And with 41 seconds to go Bell finished a 52-yard drive with a touchdown pass to Frankie Neal. The Gators led 20-19.

"I remember being on the sideline thinking there was no way they were going to come back," Bell said. "I thought, 'What a great way to start my career.' "

Enter Miami quarterback Bernie Kosar. Four passes and 72 yards later the Hurricanes jumped back on top. Seven seconds remained when the Gators got the ball for one last shot. But on first down, Miami's Tolbert Bain picked off Bell's bomb and ran it 59 yards for the final touchdown.

"It was a tough way to start out," Bell said, "but it gave me a lot of confidence for the rest of the year. It showed me and the team that we could play against the best teams in the country."

Sept. 4, 1982, Florida Field; Florida 17, Miami 14

It was the Gators' version of "The Catch" by the 49ers' Dwight Clark in the 1981 NFL playoffs. This time the star was Florida fullback James Jones.

The Gators trailed the Hurricanes but had the ball on the Miami 17. "The play was called '32 naked pass,' " Peace said. "We fake the ball into the line and I roll out and look for the tight end down the field and if he's not there we go to the fullback in the flat.

"When it was called I remember thinking, 'This play's not going to work.' We'd run it earlier and both my options were covered and I ended up running it in for a short touchdown. There was some pressure and I looked downfield and didn't see the tight end. I finally saw James and floated it out to him and I remember thinking, 'Man, what a terrible pass.' "

It appeared to be uncatchable. Jones was supposed to go 3-5 yards out. But when he saw Peace on the run he headed for the goal line, skirting the edge of the field. Then Jones leaped, caught the ball with his right hand, was shoved and, with 1:48 remaining, tumbled into the end zone. Miami fans still insist he was out of bounds at the 1.

"He just made a phenomenal catch," Peace said. "I told him, 'I made you famous with that raggedy pass. If it had been a good pass, it wouldn't have been a big deal.' "

Nov. 29, 1980, Florida Field; Miami 31, Florida 7

Revenge is a dish best served cold and for a hot-under-the-collar coach Howard Schnellenberger, giving his Hurricanes dessert to go with Florida's frozen oranges was delicious.

The fact that Miami was headed to the Peach Bowl and the Gators to the Tangerine Bowl meant nothing with one second remaining. Nor did Jim Kelly's two Miami touchdown passes or Wayne Peace's three intercepted passes and five sacks.

What mattered was the frozen oranges fans used to sneak alcohol into the stadium -- and throw at the 'Canes, along with what Schnellenberger said was "manure, toilet paper, ice, bottles and cans."

When Smokey Roan scored to make it 28-3 and Peace fumbled on the first play after the kickoff to give the ball to the 'Canes with one tick left, the hail of debris intensified. One missle hit assistant coach Christ Vagotis and knocked him to one knee.

Schnellengerber, furious, called timeout and sent Dan Miller in to kick a rub-it-in 35-yard field goal. Was the coach surprised by the ferocity of the reaction by Florida, some of which lingers today?

"Not at all," he said. "I was hoping it would get a reaction like that. That's why I did it."

Now, 22 years later, does he think he should have done it?

"It probably would have been better," Schnellenberger said, "if we'd had the holder turn sideways and had Dan kick it into the student section."

Sept. 5, 1987, at the Orange Bowl; Miami 31, Florida 4

This was Florida's opening game and it wanted to make sure everyone knew the name of its choice for the Heisman Trophy. Thousands of dollars were spent to promote Kerwin Bell's candidacy. The slogan on poster-sized Bell-shaped cards with his photo read, For Whom The Bell Tolls.

But the Gators, coming off a two-year NCAA probation for recruiting violations, were thin at some positions while the Hurricanes were coming off their second national championship season.

The bell tolled for Bell that day. He was intercepted three times, sacked five times and flagged twice for intentional grounding. By the time he left in the fourth quarter with a separated right shoulder, his Heisman hopes were pretty much gone.

So was the game. All of the Gators' scoring came on two safeties, long snaps into the end zone. "We gave them their only points," Miami wide receiver Michael Irvin said. "The Final score was Miami 31, Willis Paguese 4, Florida 0."

The next spring, Bell recalled, the Dolphins drafted him. "Dan Marino was messing with me at practice. He said, 'Kerwin, I hear you set a lot of records at Florida,' and I said, 'Yeah, I had a few,' and he said, 'Well, there's one record you'll always have: fastest guy out of the Heisman Trophy race.' "

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