‘They’re going to catch you’

By Tom Mattingly

The day was Oct. 22, 1977, in the year John Majors came marching home as head football coach at the University of Tennessee.
The series grew in intensity in 1969, with a 14-13 Florida win in the Gator Bowl. The game was overshadowed by the rumors, later proven true, that Tennessee head coach Doug Dickey was leaving Knoxville and headed to Gainesville.
Florida was back on the Tennessee schedule in 1970. It was the first regular season game between the Vols and Gators since a 20-0 Tennessee victory in 1955. Dickey’s return to Knoxville was a major story, as big as a 38-7 Vol win.
In 1971, Florida decided to wear orange shirts instead of their traditional blue. The game would also be played at night. The Gators were winless when the Vols came calling, but the game was a war. Tennessee wore the white shirts with the orange collar and won, 20-13.
Then came 1977, with a significant event happening before the team even arrived at the stadium. Tennessee stayed in Silver Springs in those days. The Vol travel party was in three buses, motoring up Florida Highway 315 to what was then called Florida Field.
As they headed toward Gainesville, the motorcade neared a Seaboard Coast Line grade crossing without signals.
“Only a few people on the buses noticed that a fast-moving train was approaching,” Russ Bebb wrote, “but not the Florida state trooper escorting the convoy, nor the driver of the front bus. They made it across the tracks without incident.”
Bebb added that the No. 2 and No. 3 buses were able to stop as the train came roaring by.
“I was reading at the time, and I glanced up and saw this train coming lickety-split. It was right on us,” Majors said from his perspective sitting on the lead bus. “We probably didn’t miss getting hit by more than two seconds. I remember thinking that the No. 2 bus had been destroyed; there was no doubt in my mind. It was stupid on the part of the trooper, and I let him know it when we got to the stadium.”
The incident had to have brought back memories of the deaths of John’s brother, Bill, and fellow assistant coaches Charlie Rash and Bob Jones. They had died in a car-train crash in West Knoxville, Cessna Drive at Westland, on Oct. 18, 1965.
The game itself was exciting. Florida jumped to the early lead, but Jimmy Streater led the Vols back to a 17-17 tie. He threw a TD pass to freshman tight end Reggie Harper. Then came a 99-yard run, the longest in Tennessee history, by tailback Kelsey Finch.
The Vols were backed up to their goal at the South end of Florida Field, third-and-10 at the Vol 1. The crowd was in full voice. Finch turned an innocent-looking off-tackle play into one for the record books.
“As I hit the hole, there was nobody there,” said Finch. “I cut to the sidelines and remember Roland James hollering, ‘They’re going to catch you!’”
Late in the game, the Gators scored with 46 seconds left to lead 27-17. After a Vol fumble, Florida had the ball on the Vol 33, the clock counting down. Next came a run to the Vol 18. Three seconds remained.
Then, surprisingly (or maybe not) came a Florida timeout. Quarterback Terry LeCount then tossed an aerial to wideout Wes Chandler, who caught the ball deep in the end zone, but was ruled out of bounds.
That provoked a major skirmish at midfield.
Knoxville’s Allen Williams was a senior punter for the Gators. He remembered the ensuing scene quite well, calling it “surreal.”
“Kim Helton was the Florida line coach. During the timeout, he grabbed Terry LeCount and was talking about throwing the ball,” said Williams. “When the pass was ruled incomplete, he seemed extremely disappointed.”
Majors, whom Bebb described as “visibly annoyed,” did say, “Our day will come.” That day came, 13 years later.
In 1990, Steve Spurrier’s first year at Florida, Tennessee led 7-3 at halftime. Dale Carter returned the opening kickoff of the second half 92 yards for a score, and the Vols reeled off 38 unanswered points to win 45-3. The second half performance was highlighted by tight end Von Reeves tossing a TD pass to wide receiver Carl Pickens.
For those of you who thought the intense rivalry between Tennessee and Florida started just recently, it goes back a great deal farther than that…back to six games between 1969 and 1977.
IN MEMORIAM: BILL WILLIAMS (March 22, 1934-August 18, 2025): It was my good fortune to sit with Bill in the Neyland Stadium public address booth during the years he was the public address announcer for the University of Tennessee “Pride of the Southland Marching Band.” When Bill spoke, either on the air at Channel 10, in support of the community projects near to his heart, or across the expanse of Neyland Stadium during football Saturday halftime ceremonies with the band, thoughtful people paid attention. Requiescat in pace.