Tennessee kicker James Wilhoit (25) celebrates after kicking a 50-yard field goal with six seconds left in the fourth quarter to give Number 13 Tennessee a 30-28 win over 11th-ranked Florida in 2004 in Knoxville.KNOXVILLE - That night was 10 years ago, but it feels much more recent for James Wilhoit.
When two moments of such horror and such euphoria were separated by about 15 minutes, it's easy to see why for the former Tennessee kicker.
Wilhoit's 50-yard game-winning field goal, just moments after he pushed a tying extra point wide right, in a 30-28 defeat of Florida in 2004 is now slightly more than a decade old, but it's perhaps still so memorable for Tennessee since the Gators have run off nine straight in the series leading up to Saturday's game in Knoxville.
And no one probably has as vivid a recollection as Wilhoit.
"I remember everything," he recalled earlier this week. "It's amazing that it's been 10 years, but it really feels like it's been yesterday. One of the reasons is it's you just remember how you felt on the sidelines and what was going through my mind and how determined I was to get another opportunity.
"I think one of the best moments and one thing that I'll always remember is being in front of 109,000 people and it being almost silent in the stadium, just waiting for me to kick and waiting for me to have that attempt.
"I remember that part and then, once I made the kick, just running around like a little kid just relieved that I wasn't going to be the guy that lost the game against Florida."
That game was one of the classics in a series that Florida has since dominated. The Gators' last seven wins were by double digits after nine- and one-point victories in 2005 and 2006.
In 2004, 11th-ranked Tennessee had won two of the last three against No. 13 Florida, and like many of the rivalry's other meetings, the game, in front of a Neyland Stadium-record crowd of 109,061, featured talented teams, quarterbacks in the spotlight and drama with a splash of controversy.
With Florida's Chris Leak and Tennessee's freshman quarterback tandem of Erik Ainge and Brent Schaeffer, the teams went back and forth all night. The Gators answered a Tennessee score when Chad Jackson caught an 81-yard touchdown pass with 7:43 left in the game on a play that was nearly an interception by Vols safety Brandon Johnson.
On their ensuing possession, the Vols faced a third-and-8 at Florida's 13-yard line. Ainge hit receiver Jayson Swain on a crossing pattern, and he bounced off a couple of defenders and took a lateral path to the goal line for the would-be tying touchdown with 3:25 left.
"It was an in route," Swain, now a radio host in Knoxville, recalled this week. "I caught the ball, and as a receiver you're taught not to run that way. You've got linemen and linebackers pursuing the football, and there's a whole lot of junk there.
"You're taught to stay outside the numbers and get down the football field. I caught the ball, and all I saw was that checkerboard end zone, so I just did everything to get there. That was a pivotal point in that football game."
You know what happened next.
Wilhoit, now a successful kicking instructor who also coaches special teams and teaches history and finance at Mount Juliet High School outside of Nashville, missed the extra point, seemingly dooming the Vols.
"Can you use asterisks and symbols and stuff to signify cuss words in your article?" Swain said. "When Wilhoit missed that extra point, I was shocked. I was pretty [upset] about it.
"I knew I couldn't say anything to him about it because there might be an opportunity for us to get the football back and have a chance to win. That's exactly what happened."
On Florida's ensuing third down, receiver Dallas Baker was flagged for a 15-yard unsportmanslike-conduct penalty after trading helmet slaps with Tennessee cornerback Jonathan Wade.
The penalty helped the Vols' field position, and they caught a break when the officials failed to restart the clock after the penalty -- the SEC office acknowledged the mistake the following day -- and allowed precious extra seconds.
With 43 seconds and no timeouts left, Ainge hit Hannon for gains of 21 and 7 yards to set up Wilhoit's kick.
He spun away to celebrate before the ball even hit its apex on the way through the uprights.
"There's no question that playing in the state of Tennessee and playing for the Vols, if you make a big play like that, people remember it," he said. "I still remember Peyton Manning and his touchdown pass against Alabama on the first play [in 1995] and some of the big plays that happened, and people talk to me all the time about the Tennessee-Florida game."
Tennessee went on to win the SEC East and capped a 10-4 season with a Cotton Bowl thumping of Texas A&M.
After losses to LSU, Georgia and, most notably, Mississippi State, Florida fired Ron Zook before the end of his third season and then hired Urban Meyer, who took the Gators to two of the next four SEC and BCS championships.
The Vols haven't beaten the Gators since.
"I can't believe it," Swain said. "Two storied programs, two programs that recruit at a high level and have a pretty good brand, it's kind of weird to think about Tennessee not being able to beat Florida.
"Even with all the self-inflicting wounds that Tennessee's caused themselves with the football program, it's just kind of weird to think that Tennessee wasn't able to be one point better in nine years."
Wilhoit believes if Tennessee freshman Aaron Medley, his long-time protege, kicks a game-winner to beat Florida, his kick winner from a decade ago will fade further into history.
For now, though, his legacy remains being the kicker who hit that field goal against Florida.
"It very easily could have gone the other way," he said with a laugh, "so I can't complain at all. I could have been that guy that missed that extra point against Florida, and my life would have been very different. It's not bad to be remembered for something very positive like that."
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com.