After Florida QB DJ Lagway threw a potentially game-tying touchdown pass with 29 seconds left, Gators head coach Billy Napier had his offense line up for the two-point conversation with just a handful of seconds left in regulation.
A successful two-point conversation would have put Florida up 18-17 with less than 3o seconds remaining but a missed conversation attempt would’ve won Tennessee the game (aside from a chaotic onside kick and score). Kicking the PAT, though, would likely send the game into overtime.
Florida originally lined up for the two-point conversation in a standard formation but pulled some trickery by sending the whole offensive line out wide to the left. As Tennessee began to adjust, Vols head coach Josh Heupel called one of the three timeouts he had stashed in his back pocket. Napier said that he felt good about Florida’s chances in overtime and decided to let the game play out in the fifth quarter instead of go for the Top 10 win on the road with the two-point try in regulation.
“Well, we had the play that we felt good about,” Napier said after the game. “And then, obviously, they burned their timeout. I think we felt from the three (yard line) there, we were playing pretty good on both sides of our team at that point in time so we felt like, let’s play overtime. Let’s go give our guys a chance to play some more plays. I thought defensively, we kept ourselves in it. Wasn’t quite ready to do that at that point in time.”
More from RTI: Five Critical Moments: Tennessee Prevails Against Florida
Florida ended up making the PAT to tie the game at 17 and push the rivalry clash into overtime.
The Gators got the ball first but went back four yards on their three offensive attempts. Florida would eventually line up for the 47-yard field goal but missed.
Tennessee would receive the ball and moved it 25 yards into the endzone on just five plays. Vols running back Dylan Sampson punched in the one-yard walkoff touchdown as Tennessee claimed the 23-17 overtime victory on Saturday night in Knoxville.
Here’s a look at Tennessee’s game-winning touchdown from RTI’s angle on the field:
