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10 YEARS STRAIGHT: VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS: 2005-2009 | 2010-2014

After digging through some past notes and film from Florida's long-standing rivalry with Tennessee before both teams square off this weekend in The Swamp at 3:30 p.m., Inside the Gators found a few interesting stats along the way.

From 1969 to 2013 -- a period spanning 31 games -- at least one of the teams was ranked at the time of their meeting. In fact, this year will be only the third time since 1933 that the Gators and Volunteers will face each other as unranked opponents.

Florida is 18-4 against Tennessee since 1993, 23-6 since 1976 and has not allowed the Volunteers to string together more than two consecutive victories since ending their 10-game winning streak that lasted from 1916 to 1953. (Florida and Tennessee did not play annually until 1990 following the expansion of the SEC). UF now owns a 25-19 series advantage.

A lot of this has to do with the 10-game winning streak that the Gators currently hold over the Volunteers.

I remember when I started watching college football back around 2005, back when the streak first started. Florida-Tennessee was such a huge rivalry because it had given us some of the best games in football over the past decade.

Even before then, this rivalry has always been a heated one.

Florida's Danny Wuerffel and Tennessee's Peyton Manning had battled in the 1990s three times, with the former victorious on each occasion. Manning came back for his senior season to lead the title contending Volunteers, only to be foiled by the Gators - now without Wuerffel - once more.

The Gators won their first national championship in 1996, in part because of a dramatic 35-29 win in Knoxville. Two years later, Tennessee followed suit by edging the Gators 20-17 on the way to earning the crown for the first time since 1967.

It was a case of two teams in the same division peaking at the exact same time.

In 2004, 109,061 in attendance watched the No. 13 Volunteers' dramatic 30-28 victory over the No. 11 Gators. To date, it is the largest crowd to ever fill Neyland Stadium and one of the largest in all of football history.

The series moved away from that when Urban Meyer and Tim Tebow came to Gainesville -- and even more so as the Volunteers fell on hard times.

It began on the night of September 17, 2005.

The No. 5 Volunteers came to Ben Hill Griffin Stadium having won three out of the last four against the No. 6 Gators, including back-to-back victories at Florida Field. It was Urban Meyer's first SEC rivalry game and only his third game overall as Florida's head coach.

The Gators took an early lead on a reverse option from quarterback Chris Leak to wide receiver Andre Caldwell, but Tennessee soon responded with a touchdown strike of their own and the score was 7-7 at the half. Florida rode its defense and three second-half field goals by walk-on kicker Chris Hetland to a 16-7 win.

In the stands that night stood 90,716 - the largest to ever watch a football game in the state of Florida at the time. What they witnessed was the birth of a streak and a precursor to a dynasty.

Ten years later, the Gators are rebuilding and the Vols are on the upswing. The Gators eked out a 10-9 win last year in Knoxville, and are playing a pretty good Tennessee team on Saturday -- a team that is a fourth-quarter collapse away from 3-0 and sitting inside the AP Top 25 poll.

Could the streak come to an end Saturday night? Or will the Gators make it 11 in a row?

While we can, let's take a look back at some of the highlights of the past 10 years and remember some the current winning streak's greatest moments.

BEST OFFENSIVE PERFORMANCE BY A GATOR

The greatest offensive performance by a Florida player during the streak belongs to none other than Tebow. In 2007, the year of his Heisman campaign, he completed 14 of 19 passes for 299 yards and two touchdowns with one interception. He added 61 yards and two touchdowns on 18 rushing attempts. His 360 all-purpose yards accounted for the bulk of the Gators' 554 yards of total offense as the no. 5 Gators steamrolled the no. 22 Volunteers 59-20 in Gainesville.

BEST DEFENSIVE PERFORMANCE BY A GATOR

On the opposite side, the greatest defensive performance by a Gator against the Volunteers during the streak goes to former safety Reggie Nelson for his 2006 masterpiece at Rocky Top. Nelson picked off Tennessee's Erik Ainge on the Volunteers' first and last plays from scrimmage in a game that came down to the wire. On Ainge's first pass of the night, he seemed to find a wide open Bret Smith streaking down the right side of the field. The Volunteers crossed their two right side receivers five yards down field and, for a moment, broke Florida's coverage. Ainge let the ball sail to the open Smith. Nelson, who had to make up about 15 yards on the ball, flew across the field to make a diving interception.

On 4th and 16 with 2:52 remaining in the 4th quarter, the no. 13 Volunteers held the ball at the Florida 45. They were down to one timeout and forced to go for it. Ainge dropped back and quickly darted a pass to receiver Robert Meachem. It was underthrown. Nelson read the pass immediately and dove forward to scoop the ball up before it hit the ground. The pick preserved Florida's 21-20 lead and moved the no. 7 Gators to 3-0 (1-0 SEC) on the year.

BEST OVERALL PERFORMANCE BY A GATOR

Chris Rainey turned in the finest performance of them all in 2011. He took 21 carries for 108 yards and stretched a pair of receptions into 104 yards, including an 83 yard touchdown off a short screen where he shot through the heart of the Tennessee defense, splitting four defenders on his way to pay dirt.

Rainey returned three punts for 21 yards and also blocked a punt that led to a crucial field goal for the Gators. In total, he accounted for 234 all-purpose yards, and became the first Florida player since Percy Harvin in 2007 to record 100 or more yards in both receiving and rushing for a game. The Gators won 33-23 riding the back of the 5-foot-9 speedster.

BEST PERFORMANCE BY A VOLUNTEER

There aren't too many memorable performances by Volunteers against the Gators during the streak. Their quarterbacks littered the stat sheets with interceptions and not a single Tennessee running back or wide receiver has broken the 100-yard mark. One performance that does come to mind, however, involves the heroics of Tennessee's defensive tackle Justin Harrell. As a senior in 2006, he ruptured his left bicep against Air Force, but pushed back season-ending surgery a week to play the Gators at Neyland one final time. Harrell started and finished the game. At times, he could be seen grimacing in obvious pain on the telecast, but his composure never failed. He recorded three tackles including one for a loss. The 105,000 strong at Neyland showered him with standing ovations throughout the game. His effort was not enough to lift the Volunteers, but it inspired all of Rocky Top that night and his performance is one of the most revered in Tennessee lore.

Fittingly, Harrell was the last Volunteer to ever wear No. 92. It was to be retired at the end of the season in honor of the great Reggie White, but Harrell's injury gave it an early send-off. His goodbye to Tennessee -- to Neyland -- and the final clash with Florida also served as a goodbye to one of the most beloved Volunteers in history. On that night, Harrell took his place next to White.

BIGGEST BLOWOUT

The biggest blowout of the streak came in 2007. The No. 22 Volunteers were the Gators first test in what would become Tebow's Heisman year. Florida passed in resounding fashion, thrashing Tennessee 59-20. The Gators dominated in all three phases, scoring touchdowns on offense, defense and special teams. Tebow tallied four total touchdowns, and the trio of Tebow, Harvin, and Brandon James amassed more than 600 all-purpose yards. After Tennessee's Eric Berry intercepted a wayward pass from Tebow and returned it 96 yards for a touchdown, tightening the Florida lead to 28-20 midway through the third quarter, Florida responded by reeling off 31 unanswered points to close the game.

CLOSEST WIN

Last season featured the closest of them all, the one where the streak came closest to dying. Florida was shut out through three quarters at Neyland. It trailed by nine entering the final stage. But in the waning moments of the third, a decisive play by true freshman cornerback Jalen Tabor began a cataclysmic shift. Tabor came free around the right end of the line on a drop back by Tennessee quarterback Justin Worley. He sacked and stripped Worley, reached out a paw and pulled the ball into his body as others fell on and around him.

Immediately after, true freshman quarterback Treon Harris relieved embattled junior quarterback Jeff Driskel and led the Gators down the field to their first touchdown of the day. On the next possession, Harris drove the offense down the field to setup a 49-yard try for kicker Austin Hardin. He nailed it. Tennessee had two more opportunities to drive for the win in the closing moments and got as close as the Florida 48 in the final minute, but cornerback Keanu Neal clinched the victory, the 10th in a row, with an interception on a ball thrown just a bit too far out in front of Tennessee wide receiver Pig Howard.

THE DEFINING MOMENT

The defining moment of the streak came way back in 2006. The Gators had the ball and trailed 20-14 with just under eight minutes remaining in the fourth. The ball was at the Tennessee 32. Leak scrambled on a 3rd and 5 only to slide one yard short of the first down. On 4th and 1, Meyer reinserted true freshman Tebow. From the shotgun, Tebow took the snap and followed his fullback who punched a hole along the left side of the line. Tebow was hit about a half yard short of the first down, but wrestled forward for past the sticks to keep the drive alive. Two plays later, Leak hit receiver Dallas Baker for the go-ahead touchdown.

This series of events epitomized the two QB system Meyer used in 2006 on the way to the national championship and was perhaps the first time the country at large witnessed the raw power of the 6-foot-3, 230 pound prodigy.

BEST OVERALL GAME

Not many would argue against the 2006 meeting being the greatest of them all. It featured two top 15 teams: the no. 7 Florida Gators and the no. 13 Tennessee Volunteers. Visiting raucous Neyland Stadium were the Gators, and the game line slimmed to name Florida only a 3.5 favorite. Safety Reggie Nelson picked off Tennessee quarterback Erik Ainge on the first play, but Florida went three and out on the ensuing drive. Leak found Jamalle Cornelius on for a 20 yard, cross field strike a little more than halfway through the first quarter to put the Gators on the board first. Tennessee answered with 17 straight points, including a touchdown on a 48 yard reverse pass from Lucas Taylor to LaMarcus Coker.

Florida rebounded at the end of the third quarter when Leak hit Dallas Baker from four yards out. Tennessee kicker James Wilhoit, who nailed the game winner in the 30-28 classic from two years prior, booted in a 51-yard field goal to make it 20-14. However, Wilhoit kicked the following kickoff out-of-bounds, giving Florida excellent field position with 10:28 remaining. The Gators took over at their own 35. Leak hit receiver Cornelius Ingram for a short gain before running back DeShawn Wynn scampered for 26 yards to the Tennessee 37.

The drive began to stall and the Gators faced a 4th and 1 after a Leak scramble came up short. Tebow, whose reputation became bound to moments like these, entered the game. Following h-back Billy Latsko, Tebow burst through a hole in the left side of the line, shouldering through contact just short of the first down marker. He would come down on the other side, Florida's drive still alive. Two plays later, Chris Leak found Baker once again on a cross field pass play similar to his first touchdown to Jamalle Cornelius. The Volunteers began their final drive at their own 24 with 6:03 remaining. Methodically, they marched down the field, getting as close as the Florida 39 before an intentional grounding pushed them back. It proved to be too much for the Volunteers, and Erik Ainge's prayer on 4th and 13 came up short, right into the arms of a diving Reggie Nelson. The Gators knocked off the Vols at Rocky Top. In what would become a season to remember, this is one of the most memorable of all.

All video courtesy of CBS