first-year coach ron zook led his unranked florida gators against coach tommy tuberville's auburn tigers in gainesville. rex grossman quarterbacked the gators to a pair of early scores, and florida led 23–7. the tigers' starting tailback, carnell williams, left the game with a broken leg, but backup ronnie brown amassed 162 yards and three touchdowns, as the tigers came roaring back to tie the score at 23 in the fourth quarter. with one final chance to win the game in regulation, tigers placekicker damon duval lined up for the game-winning kick as he had in 2001, but gators defensive end bobby mccray blocked the kick as time expired. in overtime, grossman threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to receiver taylor jacobs, the gators defense held the tigers on downs, and florida won 30–23.