GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- It might not be the Bermuda Triangle, but funny things do happen to football teams that pass through The Swamp, home of college football's longest current home-winning streak.

The No. 2 Tennessee Volunteers found out Saturday that there is a difference between playing a college football game in Kentucky's Commonwealth Stadium and in Steve Spurrier's playpen, despite what one of their players said earlier in the week.

	Steve Spurrier walked off Florida Field victorious for the 30th game in a row.

"We're very fortunate that God smiled on the Gators tonight and The Swamp prevailed," Spurrier said Saturday night after No. 4 Florida's narrow 23-21 victory over Tennessee gave the Gators their 30th straight win at home. "Our fans did a good job and maybe that was the two-point difference right there."

Many magical, mystical things can happen in what might now be the hardest place for any visiting college team to win -- Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, a.k.a. Florida Field, a.k.a. The Swamp.

For instance, it's possible for a visitor to lose to a Florida team that coughs up five turnovers, has two touchdowns called back and is penalized 112 yards.

Especially if Alex Brown is playing defensive end for that Florida team.

In a game memorable for its many mistakes, offensive misfires and several bad calls by officials, Brown was unveiled as a new weapon and the Gators used their new-look defense to put a choke hold on Tennessee's offense, ending the Vols' 14-game winning streak.

Brown, a lightning-quick 250-pound sophomore defensive end from tiny White Springs in North Florida, sacked quarterback Tee Martin five times, hurried him all night, batted down several passes and even intercepted one at the line of scrimmage in one of the finest defensive performances ever by a Spurrier player.

"Alex Brown showed us why he may be the best pass rusher in the nation," Spurrier said of his young defensive lineman whose quick first step baffled the Vols' offensive linemen.

All week long, the Tennessee players had dismissed Florida's home-field advantage as overrated. One Vol suggested that the Gator defense was "a bunch of second stringers." But bragging rights go to Brown and his mates after a week of trash-talking by both sides, including a remark by one Vol that playing in The Swamp was no different than anywhere else in the SEC.

To which Brown responded: "Who was that, Cedrick Wilson who said it was just like playing in Lexington, Kentucky?"

When Tee Martin arrives home in Knoxville, the first thing he should do is check his bags to make certain Brown isn't in one of them, because he was all over the Tennessee quarterback. Martin, under fire from Brown and the Gators, completed only 16 of 39 passes for 192 yards, but did bring his team back from a 23-7 deficit, just shy of a potential game-winning field goal.

If there were any serious questions about Florida's defensive scheme under new coordinator Jon Hoke, they were answered Saturday night. In perhaps the key play of the night, Tennessee took a shot on fourth-and-3 from the Florida 42, but Jamal Lewis was stopped short. Game. Set. Match. Hoke had called the perfect defense for the sweep.

"Our defensive staff just knew that was Tennessee's personality, to run a sweep in that situation," said Hoke.

In fact, there were several calls by Hoke that made it seem as though Florida's new coordinator had a direct line into the Tennessee huddle.

It was sweet vindication for Hoke, who had been held up to scrutiny because of two mediocre defensive performances by his unit in Florida's two games against lowly Western Michigan and Central Florida. Had he been feeling the heat?

"Nah," said the former Missouri secondary coach, "because the only people it really matters to is the head football coach and these football players. And they didn't say anything. No. 1, I don't read the papers, so I'm lucky that way. My wife reads them and she tells me if there's anything I need to know."

So what did his wife tell him?

"Oh she just said, 'they're not bad, they're telling the truth,' " Hoke said. "And you know what? The first half against Western Michigan we didn't play too well. We didn't have that edge we had tonight."

Perhaps, as Spurrier suggested, The Swamp was that edge. There has to be a reason that Florida is 55-2 at home under Spurrier, with the most recent loss being to Auburn in 1994.

Since Tennessee and Florida are both members of the SEC East, this is always an Armageddon-like game for the Vols and the Gators, one that goes a long way toward deciding both conference and national titles.

But Spurrier was quick to point out that this win doesn't necessarily mean Florida will go back to the SEC title game in Atlanta for the first time since it played there 1996, the Gators' national championship season.

"Two years ago we beat Tennessee, but we lost to LSU and Georgia," said Spurrier. "So Tennessee will probably go home and say, 'the Gators screwed up before and they can do it again.' "

Last year, when Florida lost the game in overtime to the Vols, they had an excuse: They had five turnovers. Saturday night the Gators turned it over five times again, but they had The Swamp, Alex Brown and Jon Hoke's new defensive scheme going for them.

Somehow you get the idea that this one might have played out differently in Lexington.

Buddy Martin is a regular contributor to ESPN.com.