1991 Florida Gators football team
| 1991 Florida Gators football | |
|---|---|
SEC champion | |
Sugar Bowl, L 28–39 v. Notre Dame | |
| Conference | Southeastern Conference |
| Ranking | |
| Coaches | No. 8 |
| AP | No. 7 |
| 1991 record | 10–2 (7–0 1st SEC) |
| Head coach | Steve Spurrier |
| Defensive coordinator | Ron Zook |
| Captain |
Brad Culpepper Cal Dixon Tim Paulk |
| Home stadium | Ben Hill Griffin Stadium |
| 1991 SEC football standings | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Team | W | L | T | W | L | T | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| #7 Florida $ | 7 | – | 0 | – | 0 | 10 | – | 2 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| #5 Alabama | 6 | – | 1 | – | 0 | 11 | – | 1 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| #14 Tennessee | 5 | – | 2 | – | 0 | 9 | – | 3 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| #17 Georgia | 4 | – | 3 | – | 0 | 9 | – | 3 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mississippi State | 4 | – | 3 | – | 0 | 7 | – | 5 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| LSU | 3 | – | 4 | – | 0 | 5 | – | 6 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Vanderbilt | 3 | – | 4 | – | 0 | 5 | – | 6 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Auburn | 2 | – | 5 | – | 0 | 5 | – | 6 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ole Miss | 1 | – | 6 | – | 0 | 5 | – | 6 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Kentucky | 0 | – | 7 | – | 0 | 3 | – | 8 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The 1991 Florida Gators football team represented the University of Florida during the 1991 college football season. The season was Steve Spurrier's second as the head coach of the Florida Gators football team. The Gators were led by quarterback Shane Matthews and first-team All-American defensive tackle Brad Culpepper.[1]
Spurrier's 1991 Florida Gators compiled the first-ever ten-win season in program history, an overall record of 10–2 and a perfect SEC record of 7–0.[2]
Schedule and results
| Date | Opponent# | Rank# | Site | TV | Result | Attendance | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9–7–1991 | San Jose State* | No. 6 | Ben Hill Griffin Stadium • Gainesville, Florida | W 59–21 | 83,067 | ||||
| 9–14–1991 | No. 17 Alabama | No. 6 | Ben Hill Griffin Stadium • Gainesville, Florida | ESPN | W 35–0 | 85,069 | |||
| 9–21–1991 | No. 17 Syracuse* | No. 5 | Carrier Dome • Syracuse, New York | ABC | L 21–38 | 49,823 | |||
| 9–28–1991 | No. 21 Mississippi State | No. 14 | Citrus Bowl • Orlando, Florida | TBS | W 29–7 | 69,328 | |||
| 10–5–1991 | Louisiana State | No. 13 | Tiger Stadium • Baton Rouge, Louisiana | PPV | W 16–0 | 72,019 | |||
| 10–12–1991 | No. 4 Tennessee | No. 10 | Ben Hill Griffin Stadium • Gainesville, Florida | ESPN | W 35–18 | 85,165 | |||
| 10–19–1991 | Northern Illinois* | No. 6 | Ben Hill Griffin Stadium • Gainesville, Florida (HC) | W 41–10 | 83,708 | ||||
| 11–2–1991 | Auburn | No. 6 | Jordan-Hare Stadium • Auburn, AL | ABC | W 31–10 | 83,714 | |||
| 11–9–1991 | No. 23 Georgia | No. 6 | Gator Bowl • Jacksonville, Florida | ESPN | W 45–13 | 81,679 | |||
| 11–16–1991 | Kentucky | No. 5 | Ben Hill Griffin Stadium • Gainesville, Florida | W 35–26 | 84,109 | ||||
| 11–30–1991 | No. 3 Florida State* | No. 5 | Ben Hill Griffin Stadium • Gainesville, Florida | ABC | W 14–9 | 85,461 | |||
| 1–1–1992 | No. 18 Notre Dame* | No. 3 | Superdome • New Orleans, Louisiana (Sugar Bowl) | ABC | L 28–39 | 76,477 | |||
| *Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. | |||||||||
Primary source: 2015 Florida Gators Football Media Guide.[2]
Game notes
San Jose State
The season opened with a 59–21 victory over the San Jose State Spartans.
Alabama
The Gators defeated Alabama, 35–0. Spurrier treasured the wins against the Crimson Tide: "Those victories early – '90, '91 – really got us started there at Florida ..."[3]
Syracuse
The 1991 season also included a disappointing 38–21 road loss to the seventeenth-ranked Syracuse Orangemen in the Carrier Dome.[2] As of 2015, that game is still the most recent non-conference road game for the Gators played outside the state of Florida.
Mississippi State
The Gators had a dominating confidence win over the twenty-first-ranked Mississippi State Bulldogs, 29–7.
LSU
Florida blanked the LSU Tigers 16–0.
Tennessee
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Gators defeated the fourth-ranked Tennessee Volunteers 35–18.[4]
Northern Illinois
Florida beat Northern Illinois 41–10 .
Auburn
The Auburn Tigers fell to Florida 31–10.
Georgia
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Gators defeated rival and twenty-third-ranked Georgia Bulldogs 45–13.[5]
Kentucky
Florida clinched its first SEC title with a hardfought win over the Kentucky Wildcats, 35–26. "The Gators appeared on their way to a comfortable victory with a 28-6 lead in the third quarter. That’s when the UF band started playing the song “Pour Some Sugar on Me” by Def Leppard and students began throwing little sugar packets into the air. Then UK quarterback Pookie Jones went wild, almost spoiling the party. "[6]
Florida State
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Among the Gators' 1991 victories, the 14–9 defensive upset of the Florida State Seminoles was a particularly memorable victory played in front of an overflow home crowd at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.[2] The Gators scored touchdowns on a first-quarter run by tailback Errict Rhett, and a 72-yard bomb from Shane Matthews to wide receiver Harrison Houston in the third quarter, and held on to win. Gators defensive ends Darren Mickell and Harvey Thomas kept Seminoles quarterback Casey Weldon off balance and on the run in the second half, and, in the fourth quarter, Gators safeties Will White and Del Speer combined to break up a fourth-down pass to the end zone by Weldon, thus saving the victory for Florida.[7]
Postseason
The Gators closed out their season with their first New Year's Day bowl appearance since 1974, a 28–39 defeat by the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the Sugar Bowl, and were ranked seventh in the final Associated Press Poll.[2] Florida won the team's first official SEC championship, 59 seasons after joining the conference as a charter member. Quarterback Shane Matthews repeated as SEC Player of the Year in 1991.[8]
References
- ↑ Carlson, University of Florida Football Vault, pp. 107–108.
- 1 2 3 4 5 2015 Florida Gators Football Media Guide, University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida, p. 107 (2015). Retrieved August 16, 2015.
- ↑ "Steve Spurrier says early '90s wins over Alabama 'got us started there at Florida'". AL.com.
- ↑ "Ocala Star-Banner - Google News Archive Search".
- ↑ "Ocala Star-Banner - Google News Archive Search".
- ↑ "Gators' streak vs. 'Cats filled with close calls".
- ↑ Gainesville Sun. 1991 Dec 1.
- ↑ "SEC Player of the Year Winners". College Football at Sports-Reference.com.