1991_Florida_Gators_football_team

1991 Florida Gators football team

American college football season

The 1991 Florida Gators football team represented the University of Florida during the 1991 NCAA Division I-A 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.^[2]

Quick Facts Florida Gators football, SEC champion ...

1991 Florida Gators football
SEC champion
Sugar Bowl, L 28–39 vs. Notre Dame
Conference	Southeastern Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 8
AP	No. 7
Record	10–2 (7–0 SEC)
Head coach	Steve Spurrier (2nd season)
Offensive scheme	Fun and gun
Defensive coordinator	Ron Zook (1st season)
Base defense	4–4–3^[1]
Captain	Brad Culpepper Cal Dixon Tim Paulk
Home stadium	Ben Hill Griffin Stadium
Seasons ← 1990 1992 →

More information Conf, Overall ...

1991 Southeastern Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 7 Florida $	7	–	0	–	0	10	–	2	–	0
No. 5 Alabama	6	–	1	–	0	11	–	1	–	0
No. 14 Tennessee	5	–	2	–	0	9	–	3	–	0
No. 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

$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

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.^[3]

Schedule

More information Date, Opponent ...

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 7	San Jose State*	No. 6	Ben Hill Griffin Stadium Gainesville, FL		W 59–21	83,067	^[4]^[5]
September 14	No. 17 Alabama	No. 6	Ben Hill Griffin Stadium Gainesville, FL (rivalry)	ESPN	W 35–0	85,069	^[6]
September 21	at No. 17 Syracuse*	No. 5	Carrier Dome Syracuse, NY	ABC	L 21–38	49,823	^[7]^[8]
September 28	vs. No. 21 Mississippi State	No. 14	Florida Citrus Bowl Orlando, FL	TBS	W 29–7	69,328	^[9]
October 5	at LSU	No. 13	Tiger Stadium Baton Rouge, LA (rivalry)	PPV	W 16–0	72,019	^[10]
October 12	No. 4 Tennessee	No. 10	Ben Hill Griffin Stadium Gainesville, FL (rivalry)	ESPN	W 35–18	85,165	^[11]
October 19	Northern Illinois*	No. 6	Ben Hill Griffin Stadium Gainesville, FL		W 41–10	83,708	^[12]
November 2	at Auburn	No. 6	Jordan-Hare Stadium Auburn, AL (rivalry)	ABC	W 31–10	83,714	^[13]
November 9	vs. No. 23 Georgia	No. 6	Gator Bowl Stadium Jacksonville, FL (rivalry)	ESPN	W 45–13	81,679	^[14]
November 16	Kentucky	No. 5	Ben Hill Griffin Stadium Gainesville, FL (rivalry)		W 35–26	84,109	^[15]
November 30	No. 3 Florida State*	No. 5	Ben Hill Griffin Stadium Gainesville, FL (rivalry)	ABC	W 14–9	85,461	^[16]
January 1, 1992	vs. No. 18 Notre Dame*	No. 3	Louisiana Superdome New Orleans, LA (Sugar Bowl)	ABC	L 28–39	76,477	^[17]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

^[3]

Roster

More information Players, Coaches ...

1991 Florida Gators football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
RB		Brady Ackerman
RB		Chris Bilkie
OL	`69`	Brian Fisher
TE		Charlie Dean
QB	`12`	Terry Dean
C	`59`	Cal Dixon	Sr
WR		Monty Duncan
WR		Tre Everett
WR		Lester Ferdinand
TE		Jim Franklin
WR		Kevin Glenn
WR		Aubrey Hill
WR	`84`	Harrison Houston
OL		Hesham Ismail
TE		Terrell Jackson
WR		Willie Jackson
QB		G. A. Mangus
QB	`9`	Shane Matthews	Jr
RB		Willie McClendon
RB		Dexter McNabb
RB		Kelvin Randolph
WR		Ted Reynolds
RB	`33`	Errict Rhett	So
OL		Tony Rowell
TE		George Rushing
WR		Alonzo Sullivan
OL		Jim Watson
OL		Mark White

Defense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
DB		Myrick Anderson
DB		Ephesians Bartley
DL		Kevin Carter
DL	`50`	Brad Culpepper	Sr
DL		William Gaines
DB		Lawrence Hatch
CB		Larry Kennedy
DL		Tony McCoy
DE		Darren Mickell
LB		Carlton Miles
DB		Marquette Oliver
LB		Tim Paulk
LB		Ed Robinson
CB		Del Speer
DE		Harvey Thomas
S	`2`	Will White
FS	`20`	Sammy McCorkle	Fr

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class
K		Arden Czyzewski
P		Shayne Edge

Head coach

Steve Spurrier

Coordinators/assistant coaches

Ron Zook (DC)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible

Injured
Redshirt

Rankings

Further information: 1991 NCAA Division I-A football rankings

More information Week, Poll ...

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
( ) = First-place votes
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Final
AP	5 (1)	6	6 (1)	5 (1)	14	13	10	6	6	6	6	5	5	5	3	7
Coaches	7	6	7	5 (1)	15	13	10	6	6	6	6	5	5	5	4	8

Game summaries

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 ..."^[18]

Syracuse

The 1991 season also included a disappointing 38–21 road loss to the seventeenth-ranked Syracuse Orangemen in the Carrier Dome.^[3]

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

More information Total, Scoring summary ...

#4 Volunteers at #10 Gators

	1	2	3	4	Total
Tennessee	2	10	3	3	18
• Florida	7	14	7	7	35

Date: Saturday, October 12
Location: Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, Gainesville, Florida
Game attendance: 85,165
Television network: ESPN

Scoring summary

1	TENN	C. Smith tackles Matthews for a safety	TENN 2-0

1	FLA	T. Jackson 2 yard pass from Matthews (Czyzewski kick)	FLA 7-2

2	FLA	Everett 29 yard pass from Matthews (Czyzewski kick)	FLA 14-2

2	TENN	Fleming 4 yard pass from Kelly (Becksvoort kick)	FLA 14-9

2	FLA	Rhett 4 yard run (Czyzewski kick)	FLA 21-9

2	TENN	Becksvoort 43 yard field goal	Florida 21-12

3	FLA	Rhett 3 yard run (Czyzewski kick)	FLA 28-12

3	TENN	Becksvoort 23 yard field goal	Florida 28-15

4	TENN	Becksvoort 23 yard field goal	Florida 28-18

4	FLA	Kennedy 44 yard interception return (Czyzewski kick)	Florida 35-18

The Gators defeated the fourth-ranked Tennessee Volunteers 35–18.^[19]

Northern Illinois

Florida beat Northern Illinois 41–10 .

Auburn

The Auburn Tigers fell to Florida 31–10.

Georgia

More information Total, Scoring summary ...

#6 Florida vs. #23 Georgia

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Florida	7	21	3	14	45
Georgia	3	3	7	0	13

Date: Saturday, November 9
Location: Gator Bowl, Jacksonville, Florida
Game attendance: 81,769

Scoring summary

1	FLA	W. Jackson 4 yard pass from Matthews (Czyzewski kick)	FLA 7-0

1	UGA	Parkman 41 yard field goal	FLA 7-3

2	FLA	Rhett 13 yard run (Czyzewski kick)	FLA 14-3

2	FLA	Houston 36 yard pass from Matthews (Czyzewski kick)	FLA 21-3

2	FLA	Sullivan 61 yard pass from Matthews (Czyzewski kick)	FLA 28-3

2	UGA	Parkman 25 yard field goal	FLA 28-6

3	FLA	Czyzewski 25 yard field goal	FLA 31-6

3	UGA	Hastings 5 yard pass from Zeier (Peterson kick)	FLA 31-13

4	FLA	W. Jackson 9 yard pass from Matthews (Czyzewski kick)	FLA 38-13

4	FLA	W. Jackson 24 yard pass from Fox (Czyzewski kick)	FLA 45-13

The Gators defeated rival and twenty-third-ranked Georgia Bulldogs 45–13.^[20]

Kentucky

Florida clinched its first SEC title with a hard-fought 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. "^[21]

Florida State

More information Period, Total ...

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
Florida St	0	3	0	6	9
Florida	0	7	7	0	14

More information Game information ...

Game information

First quarter

No scoring

Second quarter

FSU – Gerry Thomas 19-yard field goal, 8:31. Florida St 3–0. Drive:
UF – Errict Rhett 3-yard run (Arden Czyzewski kick), 3:11. Florida 7–3. Drive:

Third quarter

UF – Harrison Houston 72-yard pass from Shane Matthews (Arden Czyzewski kick), 7:32. Florida 14–3. Drive:

Fourth quarter

FSU – Amp Lee 25-yard pass from Casey Weldon (pass failed), 5:24. Florida 14–9. Drive:

Top passers

FSU – Casey Weldon – 24/51, 305 yards, TD, INT
UF – Shane Matthews – 13/30, 208 yards, TD, 3 INT

Top rushers

FSU – Amp Lee – 9 rushes, 24 yards
UF – Errict Rhett – 24 rushes, 109 yards, TD

Top receivers

FSU – Kez McCorvey – 6 receptions, 89 yards
UF – Harrison Houston – 2 receptions, 76 yards, TD

#3 Florida State Seminoles (10–1) at #5 Florida Gators (9–1)

at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, Gainesville, Florida

Date: November 30
Game attendance: 85,461
TV announcers (ABC): Keith Jackson and Bob Griese
Recap/Box

Among the Gators' 1991 victories, the 14–9 defensive upset of the Florida State Seminoles was a particularly memorable victory played in front of a record home crowd (the previous record set only five weeks earlier vs. Tennessee).^[3] 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 with two minutes remaining§, thus saving the victory for Florida.^[22]

Sugar Bowl

More information Total ...

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Fighting Irish	0	7	10	22	39
Gators	10	6	0	12	28

Date: September 14
Location: Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, LA
Game attendance: 76,447
Game weather: Indoors
TV announcers (ABC): Al Michaels, Frank Gifford, Dan Dierdorf

Main article: 1992 Sugar Bowl

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.^[3] 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.^[23]

NFL Draft

The following Gators were selected in the 1992 NFL Draft after the season.^[24]

More information Round, Pick ...

Round	Pick	Player	Position	NFL Team
4	105	Tony McCoy	Defensive tackle	Indianapolis Colts
5	119	Dexter McNabb	Fullback	Green Bay Packers
5	127	Cal Dixon	Center	New York Jets
6	156	Tony Rowell	Center	Los Angeles Raiders
7	182	Tim Paulk	Linebacker	Atlanta Falcons
8	206	Hesham Ismail	Guard	Pittsburgh Steelers
9	241	Ephesians Bartley	Linebacker	Philadelphia Eagles
10	264	Brad Culpepper	Defensive tackle	Minnesota Vikings
12	309	Mike Brandon	Defensive end	Indianapolis Colts

References

[1]
"Zook's defense was offensive to foes". Tampa Bay Times. December 2, 1991. Retrieved September 20, 2023.
[2]
Carlson, University of Florida Football Vault, pp. 107–108.
[3]
2015 Florida Gators Football Media Guide Archived 2015-12-08 at the Wayback Machine, University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida, p. 107 (2015). Retrieved August 16, 2015.
[4]
"Florida's air attack too much for San Jose". The San Francisco Examiner. September 8, 1991. Retrieved November 12, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
[5]
"Big West". The Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, California. September 8, 1991. p. C18. Retrieved April 21, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
[6]
"Gators pummel Tide 35–0". The Tampa Tribune. September 15, 1991. Retrieved November 12, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
[7]
Dame, Mike (September 22, 1991). "Orange Crush Gators, 38-21". The Orlando Sentinel. p. 31. Retrieved January 16, 2021 – via Newspapers.com .
[8]
Sari Linn, Debra (September 22, 1991). "Orangemen Offer Gators an Option". The Orlando Sentinel. p. 39. Retrieved January 16, 2021 – via Newspapers.com .
[9]
"Gators run to win over Miss. St". The Pensacola News-Journal. September 29, 1991. Retrieved November 12, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
[10]
"Czyzewski's FGs, defense help UF beat LSU 16–0". The Palm Beach Post. October 6, 1991. Retrieved November 12, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
[11]
"Florida's revenge, Tennessee falls 35–18". The Tennessean. October 13, 1991. Retrieved November 12, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
[12]
"Florida struggles, but whips NIU". Chicago Tribune. October 20, 1991. Retrieved November 12, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
[13]
"Gators a step closer". St. Petersburg Times. November 3, 1991. Retrieved November 12, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
[14]
"Gators win 45–13, clinch tie for SEC". The Palm Beach Post. November 10, 1991. Retrieved November 12, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
[15]
"How sweet! Gators rule SEC". The Miami Herald. November 17, 1991. Retrieved November 12, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
[16]
"Florida finally solves slumping Florida State". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. December 1, 1991. Retrieved November 12, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
[17]
"Irish thwart Florida". Wisconsin State Journal. January 2, 1992. Retrieved November 12, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
[18]
"Steve Spurrier says early '90s wins over Alabama 'got us started there at Florida'". AL.com.
[19]
"Florida drops UT 35-18". Ocala Star-Banner. October 13, 1991 – via Google News Archive Search.
[20]
Larry Savage (November 10, 1991). "No. 6 Florida rules SEC". Ocala Star-Banner – via Google News Archive Search.
[21]
"Gators' streak vs. 'Cats filled with close calls". Archived from the original on May 29, 2016. Retrieved July 14, 2016.
[22]
Gainesville Sun. 1991 Dec 1.
[23]
"SEC Player of the Year Winners". College Football at Sports-Reference.com.
[24]
"1992 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 20, 2023.

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