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1980 Florida Gators football team

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1980 Florida Gators football
Tangerine Bowl, W 35–20 vs. Maryland
ConferenceSoutheastern Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 19
Record8–4 (4–2 SEC)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorMike Shanahan (1st season)
CaptainRod Brooks
Cris Collinsworth
Ted Alston
David Little
Home stadiumFlorida Field
Seasons
← 1979
1981 →
1980 Southeastern Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 1 Georgia $ 6 0 0 12 0 0
No. 19 Mississippi State 5 1 0 9 3 0
No. 6 Alabama 5 1 0 10 2 0
LSU 4 2 0 7 4 0
Florida 4 2 0 8 4 0
Tennessee 3 3 0 5 6 0
Ole Miss 2 4 0 3 8 0
Kentucky 1 5 0 3 8 0
Auburn 0 6 0 5 6 0
Vanderbilt 0 6 0 2 9 0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1980 Florida Gators football team represented the University of Florida during the 1980 NCAA Division I-A football season. The season was the Florida Gators football team's second season under new head coach Charles B. "Charley" Pell, and marked a remarkable one-year turnaround for the Gators from their 0–10–1 record in 1979.[1] The winless 1979 season was the worst season in Gators history, and it was Pell's first campaign as the new head coach of the Gators, after the Gators' previous head coach, Doug Dickey, was fired in the aftermath of a 4–7 season in 1978.[1] Pell's 1980 Florida Gators posted an 8–4 overall record and a Southeastern Conference (SEC) record of 4–2, tying for fourth place in the ten-team SEC.[2] The Gators capped their season with a 35–20 bowl victory over the Maryland Terrapins in the Tangerine Bowl, marking the first time in the history of major college football that a winless team received a bowl bid the following season.[1] Linebacker David Little set the career record for tackles by a Gator and was consensus All-American.[3] Receivers Cris Collinsworth was first-team All-American. Ted Alston was the second receiver. The season features the famous "Run Lindsay Run" in the close loss to national champion Georgia.[4]

Schedule

[edit]
DateOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendanceSource
September 13vs. California*W 41–1341,388[5]
September 20at Georgia Tech*W 45–1235,165[6]
September 27Mississippi StateW 21–1556,225[7]
October 4LSUNo. 19
  • Florida Field
  • Gainesville, FL (rivalry)
L 7–2459,299[8]
October 18at Ole MissW 15–336,012[9]
October 25Louisville*dagger
  • Florida Field
  • Gainesville, FL
W 13–062,687[10]
November 1Auburn
  • Florida Field
  • Gainesville, FL (rivalry)
W 21–1063,274[11]
November 8vs. No. 2 GeorgiaNo. 20ABCL 21–2668,528[12]
November 15at KentuckyNo. 20W 17–1551,766[13]
November 29Miami (FL)*No. 18
  • Florida Field
  • Gainesville, FL (rivalry)
ABCL 7–3156,437[14]
December 6at No. 3 Florida State*No. 19ABCL 13–1753,772[15]
December 20vs. Maryland*MTNW 35–2052,541[16]
  • *Non-conference game
  • daggerHomecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

[2]

Game summaries

[edit]

California

[edit]
1 234Total
California 0 1300 13
• Florida 13 0217 41
  • Date: September 13
  • Location: Tampa Stadium
  • Game attendance: 41,388

[17]

Vs. Georgia

[edit]
#20 Florida Gators (6–1) vs. #2 Georgia Bulldogs (8–0)
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Georgia 7 7 6626
Florida 3 7 01121

at Gator BowlJacksonville, Florida

Game information

[19]

At Florida State

[edit]
Florida Gators (7–3) at #3 Florida State Seminoles (9–1)
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Florida 7 6 0013
Florida St 3 0 7717

at Doak Campbell Stadium, Tallahassee, Florida

  • Date: December 6
  • Game attendance: 53,772
  • TV: ABC
  • Recap/Box
Game information

Personnel

[edit]
1980 Florida Gators football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos. # Name Class
RB 14 Johnell Brown So
WR 21 Cris Collinsworth (C) Sr
RB Calvin Davis
WR Dwayne Dixon Fr
TE 80 Chris Faulkner So
OT 69 Dan Fike So
WR 42 Johnny Gaffney Jr
WR 28 Curt Garrett Jr
QB 12 Bob Hewko So
WR 89 Spencer Jackson So
FB 30 James Jones So
RB Doug Kellom
TE 88 Wilber Marshall Fr
QB Mark Massey
TE 82 Mike Mularkey So
QB Larry Ochab
QB Wayne Peace Fr
OL Dan Plonk
RB 39 Carl Prioleau Sr
OL John Redmond
C 59 Doug Smith So
WR 19 Johnny Smith Sr
OL Jim Subers
OT 70 Joe Wickline Sr
RB 44 Derald Williams So
RB 31 Terry Williams Sr
WR 7 Tyrone Young So
Defense
Pos. # Name Class
DL 53 Rod Brooks (C) Sr
DL 90 Val Brown So
DE 87 Mike Clark Sr
DL 61 Ron Coleman Sr
DB Ivory Curry
DL 66 Robin Fisher Jr
DL 85 David Galloway Jr
DB 43 Sonny Gilliam So
DE 57 Tim Golden Sr
S 20 Tim Groves Sr
LB Fernando Jackson
CB 24 Kyle Knight So
DB Tony Lilly
LB 51 David Little Sr
DL Dock Luckie
DB Vito McKeever
DL 50 Yancey Sutton Sr
CB 47 Bruce Vaughan So
LB 95 Tom Weigmann So
Special teams
Pos. # Name Class
K 3 Brian Clark Jr
P 4 Mark Dickert Jr
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured Injured
  • Redshirt Redshirt

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c Norm Carlson, University of Florida Football Vault: The History of the Florida Gators, Whitman Publishing, LLC, Atlanta, Georgia, pp. 95–96 (2007).
  2. ^ a b 2015 Florida Gators Football Media Guide Archived 2015-12-08 at the Wayback Machine, University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida, pp. 111–112 (2015). Retrieved August 14, 2015.
  3. ^ "Consensus All-America Teams (1980-1989)". College Football at Sports-Reference.com.
  4. ^ Associated Press, "Belue-to-Scott Desperation Pass Saves 'Dogs from Jaws of Gators", The Albany Sunday Herald, p. 1D (November 9, 1980). Retrieved August 21, 2011.
  5. ^ "Florida thrashes Bears in second half". The San Francisco Examiner. September 14, 1980. Retrieved October 31, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "Lightning, Gators strike Tech". The Macon Telegraph & News. September 21, 1980. Retrieved October 31, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "Florida snaps SEC jinx". The Tennessean. September 28, 1980. Retrieved October 31, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "LSU feasts on Gator gumbo". Daily World. October 5, 1980. Retrieved October 31, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "Gators kick up a 15–3 storm". The Pensacola News-Journal. October 19, 1980. Retrieved October 31, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "Florida dumps U of L, suffers by comparison". The Courier-Journal. October 26, 1980. Retrieved October 31, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "Auburn fumbles to 21–10 loss". The Atlanta Journal & Constitution. November 2, 1980. Retrieved October 31, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "Great Scott! Gators stunned". The Miami Herald. November 9, 1980. Retrieved October 31, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ "What couldn't be, was: Victory eludes UK again". Sunday Herald-Leader. November 16, 1980. Retrieved October 31, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ "Hurricanes blow away Gators". The Tampa Tribune. November 30, 1980. Retrieved October 31, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ "Seminoles escape threat by Gators". The Commercial Appeal. December 7, 1980. Retrieved October 31, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ "Peace's passes lead Florida over Terrapins". The Pensacola News-Journal. December 21, 1980. Retrieved October 31, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ Palm Beach Post. 1980 Sept 14. Retrieved 2015-Oct-14.
  18. ^ Ocala Star-Banner. 1980 Nov 09. Retrieved 2019-Jan-02.
  19. ^ 24/7 Sports. Retrieved 2019-Jan-02.