2000 Florida Gators football team

2000 Florida Gators football
2000 Florida Gators football
SEC champion; SEC Eastern Division champion
SEC Championship Game, W 28–6 vs. Auburn
Sugar Bowl, L 20–37 vs. Miami (FL)
Conference	Southeastern Conference
	Eastern Division
Ranking
Coaches	No. 11
AP	No. 10
Record	10–3 (7–1 SEC)
Head coach	Steve Spurrier (11th season);
Offensive scheme	Fun and gun
Defensive coordinator	Jon Hoke (2nd season)
Base defense	4–3
Captain	Alex Brown ; Derrick Chambers; Jesse Palmer ; Gerard Warren ; Alex Willis
Home stadium	Ben Hill Griffin Stadium ; (Capacity: 83,000)
	Seasons ← 1999 2001 →

Last updated December 07, 2023

2000 Southeastern Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
Eastern Division
No. 10 Florida x$	7	–	1	10	–	3
No. 19 South Carolina	5	–	3	8	–	4
No. 20 Georgia	5	–	3	8	–	4
Tennessee	5	–	3	8	–	4
Vanderbilt	1	–	7	3	–	8
Kentucky	0	–	8	2	–	9
Western Division
No. 18 Auburn x	6	–	2	9	–	4
No. 22 LSU	5	–	3	8	–	4
Ole Miss	4	–	4	7	–	5
No. 24 Mississippi State	4	–	4	8	–	4
Arkansas	3	–	5	6	–	6
Alabama	3	–	5	3	–	8
Championship: Florida 28, Auburn 6
$ – BCS representative as conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

The 2000 Florida Gators football team represented the University of Florida in the sport of American football during the 2000 NCAA Division I-A football season. The Gators competed in Division I-A of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC), and played their home games at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on the university's Gainesville, Florida campus. They were coached by Steve Spurrier, who led the Gators to their sixth SEC championship, a Sugar Bowl berth, and an overall win–loss record of 10–3 (.769). The season was the team's eleventh of twelve under Spurrier.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 2	Ball State *	No. 9	Ben Hill Griffin Stadium Gainesville, FL	PPV	W 40–19	85,095
September 9	Middle Tennessee *	No. 8	Ben Hill Griffin Stadium Gainesville, FL	PPV	W 55–0	84,311
September 16	at No. 11 Tennessee	No. 6	Neyland Stadium Knoxville, TN (rivalry / College GameDay )	CBS	W 27–23	108,768
September 23	Kentucky	No. 3	Ben Hill Griffin Stadium Gainesville, FL (rivalry)	CBS	W 59–31	85,319
September 30	at Mississippi State	No. 3	Scott Field Starkville, MS	CBS	L 35–47	43,816
October 7	LSU	No. 12	Ben Hill Griffin Stadium Gainesville, FL (rivalry)	JPS	W 41–9	85,365
October 14	No. 19 Auburn	No. 10	Ben Hill Griffin Stadium Gainesville, FL (rivalry)	CBS	W 38–7	85,710
October 28	vs. No. 13 Georgia	No. 8	Alltel Stadium Jacksonville, FL (rivalry)	CBS	W 34–23	84,404
November 4	at Vanderbilt	No. 6	Vanderbilt Stadium Nashville, TN	JPS	W 43–21	32,714
November 11	No. 21 South Carolina	No. 5	Ben Hill Griffin Stadium Gainesville, FL	CBS	W 41–21	85,718
November 18	at No. 3 Florida State *	No. 4	Doak Campbell Stadium Tallahassee, FL (rivalry / College GameDay )	ABC	L 7–30	83,042
December 2	vs. No. 18 Auburn	No. 7	Georgia Dome Atlanta, GA (SEC Championship) (rivalry)	ABC	W 28–6	73,427
January 2, 2001	vs. No. 2 Miami (FL) *	No. 7	Louisiana Superdome New Orleans, LA (Sugar Bowl, rivalry)	ABC	L 20–37	64,407
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

^[2]^[3]

Game summaries

Ball State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Ball St	7	3	9	0	19
•No. 9 Florida	12	14	7	7	40

Date: September 2
Location: Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, Gainesville, Florida
Game attendance: 85,095
TV announcers (PPV): David Steele (Play-by-play), Nat Moore (Color) & Larry Vettel (Sideline)

^[4]

Middle Tennessee St.

	1	2	3	4	Total
Middle Tennessee State	0	0	0	0	0
No. 8 Florida	21	17	10	7	55

Tennessee

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 6 Florida	0	7	10	10	27
No. 11 Tennessee	3	9	8	3	23

Kentucky

	1	2	3	4	Total
Kentucky	3	14	7	7	31
No. 3 Florida	10	28	14	7	59

Mississippi State

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 3 Florida	0	10	13	12	35
Mississippi State	5	11	8	23	47

September 30, 2000

The Florida Gators came into Davis Wade Stadium in Starkville, Mississippi ranked third in the nation. The unranked Mississippi State Bulldogs ran for 351 yards, 172 yards and a touchdown for Dicenzo Miller, and 156 yards and a touchdown for Dontae Walker. Bulldogs quarterback Wayne Madkin also ran for two touchdowns. The Bulldogs compiled 517 total yards of offense.

A frustrated Steve Spurrier rotated three quarterbacks including Rex Grossman. Grossman went 13 for 16 with 231 yards and two touchdowns. All together, the Gators had 494 yards and four touchdowns through the air.

Mississippi State won the game 47–35, breaking Florida's 72-game winning streak against unranked teams in front of a crowd of 43,816. After the game, the Mississippi State fans stormed the field and tore down the goal posts, parts of which ended up all over campus.

	Florida	Mississippi State
First downs	26	25
Rushed–yards	22-M78	57–351
Passing yards	494	166
Sacked–yards lost	3–23	6–58
Return yards	73	54
Passes	34–57–1	14–27–2
Punts	1–45.0	7–42.0
Fumbles–lost	2–2	2–1
Penalties–yards	7–46	10–85
Time of possession	25:16	34:44

LSU

	1	2	3	4	Total
LSU	0	3	0	6	9
No. 12 Florida	7	10	10	14	41

Auburn

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 19 Auburn	0	7	0	0	7
No. 10 Florida	14	21	0	3	38

Georgia

#8 Florida Gators (6–1) vs. #13 Georgia Bulldogs (6–1)

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 8 Florida	9	8	10	7	34
No. 13 Georgia	3	14	0	6	23

at Alltel Stadium • Jacksonville, Florida

Date: October 28
Game time: 3:30 p.m. EDT
Game weather: Sunny • 84 °F (29 °C) • Wind N 3 miles per hour (4.8 km/h; 2.6 kn)
Game attendance: 84,404
Referee: Rogers Redding
TV: CBS
Automated ScoreBook

Game information

Florida

Rex Grossman
12/24, 152 yards, TD, 3 int
Robert Gillespie
15 rush, 79 yards, TD
Jabar Gaffney
8 rec, 138 yards, TD

Georgia

Quincy Carter
20/39, 240 yards, TD, 3 int
12 rush, 53 yards
Damien Gary
5 rec, 64 yards

Scoring summary

Quarter	Time	Drive			Team	Scoring information	Score
Quarter	Time	Plays	Yards	TOP	Team	Scoring information	FLA	UGA
1	6:36	12	61	5:28	Georgia	24-yard field goal by Billy Bennett	0	3
1	5:23	4	73	1:13	Florida	Jabar Gaffney 27-yard touchdown reception from Rex Grossman, Jeff Chandler kick no good	6	3
1	0:10	12	40	3:20	Florida	37-yard field goal by Jeff Chandler	9	3
2	5:23	2	5	0:47	Georgia	Musa Smith 4-yard touchdown run, Billy Bennett kick good	9	10
2	4:49	2	42	0:14	Georgia	Musa Smith 1-yard touchdown run, Billy Bennett kick good	9	17
2	0:30	3	26	0:39	Florida	Robert Gillespie 14-yard touchdown reception from Jesse Palmer, 2-point pass good	17	17
3	11:56	6	19	1:17	Florida	54-yard field goal by Jeff Chandler	20	17
3	4:59	10	82	3:59	Florida	Jesse Palmer 1-yard touchdown run, Jeff Chandler kick good	27	17
4	9:50	12	65	5:40	Georgia	Jasper Sanks 1-yard touchdown reception from Quincy Carter, Billy Bennett kick no good	27	23
4	4:42	2	29	0:15	Florida	Robert Gillespie 2-yard touchdown run, Jeff Chandler kick good	34	23
"TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football.							34	23

Vanderbilt

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 6 Florida	10	7	19	7	43
Vanderbilt	7	6	0	7	20

South Carolina

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 21 South Carolina	21	0	0	0	21
No. 5 Florida	3	28	10	0	41

Florida State

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 4 Florida	7	0	0	0	7
No. 3 Florida State	14	0	13	3	30

SEC Championship Game

SEC Championship Game
#18 Auburn vs. #7 Florida

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 18 Auburn	0	3	3	0	6
•No. 7 Florida	14	7	7	0	28

Date: December 2
Location: Georgia Dome, Atlanta
TV announcers (ABC): Brent Musburger (Play-by-play), Gary Danielson (Color) & Jack Arute (Sideline)

Source:

Miami (Sugar Bowl)

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 2 Miami	10	3	14	10	37
No. 7 Florida	7	3	7	3	20

Rankings

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	15	Final
AP	9	9	8	7	3	3 (1)	12	10	8	8	6	5	4	7	7	7	10
Coaches Poll	7	7	5	4	3	3	9	9	7	7	5	4	4	9	8	7	11
BCS	Not released									6	6	5	5	7	7	7	Not released

Notable players

07 QB Jesse Palmer (Sr.)
08 QB Rex Grossman (Fr.)
09 QB Brock Berlin (Fr.)
05 RB Earnest Graham (So.)
33 RB Ran Carthon (Fr.)
06 WR Taylor Jacobs (So.)
10 WR Jabar Gaffney (Fr.)
17 WR Reche Caldwell (So.)
78 T Kenyatta Walker (Jr.)
91 DE Derrick Chambers (Sr.)
57 DE Bobby McCray (Fr.)
61 DT Gerard Warren (Jr.)
45 LB Andra Davis (Jr.)
03 CB Lito Sheppard (So.)
04 S Marquand Manuel (Jr.)

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References

↑ University of Florida Sports Information Department. "Florida 2000 Media Guide" (PDF). floridagators.com. University Athletic Association, Inc. Retrieved March 15, 2018.
↑ 2015 Florida Gators Football Media Guide Archived 2015-12-08 at the Wayback Machine , University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida, p. 112 (2015). Retrieved August 14, 2015.
↑ GatorZone.com, Football, History, Florida Football 2000 Archived September 24, 2015, at the Wayback Machine . Retrieved August 14, 2015.
↑ USA Today

Bibliography

2009 Southeastern Conference Football Media Guide, Florida Year-by-Year Records, Southeastern Conference, Birmingham, Alabama, p. 60 (2009).
Carlson, Norm, University of Florida Football Vault: The History of the Florida Gators, Whitman Publishing, LLC, Atlanta, Georgia (2007). ISBN 0-7948-2298-3.
Golenbock, Peter, Go Gators! An Oral History of Florida's Pursuit of Gridiron Glory, Legends Publishing, LLC, St. Petersburg, Florida (2002). ISBN 0-9650782-1-3.
Hairston, Jack, Tales from the Gator Swamp: A Collection of the Greatest Gator Stories Ever Told, Sports Publishing, LLC, Champaign, Illinois (2002). ISBN 1-58261-514-4.
McCarthy, Kevin M., Fightin' Gators: A History of University of Florida Football, Arcadia Publishing, Mount Pleasant, South Carolina (2000). ISBN 978-0-7385-0559-6.

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[1] University of Florida Sports Information Department. "Florida 2000 Media Guide" (PDF). floridagators.com. University Athletic Association, Inc. Retrieved March 15, 2018.

[ufmediaguide-2] 2015 Florida Gators Football Media Guide Archived 2015-12-08 at the Wayback Machine , University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida, p. 112 (2015). Retrieved August 14, 2015.

[3] GatorZone.com, Football, History, Florida Football 2000 Archived September 24, 2015, at the Wayback Machine . Retrieved August 14, 2015.

[4] USA Today

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v t e Florida Gators football
Venues	The Baseball Park (1906–1910) University Athletic Field / Fleming Field (1911–1930) Ben Hill Griffin Stadium (1930–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Alabama Auburn Florida State (Florida Cup) Georgia Kentucky LSU Miami (Florida Cup) Tennessee
Culture & lore	History The Pride of the Sunshine Gator Chomp Mr. Two Bits Gatorade 1992 SEC Championship Game 2009 SEC Championship Game
People	Head coaches Ring of Honor All-Americans UF Athletic Hall of Fame Starting quarterbacks Statistical leaders NFL draftees
Seasons	1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
National championship seasons in bold

2000 Florida Gators football

SEC champion SEC Eastern Division champion
SEC Championship Game, W 28–6 vs. Auburn
Sugar Bowl, L 20–37 vs. Miami (FL)
Conference	Southeastern Conference
Division	Eastern Division
Ranking
Coaches	No. 11
AP	No. 10
Record	10–3 (7–1 SEC)
Head coach	Steve Spurrier (11th season)
Offensive scheme	Fun and gun
Defensive coordinator	Jon Hoke (2nd season)
Base defense	4–3
Captain	Alex Brown Derrick Chambers Jesse Palmer Gerard Warren Alex Willis
Home stadium	Ben Hill Griffin Stadium (Capacity: 83,000)^[1]
Seasons ← 1999 2001 →