1985 Florida Gators football team

Last updated

1985 Florida Gators football
Conference Southeastern Conference
Ranking
APNo. 5
Record9–1–1 (5–1 SEC)
Head coach
Defensive coordinator Charlie Bailey (1st season)
Home stadium Florida Field
(capacity: 72,000)
Seasons
  1984
1986  
1985 Southeastern Conference football standings
ConfOverall
TeamW L TW L T
No. 4 Tennessee $ 5 1 09 1 2
No. 5 Florida 5 1 09 1 1
No. 13 Alabama 4 1 19 2 1
No. 20 LSU 4 1 19 2 1
Georgia 3 2 17 3 2
Auburn 3 3 08 4 0
Ole Miss 2 4 04 6 1
Vanderbilt 1 4 13 7 1
Kentucky 1 5 05 6 0
Mississippi State 0 6 05 6 0
  • $ Conference champion
  • Florida ineligible for SEC championship due to NCAA probation.
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1985 Florida Gators football team represented the University of Florida during the 1985 NCAA Division I-A football season. The season was the second for Galen Hall as the head coach of the Florida Gators football team, having coached the 1984 Gators' final eight games as their interim coach. Because of NCAA probation terms handed down the previous year, Hall's 1985 Florida Gators were ineligible to win the Southeastern Conference (SEC) title, receive a bowl bid, or appear on live television.

Contents

Schedule

DateOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendanceSource
September 7at Miami (FL) *No. 5W 35–2380,227 [1]
September 14 Rutgers *No. 3T 28–2871,708 [2]
September 28at Mississippi State No. 11W 36–2234,588 [3]
October 5at No. 8 LSU No. 11TigerVisionW 20–078,598 [4]
October 12No. 14 Tennessee No. 7
  • Florida Field
  • Gainesville, FL (rivalry)
W 17–1074,432 [5]
October 19 Southwestern Louisiana *Dagger-14-plain.pngNo. 5
  • Florida Field
  • Gainesville, FL
W 45–074,369 [6]
October 26 Virginia Tech *No. 2
  • Florida Field
  • Gainesville, FL
W 35–1870,119 [7]
November 2at No. 6 Auburn No. 2W 14–1075,000 [8]
November 9vs. No. 17 Georgia No. 1L 3–2482,327 [9]
November 16 Kentucky No. 11
  • Florida Field
  • Gainesville, FL (rivalry)
W 15–1373,672 [10]
November 30No. 12 Florida State *No. 6
  • Florida Field
  • Gainesville, FL (rivalry)
W 38–1474,461 [11]
  • *Non-conference game
  • Dagger-14-plain.pngHomecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

[12]

Roster

1985 Florida Gators football team roster
PlayersCoaches
Offense
Pos.#NameClass
RB 27 Neal Anderson Sr
QB 12 Kerwin Bell So
WR 89 Ricky Nattiel Jr
FB 22 John L. Williams Sr
Defense
Pos.#NameClass
Special teams
Pos.#NameClass
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Cruz Roja.svg Injured
  • Redshirt.svg Redshirt

Postseason

After the season, Sagarin Ratings (ELO-Chess), one of two NCAA recognized selectors created by Jeff Sagarin, an MIT math graduate and sports statistician, named Florida as the 1985 national champions, though Florida does not claim the title. Florida finished with a 9–1–1 overall record and an SEC record of 5–1, tying for first place in the ten-team SEC. [12]

Related Research Articles

The 1957 Florida Gators football team represented the University of Florida during the 1957 NCAA University Division football season. The season was Bob Woodruff's eighth as the head coach of the Florida Gators football team. Woodruff's 1957 Florida Gators finished their abbreviated season with an overall record of 6–2–1 and a Southeastern Conference (SEC) record of 4–2–1, tying for third place among the twelve SEC teams.

The 1959 Florida Gators football team represented the University of Florida during the 1959 NCAA University Division football season. The season was Bob Woodruff's tenth and last year as the head coach of the Florida Gators football team. The Gators celebrated a close conference win over the Mississippi State Maroons (14–13), and suffered close conference defeats to the Vanderbilt Commodores (6–13), the top-ranked LSU Tigers (0–9) and the eighth-ranked Auburn Tigers (0–6). Woodruff finished his tenure on a high note, with the Gators' victories over the Florida State Seminoles (18–8) and the twelfth-ranked Miami Hurricanes (23–14), their primary in-state rivals. Woodruff's 1959 Florida Gators finished with an overall record of 5–4–1 and a Southeastern Conference (SEC) record of 2–4, placing ninth among twelve SEC teams.

The 1960 Florida Gators football team represented the University of Florida during the 1960 NCAA University Division football season. The season was Ray Graves' first of ten and one of his three most successful as the head coach of the Florida Gators football team. Graves' 1960 Florida Gators finished with a 9–2 overall record a 5–1 record in the Southeastern Conference (SEC), placing second among the twelve SEC teams—their best-ever SEC finish to date.

The 1961 Florida Gators football team represented the University of Florida during the 1961 NCAA University Division football season. The season was Ray Graves' second as the head coach of the Florida Gators football team, and the Gators posted their only losing season in Graves' ten years as their coach. Graves' 1961 Florida Gators finished with a 4–5–1 overall record and a 3–3 record in the Southeastern Conference (SEC), placing sixth among the twelve SEC teams.

The 1962 Florida Gators football team represented the University of Florida during the 1962 NCAA University Division football season. The season was the third of Ray Graves' ten seasons as the head coach of the Florida Gators football team. Graves' 1962 Florida Gators posted a 7–4 overall record and a 4–2 record in the Southeastern Conference (SEC), placing fifth in twelve-team SEC. The Gators won the Gator Bowl again in 1962, upsetting ninth-ranked Penn State. They wore the Confederate Battle Flag on the side of their helmets to pump up the southern team facing a favored northern school.

The 1965 Florida Gators football team represented the University of Florida during the 1965 NCAA University Division football season. The season was Ray Graves's sixth year as the Florida Gators football team's head coach. The highlights of the season included an intersectional road victory over the Northwestern Wildcats of the Big Ten Conference, Southeastern Conference (SEC) wins over the LSU (14–7), Ole Miss Rebels (17–0), Georgia Bulldogs (14–10) and Tulane Green Wave (51–13), and a sound thumping of the in-state rival Florida State Seminoles (30–17). The Gators also lost close matches against the Mississippi State Bulldogs (13–18) and the Miami Hurricanes (13–16). Graves' 1965 Florida Gators finished 7–4 overall and 4–2 in the SEC, placing third in the eleven-team conference.

The 1968 Florida Gators football team represented the University of Florida during the 1968 NCAA University Division football season. The season was Ray Graves' ninth of ten years as the head coach of the Florida Gators football team. The Gators offense was led by senior tailback Larry Smith, a first-team All-American. Among the season's highlights were the Gators' conference wins over the Mississippi State Bulldogs (31–14), Tulane Green Wave (24–7) and Kentucky Wildcats (16–14), and victories over the in-state rival Florida State Seminoles (9–3) and Miami Hurricanes (14–10). The Gators also suffered their worst loss since 1942—a 51–0 blowout by the Georgia Bulldogs. Graves' 1968 Florida Gators finished 6–3–1 overall and 3–2–1 in the Southeastern Conference (SEC), tying for sixth among the ten teams of the SEC.

The 1969 Florida Gators football team represented the University of Florida during the 1969 NCAA University Division football season. The season was the tenth, last, and arguably most successful season for Ray Graves as the head coach of the Florida Gators football team. Graves' 1969 Florida Gators finished their regular season with an overall record of 8–1–1 and an SEC record of 3–1–1, placing fourth among the ten SEC teams. Florida concluded the year with a Gator Bowl victory over SEC-champion Tennessee. Afterwards, Graves resigned from the head coaching position to become the university's athletic director, and was replaced by Tennessee head coach Doug Dickey.

The 1977 Florida Gators football team represented the University of Florida during the 1977 NCAA Division I football season. The season was Doug Dickey's eighth as the head coach of the Florida Gators football team. Dickey's 1977 Florida Gators finished with a 6–4–1 overall record and a 3–3 Southeastern Conference (SEC) record, placing fifth among ten SEC teams.

The 1975 Florida Gators football team represented the University of Florida during the 1975 NCAA Division I football season. The season was Doug Dickey's sixth and most successful season as the head coach of the Florida Gators football team. Dickey's 1975 Florida Gators finished with a 9–3 overall record and a 5–1 Southeastern Conference (SEC) record, tying for second among ten SEC teams. The team featured consensus All-American linebacker Sammy Green.

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. 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. 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. 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. Linebacker David Little set the career record for tackles by a Gator and was consensus All-American. Receiver Cris Collinsworth was first-team All-American. The season features the famous "Run Lindsay Run" in the close loss to national champion Georgia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1984 Florida Gators football team</span> American college football season

The 1984 Florida Gators football team represented the University of Florida during the 1984 NCAA Division I-A football season. The campaign was Charley Pell's sixth and last as the head coach of the Florida Gators football team, as he was forced to resign three games into the season after the release of an NCAA report detailing numerous recruiting and other rules violations committed during his tenure at Florida. Offensive coordinator Galen Hall had been hired the previous summer and was not implicated in the scandal, so he was named interim head coach.

The 1986 Florida Gators football team represented the University of Florida during the 1986 NCAA Division I-A football season. The season was Galen Hall's third as the head coach of the Florida Gators football team. The 1986 Florida Gators compiled a 6–5 overall record and a Southeastern Conference (SEC) record of 2–4, tying for 7th place among Ten SEC teams. This was the last year that Florida lost to the Kentucky Wildcats until 2018. This was the longest annual win streak of any team over another in NCAA history and the longest such streak in Southeastern Conference history.

The 1990 Florida Gators football team represented the University of Florida during the 1990 NCAA Division I-A football season. The season marked the return of the Gators' Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Steve Spurrier to his alma mater as the new head coach of the Florida Gators football team.

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.

The 1992 Florida Gators football team represented the University of Florida during the 1992 NCAA Division I-A football season. The season was Steve Spurrier's third as the Florida Gators football team's head coach, and the wins were harder to come by as the star-studded senior classes from 1990 and 1991 had graduated. The Gators racked up six tough Southeastern Conference (SEC) wins over the Kentucky Wildcats (35–19), LSU Tigers (28–21), Auburn Tigers (24–9), seventh-ranked Georgia Bulldogs (26–24), South Carolina Gamecocks (14–9), and Vanderbilt Commodores (41–21). They also suffered two crushing SEC losses to the fourteenth-ranked Tennessee Volunteers (14–31) in Knoxville, Tennessee, and the twenty-fourth-ranked Mississippi State Bulldogs (6–30) on a Thursday night in Starkville, Mississippi.

The 1993 Florida Gators football team represented the University of Florida during the 1993 NCAA Division I-A football season. The season was the fourth for Steve Spurrier as the head coach of the Florida Gators football team. The Gators compiled a 10–2 overall record.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1985 Georgia Bulldogs football team</span> American college football season

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The 1956 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football team was an American football team that represented Georgia Tech as a member of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) during the 1956 NCAA University Division football season. In their 12th year under head coach Bobby Dodd, the team compiled an overall record of 10–1, with a mark of 7–1 in conference play, and finished second in the SEC.

References

  1. "Bell passes Gators over Hurricanes". St. Lucie News Tribune. September 8, 1985. Retrieved November 4, 2023 via Newspapers.com.
  2. "Rutgers ties third-ranked Gators, 28–28". Asbury Park Press. September 15, 1985. Retrieved November 4, 2023 via Newspapers.com.
  3. "Gators defeat Mississippi State". The Macon Telegraph & News. September 29, 1985. Retrieved November 4, 2023 via Newspapers.com.
  4. "Anderson runs and passes over LSU". The Knoxville News-Sentinel. October 6, 1985. Retrieved November 4, 2023 via Newspapers.com.
  5. "Gators defeat Vols". The Leaf-Chronicle. October 13, 1985. Retrieved November 4, 2023 via Newspapers.com.
  6. "Cajuns provide Gators' entertainment in UF win". Florida Today. October 20, 1985. Retrieved November 4, 2023 via Newspapers.com.
  7. "Florida extends streak at Hokies' expense". Daily Press. October 27, 1985. Retrieved November 4, 2023 via Newspapers.com.
  8. "Gators win war". The Tampa Tribune. November 3, 1985. Retrieved November 4, 2023 via Newspapers.com.
  9. "Top-ranked Gators fall to Georgia". The Index-Journal. November 10, 1985. Retrieved November 4, 2023 via Newspapers.com.
  10. "Florida 15, Kentucky 13". Florida Today. November 17, 1985. p. 4C via Newspapers.com.
  11. "Gators top FSU in Consolation Bowl". The Palm Beach Post. December 1, 1985. Retrieved November 4, 2023 via Newspapers.com.
  12. 1 2 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.