1989 Florida Gators football team

1989 Florida Gators football
Freedom Bowl, L 7–34 v. Washington
Conference	Southeastern Conference
Record	7–5 (4–3 SEC)
Head coach	Galen Hall (6th season season; first 5 games) Gary Darnell (interim; final 7 games)
Offensive coordinator	Whitey Jordan (1st season)
Defensive coordinator	Gary Darnell (2nd season)
Home stadium	Ben Hill Griffin Stadium
Seasons ←  1988 1990  →

1989 Southeastern Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 5 Tennessee +	6	–	1	–	0			11	–	1	–	0
No. 9 Alabama +	6	–	1	–	0			10	–	2	–	0
No. 6 Auburn +	6	–	1	–	0			10	–	2	–	0
Florida	4	–	3	–	0			7	–	5	–	0
Ole Miss	4	–	3	–	0			8	–	4	–	0
Georgia	4	–	3	–	0			6	–	6	–	0
Kentucky	2	–	5	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
LSU	2	–	5	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Mississippi State	1	–	6	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Vanderbilt	0	–	7	–	0			1	–	10	–	0
+ – Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

The 1989 Florida Gators football team represented the University of Florida during the 1989 NCAA Division I-A football season. The season was Galen Hall's sixth and final season as the head coach of the Florida Gators football team; Hall was replaced as the Gators head coach after five games by his defensive coordinator, Gary Darnell. Hall and Darnell's 1989 Florida Gators posted an overall record of 7–5 and a Southeastern Conference (SEC) record of 4–3, tying for fourth place in the ten-team SEC. ^[1]

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 9	12:30 pm	Ole Miss		Ben Hill Griffin Stadium Gainesville, FL	TBS	L 19–24	70,014	[2]
September 16		Louisiana Tech *		Ben Hill Griffin Stadium Gainesville, FL		W 34–7	65,109	[3]
September 23		at Memphis State *		Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium Memphis, TN		W 38–13	25,163	[4]
September 30		vs. Mississippi State		Tampa Stadium Tampa, FL		W 21–0	68,109	[5]
October 7	8:00 pm	at LSU		Tiger Stadium Baton Rouge, LA (rivalry)	PPV	W 16–13	74,527	[6]
October 14		Vanderbilt	No. 25	Ben Hill Griffin Stadium Gainesville, FL		W 34–11	69,121	[7]
October 21		New Mexico *	No. 20	Ben Hill Griffin Stadium Gainesville, FL		W 27–21	72,578	[8]
November 4		at No. 12 Auburn	No. 19	Jordan-Hare Stadium Auburn, AL (rivalry)	ESPN	L 7–10	85,214	[9]
November 11	12:30 pm	vs. Georgia	No. 20	Gator Bowl Stadium Jacksonville, FL (rivalry)	TBS	L 10–17	81,577	[10]
November 18		Kentucky		Ben Hill Griffin Stadium Gainesville, FL (rivalry)		W 38–28	71,432	[11]
December 2	7:30 pm	No. 6 Florida State *		Ben Hill Griffin Stadium Gainesville, FL (rivalry)	ESPN	L 17–24	75,124	[12]
December 30	2:00 pm	vs. Washington *		Anaheim Stadium Anaheim, CA (Freedom Bowl)	NBC	L 7–34	33,858	[13] [14]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

^[1]

Personnel

1989 Florida Gators football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class WR 3 Terence Barber Jr OL 52 Chris Bromley Jr OL Brian Fisher Fr OL 59 Cal Dixon So QB Donald Douglas Fr OL 72 John Durden Sr OL 76 Brad Hatcher Sr OL Hesham Ismail So WR 8 Tony Jones Sr TE Greg Keller TE 88 Kirk Kirkpatrick Jr WR 20 Tony Lomack Sr RB 5 Willie McClendon So RB 21 Dexter McNabb So WR 14 Ernie Mills Jr QB 1 Kyle Morris So RB 34 Darryl Perry Sr RB Errict Rhett WR 25 Stacey Simmons Sr RB 39 Cedric Smith Sr RB 22 Emmitt Smith Jr QB 12 Lex Smith Fr OL Richard Starowesky WR Alonzo Sullivan TE Harvey Thomas	Defense Pos. # Name Class DB 44 Ephesians Bartley So DL 94 Mike Brandon So DL 50 Brad Culpepper So DB 28 Richard Fain Jr LB Monty Grow Fr DL 71 Tony McCoy Jr LB 45 Pat Moorer Sr DL Mark Murray DB 98 Godfrey Myles Jr DL Glenn Neely LB 57 Jerry Odom Jr LB 99 Tim Paulk So LB 90 Huey Richardson Jr DB Del Speer Fr DB 6 Jimmy Spencer Jr DB Kerry Watkins DB Will White	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K John David Francis	Head coach Galen Hall Coordinators/assistant coaches Gary Darnell (DC) Whitey Jordan (OC) Charlie Strong (OLB) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

Game summaries

Ole Miss

See also: 1989 Ole Miss Rebels football team

Ole Miss Rebels (1–0) at Florida Gators (0–0)

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Ole Miss	7	0	14	3	24
Florida	3	3	0	13	19

at Florida Field, Gainesville, Florida

• Date: September 9, 1989
• Game attendance: 70,014
• Gainesville Sun, 1989 Sep 10.

Game information

First quarter FLA – John David Francis 36-yard field goal. Florida 3–0. Drive: MISS – Randy Baldwin 9-yard pass from John Darnell (Greg Hogue kick). Ole Miss 7–3. Drive: Second quarter FLA – John David Francis 34-yard field goal. Ole Miss 7–6. Drive: Third quarter MISS – Randy Baldwin 1-yard run (Greg Hogue kick). Ole Miss 14–6. Drive: MISS – Chauncey Godwin 58-yard interception return (Greg Hogue kick). Ole Miss 21–6. Fourth quarter FLA – Emmitt Smith 5-yard run (pass failed). Ole Miss 21–12. Drive: MISS – Brian Lee 40-yard field goal. Ole Miss 24–12. Drive: FLA – Emmitt Smith 2-yard run (John David Francis kick). Ole Miss 24–19. Drive: Top passers MISS – John Darnell – 6/14, 48 yards, TD, INT FLA – Kyle Morris – 18/35, 216 yards, 2 INT Top rushers MISS – Randy Baldwin – 13 rushes, 35 yards, TD FLA – Emmitt Smith – 29 rushes, 117 yards, 2 TD Top receivers MISS – Reid Hines – 2 receptions, 26 yards FLA – Kirk Kirkpatrick – 6 receptions, 83 yards

Louisiana Tech

	1	2	3	4	Total
Louisiana Tech	0	7	0	0	7
Florida	10	0	21	3	34

At Memphis State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Florida	10	14	7	7	38
Memphis State	7	3	3	0	13

Mississippi State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Mississippi State	0	0	0	0	0
Florida	0	14	0	7	21

at Tampa, Florida

At LSU

	1	2	3	4	Total
Florida	3	0	3	10	16
LSU	0	10	0	3	13

Vanderbilt

	1	2	3	4	Total
Vanderbilt	0	3	0	8	11
Florida	10	17	7	0	34

New Mexico

	1	2	3	4	Total
New Mexico	0	0	7	14	21
Florida	7	7	10	3	27

At Auburn

See also: Auburn–Florida football rivalry

#19 Florida Gators (6–1) at #12 Auburn Tigers (5–2)

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Florida	7	0	0	0	7
Auburn	0	0	3	7	10

at Jordan–Hare Stadium, Auburn, Alabama

• Date: November 4
• Game attendance: 85,214
• TV: ESPN
• ^[15]

Game information

First quarter FLA – Emmitt Smith 5-yard run (John David Francis kick), 4:09. Florida 7–0. Second quarter No scoring Third quarter AUB – Win Lyle 47-yard field goal, 2:18. Florida 7–3. Fourth quarter AUB – Shayne Wasden 25-yard pass from Reggie Slack (Win Lyle kick), 0:26. Auburn 10–7. Top passers FLA – Donald Douglas – 1/5, 6 yards AUB – Reggie Slack – 12/19, 143 yards, TD Top rushers FLA – Emmitt Smith – 27 rushes, 86 yards, TD AUB – James Joseph – 26 rushes, 55 yards Top receivers FLA – Kirk Kirkpatrick – 1 reception, 6 yards AUB – James Joseph – 3 receptions, 47 yards

Vs. Georgia

	1	2	3	4	Total
Florida	0	7	0	3	10
Georgia	0	3	14	0	17

at Jacksonville, Florida

Kentucky

	1	2	3	4	Total
Kentucky	7	0	7	14	28
Florida	10	14	7	7	38

Florida State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Florida State	7	3	7	7	24
Florida	3	7	0	7	17

Freedom Bowl (vs. Washington)

Main article: 1989 Freedom Bowl

	1	2	3	4	Total
Florida	7	0	0	0	7
Washington	17	10	0	7	34

at Anaheim, California

References

1. 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.
2. "Rebels turn back Gators; fans rebel against Morris". South Florida Sun Sentinel. September 10, 1989. Retrieved November 11, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
3. "34–7 whipping of La. Tech soothes troubles Gators". The Miami Herald. September 17, 1989. Retrieved July 7, 2021– via Newspapers.com.
4. "Gators, Smith subdue Tigers". The Commercial Appeal. September 24, 1989. Retrieved November 11, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
5. "Morris lifts Gators to 21–0 win". St. Petersburg Times. October 1, 1989. Retrieved November 11, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
6. "LSU loses as time runs out". Daily World. October 8, 1989. Retrieved November 11, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
7. "Gators defy distractions". Fort Myers News-Press. October 15, 1989. Retrieved November 11, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
8. "Gators foil Lobos' bid". Albuquerque Journal. October 22, 1989. Retrieved November 11, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
9. "Auburn derails Florida". The Miami Herald. November 5, 1989. Retrieved November 11, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
10. "Dawgs have their day, again". St. Petersburg Times. November 12, 1989. Retrieved November 11, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
11. "UF wears ddown Kentucky, 38–28". The Tampa Tribune. November 19, 1989. Retrieved November 11, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
12. "FSU air attack down Gators 24–17". Press Journal. December 3, 1989. Retrieved November 11, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
13. "Huskies roll past Florida in 34-7 win". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. December 31, 1989. p. 1D.
14. "Huskies hammer Florida, 34-7". The Bulletin. (Bend, Oregon). wire services. December 31, 1989. p. F4.
15. Gainesville Sun, 1989 Nov 05. Retrieved 2022-Oct-30.