The Florida–Georgia football rivalry is an American college football rivalry game played annually by the University of Florida Gators and the University of Georgia Bulldogs,both members of the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference. The programs first met in 1904 or 1915 and have played every season since 1926 except for a war-time interruption in 1943. It is one of the most prominent rivalry games in college football,and it has been held in Jacksonville,Florida since 1933,with only two exceptions,making it one of the few remaining neutral-site rivalries in college football. The game attracts huge crowds to Jacksonville,and the associated tailgating and other events earned it the nickname of the "World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party",although that name is no longer used officially.
Derrick Tyrone Gaffney is an American former college and professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) for eight seasons during the 1970s and 1980s. Gaffney played college football for the University of Florida,and thereafter,he played professionally for the New York Jets of the NFL.
Vincent Joseph Dooley was an American college football coach. He was the head coach of the Georgia Bulldogs from 1964 to 1988,as well as the University of Georgia's (UGA) athletic director from 1979 to 2004. During his 25-year head coaching career,Dooley compiled a 201–77–10 record. His teams won six Southeastern Conference titles and the 1980 national championship. After the 1980 season,Dooley was recognized as college football's "Coach of the Year" by several organizations.
Patrick Joseph Sullivan was an American professional football player and college coach. An All-America quarterback for the Auburn Tigers,he won the Heisman Trophy in 1971 and then played six seasons in the National Football League (NFL) with the Atlanta Falcons and Washington Redskins. Sullivan was a head football coach at Samford University,a position he held from 2007 to 2014. He was previously the head football coach at Texas Christian University (TCU) from 1992 to 1997 and the offensive coordinator at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) from 1999 to 2006. Sullivan was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a player in 1991.
Michael Shane Matthews is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for all or part of fourteen seasons during the 1990s and 2000s. He played college football for the Florida Gators,where he was named the SEC player of the year in 1991 and 1992. Thereafter,he played professionally for the Chicago Bears,Washington Redskins,and four other NFL teams. Since retiring as a player,Matthews has lived near his college alma mater in North Central Florida,where he has hosted a sports talk radio program and coached high school football. In 2017,Matthews pled guilty to having unwittingly played a small part in a large health care fraud organized by former Florida teammate Monty Grow.
The Florida Gators football program represents the University of Florida (UF) in American college football. Florida competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). They play their home games in Steve Spurrier-Florida Field at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on the university's Gainesville campus.
Kerwin Douglas Bell is an American football coach and former player who has been the head coach of the Western Carolina Catamounts football team since 2021. Bell was born in the rural North Central Florida town of Live Oak and was a star high school football quarterback at Lafayette County High School. Though he led the Lafayette Hornets to their only state championship,he did not attract the attention of top college football programs while playing at the small high school. He enrolled at the University of Florida,made the football team as a walk-on,and was redshirted during his freshman season of 1983.
The 2001 Florida Gators football team represented the University of Florida in the sport of American football during the 2001 college 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),playing their home games at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on the university's Gainesville,Florida campus.
The Florida–Tennessee football rivalry is an American college football rivalry between the Florida Gators football team of the University of Florida and Tennessee Volunteers football team of the University of Tennessee,who first met on the football field in 1916. The Gators and Vols have competed in the same athletic conference since Florida joined the now-defunct Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association in 1910,and the schools were founding members of the Southeastern Conference in 1932. Despite this long conference association,a true rivalry did not develop until the early 1990s due to the infrequency of earlier meetings;in the first seventy-six years (1916–91) of the series,the two teams met just twenty-one times. The Southeastern Conference (SEC) expanded to twelve universities and split into two divisions in 1992. Florida and Tennessee were placed in the SEC's East Division and have met on a home-and-home basis every season since. Their rivalry quickly blossomed in intensity and importance in the 1990s and early 2000s as both programs regularly fielded national championship contending teams under coaches Phil Fulmer of Tennessee and Steve Spurrier at Florida.
The 1958 Florida Gators football team represented the University of Florida during the 1958 NCAA University Division football season. The season was the ninth of ten for Bob Woodruff as the head coach of the Florida Gators football team. Woodruff's 1958 Florida Gators finished with an overall record of 6–4–1 and a Southeastern Conference (SEC) record of 2–3–1,placing eighth in the twelve-member SEC.
The 1966 Florida Gators football team represented the University of Florida in the sport of American football during the 1966 NCAA University Division football season. The Gators competed in the University Division of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Southeastern Conference (SEC). In their seventh season under head coach Ray Graves,the Gators compiled a 9–2 overall win–loss record,finished 5–1 and placed third among the SEC's ten teams. Led by quarterback Steve Spurrier,the Gators outscored their opponents by a combined total of 265 to 147 and concluded their 1966 season with a 27–12 victory over the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in the 1967 Orange Bowl. The Gators were not ranked in the final AP Poll,but finished No. 11 in the final UPI Coaches Poll.
The 1973 Florida Gators football team represented the University of Florida during the 1973 NCAA Division I football season. The season was Doug Dickey's fourth as the Florida Gators football team's head coach. Dickey's 1973 Florida Gators finished with a 7–5 overall record and a 3–4 Southeastern Conference (SEC) record,tying for fifth among ten SEC teams.
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.
Terry Jerome LeCount is an American former college and professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) for nine seasons during the 1970s and 1980s. LeCount played college football for the University of Florida,and thereafter,he played professionally for the San Francisco 49ers and Minnesota Vikings of the NFL.
Donald Robert Davis was an American politician. He served in many roles,from decorated war veteran to petroleum executive,board chairman,association president,Jacksonville City Council president and Florida state legislator.
The Auburn–Florida football rivalry is an American college football rivalry between the Auburn Tigers football team of Auburn University and Florida Gators football team of the University of Florida which was first played in 1912. The schools have been members of the same athletic conference for over a century and were founding members of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) when it was established in 1933. The contest was an annual tradition from 1945 until 2002,when the SEC expanded and the rivalry became part of a rotation of other conference games. Since then,the teams have met only four times.
The 1955 Gator Bowl,part of the 1955 bowl game season,was the eleventh annual contest and took place on December 31,1955,at the Gator Bowl Stadium in Jacksonville,Florida. The competing teams were the Vanderbilt Commodores and the Auburn Tigers,both representing the Southeastern Conference (SEC). Vanderbilt upset favored Auburn 25–13 to secure their first ever bowl victory. This remained the lone bowl victory for the Commodores until their 16–14 victory over Boston College in the 2008 Music City Bowl.
The history of Florida Gators football began in 1906,when the newly established "University of the State of Florida" fielded a football team during its first full academic year of existence. The school's name was shortened to the University of Florida in 1908,and the football team gained the nickname "Gators" in 1911. The program started small,usually playing six to eight games per season against small colleges and local athletic club teams in north Florida and south Georgia. The Orange and Blue developed early rivalries with the Stetson Hatters from nearby Deland and Mercer Bears from Macon. During the 1910s,Florida began playing a wider range of opponents from more established football programs across the southeastern United States and faced off against several future rivals - such as Georgia,Georgia Tech,South Carolina,and Auburn - for the first time.
The 1954 Gator Bowl was an American college football bowl game played on January 1,1954,at Gator Bowl Stadium in Jacksonville,Florida. It was the ninth annual playing of the Gator Bowl. The game pitted the Texas Tech Red Raiders against the Auburn Tigers
