1991 Florida Gators football team

1991 Florida Gators football
SEC champion
Sugar Bowl, L 28–39 v. Notre Dame
Conference	Southeastern Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 8
AP	No. 7
1991 record	10–2 (7–0 1st SEC)
Head coach	Steve Spurrier
Defensive coordinator	Ron Zook
Captain	Brad Culpepper Cal Dixon Tim Paulk
Home stadium	Ben Hill Griffin Stadium

1991 SEC football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
#7 Florida $	7	–	0	–	0			10	–	2	–	0
#5 Alabama	6	–	1	–	0			11	–	1	–	0
#14 Tennessee	5	–	2	–	0			9	–	3	–	0
#17 Georgia	4	–	3	–	0			9	–	3	–	0
Mississippi State	4	–	3	–	0			7	–	5	–	0
LSU	3	–	4	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Vanderbilt	3	–	4	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Auburn	2	–	5	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Ole Miss	1	–	6	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Kentucky	0	–	7	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

The 1991 Florida Gators football team represented the University of Florida during the 1991 college 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.^[1]

Spurrier's 1991 Florida Gators compiled the first-ever ten-win season in program history, an overall record of 10–2 and a perfect SEC record of 7–0.^[2]

Schedule and results

Date	Opponent^#	Rank^#	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
9–7–1991	San Jose State*	No. 6	Ben Hill Griffin Stadium • Gainesville, Florida		W 59–21	83,067
9–14–1991	No. 17 Alabama	No. 6	Ben Hill Griffin Stadium • Gainesville, Florida	ESPN	W 35–0	85,069
9–21–1991	No. 17 Syracuse*	No. 5	Carrier Dome • Syracuse, New York	ABC	L 21–38	49,823
9–28–1991	No. 21 Mississippi State	No. 14	Citrus Bowl • Orlando, Florida	TBS	W 29–7	69,328
10–5–1991	Louisiana State	No. 13	Tiger Stadium • Baton Rouge, Louisiana	PPV	W 16–0	72,019
10–12–1991	No. 4 Tennessee	No. 10	Ben Hill Griffin Stadium • Gainesville, Florida	ESPN	W 35–18	85,165
10–19–1991	Northern Illinois*	No. 6	Ben Hill Griffin Stadium • Gainesville, Florida (HC)		W 41–10	83,708
11–2–1991	Auburn	No. 6	Jordan-Hare Stadium • Auburn, AL	ABC	W 31–10	83,714
11–9–1991	No. 23 Georgia	No. 6	Gator Bowl • Jacksonville, Florida	ESPN	W 45–13	81,679
11–16–1991	Kentucky	No. 5	Ben Hill Griffin Stadium • Gainesville, Florida		W 35–26	84,109
11–30–1991	No. 3 Florida State*	No. 5	Ben Hill Griffin Stadium • Gainesville, Florida	ABC	W 14–9	85,461
1–1–1992	No. 18 Notre Dame*	No. 3	Superdome • New Orleans, Louisiana (Sugar Bowl)	ABC	L 28–39	76,477
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game.

Primary source: 2015 Florida Gators Football Media Guide.^[2]

Game notes

San Jose State

The season opened with a 59–21 victory over the San Jose State Spartans.

Alabama

The Gators defeated Alabama, 35–0. Spurrier treasured the wins against the Crimson Tide: "Those victories early – '90, '91 – really got us started there at Florida ..."^[3]

Syracuse

The 1991 season also included a disappointing 38–21 road loss to the seventeenth-ranked Syracuse Orangemen in the Carrier Dome.^[2] As of 2015, that game is still the most recent non-conference road game for the Gators played outside the state of Florida.

Mississippi State

The Gators had a dominating confidence win over the twenty-first-ranked Mississippi State Bulldogs, 29–7.

LSU

Florida blanked the LSU Tigers 16–0.

Tennessee

#4 Tennessee at #10 Florida

1 2 3 4 Total Tennessee 2 10 3 3 18 • Florida 7 14 7 7 35 Date: Saturday, October 12 Location: Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, Gainesville, Florida Game attendance: 85,165 Television network: ESPN

Scoring summary 1 TENN C. Smith tackles Matthews for a safety TENN 2-0 1 FLA T. Jackson 2 yard pass from Matthews (Czyzewski kick) FLA 7-2 2 FLA Everett 29 yard pass from Matthews (Czyzewski kick) FLA 14-2 2 TENN Fleming 4 yard pass from Kelly (Becksvoort kick) FLA 14-9 2 FLA Rhett 4 yard run (Czyzewski kick) FLA 21-9 2 TENN Becksvoort 43 yard field goal Florida 21-12 3 FLA Rhett 3 yard run (Czyzewski kick) FLA 28-12 3 TENN Becksvoort 23 yard field goal Florida 28-15 4 TENN Becksvoort 23 yard field goal Florida 28-18 4 FLA Kennedy 44 yard interception return (Czyzewski kick) Florida 35-18

The Gators defeated the fourth-ranked Tennessee Volunteers 35–18.^[4]

Northern Illinois

Florida beat Northern Illinois 41–10 .

Auburn

The Auburn Tigers fell to Florida 31–10.

Georgia

#6 Florida vs. #23 Georgia

1 2 3 4 Total • Florida 7 21 3 14 45 Georgia 3 3 7 0 13 Date: Saturday, November 9 Location: Gator Bowl, Jacksonville, Florida Game attendance: 81,769

Scoring summary 1 FLA W. Jackson 4 yard pass from Matthews (Czyzewski kick) FLA 7-0 1 UGA Parkman 41 yard field goal FLA 7-3 2 FLA Rhett 13 yard run (Czyzewski kick) FLA 14-3 2 FLA Houston 36 yard pass from Matthews (Czyzewski kick) FLA 21-3 2 FLA Sullivan 61 yard pass from Matthews (Czyzewski kick) FLA 28-3 2 UGA Parkman 25 yard field goal FLA 28-6 3 FLA Czyzewski 25 yard field goal FLA 31-6 3 UGA Hastings 5 yard pass from Zeier (Peterson kick) FLA 31-13 4 FLA W. Jackson 9 yard pass from Matthews (Czyzewski kick) FLA 38-13 4 FLA W. Jackson 24 yard pass from Fox (Czyzewski kick) FLA 45-13

The Gators defeated rival and twenty-third-ranked Georgia Bulldogs 45–13.^[5]

Kentucky

Florida clinched its first SEC title with a hardfought win over the Kentucky Wildcats, 35–26. "The Gators appeared on their way to a comfortable victory with a 28-6 lead in the third quarter. That’s when the UF band started playing the song “Pour Some Sugar on Me” by Def Leppard and students began throwing little sugar packets into the air. Then UK quarterback Pookie Jones went wild, almost spoiling the party. "^[6]

Florida State

#3 Florida State at #5 Florida

1 2 3 4 Total Florida St 0 3 0 6 9 • Florida 0 7 7 0 14 Date: Saturday, November 30 Location: Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, Gainesville, Florida Game attendance: 85,461 Television network: ABC

Scoring summary 2 Florida St Thomas 19 yard field goal Florida St 3-0 2 Florida Rhett 3 yard run (Czyzewski kick) Florida 7-3 3 Florida Houston 72 yard pass from Matthews (Czyzewski kick) Florida 14-3 4 Florida St Lee 25 yard pass from Weldon (pass failed) Florida 14-9

Among the Gators' 1991 victories, the 14–9 defensive upset of the Florida State Seminoles was a particularly memorable victory played in front of an overflow home crowd at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.^[2] The Gators scored touchdowns on a first-quarter run by tailback Errict Rhett, and a 72-yard bomb from Shane Matthews to wide receiver Harrison Houston in the third quarter, and held on to win. Gators defensive ends Darren Mickell and Harvey Thomas kept Seminoles quarterback Casey Weldon off balance and on the run in the second half, and, in the fourth quarter, Gators safeties Will White and Del Speer combined to break up a fourth-down pass to the end zone by Weldon, thus saving the victory for Florida.^[7]

Postseason

The Gators closed out their season with their first New Year's Day bowl appearance since 1974, a 28–39 defeat by the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the Sugar Bowl, and were ranked seventh in the final Associated Press Poll.^[2] Florida won the team's first official SEC championship, 59 seasons after joining the conference as a charter member. Quarterback Shane Matthews repeated as SEC Player of the Year in 1991.^[8]

References

1. Carlson, University of Florida Football Vault, pp. 107–108.
2. 2015 Florida Gators Football Media Guide, University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida, p. 107 (2015). Retrieved August 16, 2015.
3. "Steve Spurrier says early '90s wins over Alabama 'got us started there at Florida'". AL.com.
4. "Ocala Star-Banner - Google News Archive Search".
5. "Ocala Star-Banner - Google News Archive Search".
6. "Gators' streak vs. 'Cats filled with close calls".
7. Gainesville Sun. 1991 Dec 1.
8. "SEC Player of the Year Winners". College Football at Sports-Reference.com.