1980 Florida Gators football team

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.^[1] 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.^[1] 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.^[2] 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.^[1] Linebacker David Little set the career record for tackles by a Gator and was consensus All-American.^[3] Receivers Cris Collinsworth was first-team All-American. Ted Alston was the second receiver. The season features the famous "Run Lindsay Run" in the close loss to national champion Georgia.^[4]

1980 Florida Gators football
Tangerine Bowl, W 35–20 vs. Maryland
Conference	Southeastern Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 19
Record	8–4 (4–2 SEC)
Head coach	Charley Pell (2nd season)
Offensive coordinator	Mike Shanahan (1st season)
Captain	Rod Brooks Cris Collinsworth Ted Alston David Little
Home stadium	Florida Field
Seasons ← 1979 1981 →

1980 Southeastern Conference football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 1 Georgia $	6	–	0	–	0			12	–	0	–	0
No. 19 Mississippi State	5	–	1	–	0			9	–	3	–	0
No. 6 Alabama	5	–	1	–	0			10	–	2	–	0
LSU	4	–	2	–	0			7	–	4	–	0
Florida	4	–	2	–	0			8	–	4	–	0
Tennessee	3	–	3	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Ole Miss	2	–	4	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
Kentucky	1	–	5	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
Auburn	0	–	6	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Vanderbilt	0	–	6	–	0			2	–	9	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 13	vs. California*		Tampa Stadium Tampa, FL		W 41–13	41,388	[5]
September 20	at Georgia Tech*		Grant Field Atlanta, GA		W 45–12	35,165	[6]
September 27	Mississippi State		Florida Field Gainesville, FL		W 21–15	56,225	[7]
October 4	LSU	No. 19	Florida Field Gainesville, FL (rivalry)		L 7–24	59,299	[8]
October 18	at Ole Miss		Hemingway Stadium Oxford, MS		W 15–3	36,012	[9]
October 25	Louisville*		Florida Field Gainesville, FL		W 13–0	62,687	[10]
November 1	Auburn		Florida Field Gainesville, FL (rivalry)		W 21–10	63,274	[11]
November 8	vs. No. 2 Georgia	No. 20	Gator Bowl Stadium Jacksonville, FL (rivalry)	ABC	L 21–26	68,528	[12]
November 15	at Kentucky	No. 20	Commonwealth Stadium Lexington, KY (rivalry)		W 17–15	51,766	[13]
November 29	Miami (FL)*	No. 18	Florida Field Gainesville, FL (rivalry)	ABC	L 7–31	56,437	[14]
December 6	at No. 3 Florida State*	No. 19	Doak Campbell Stadium Tallahassee, FL (rivalry)	ABC	L 13–17	53,772	[15]
December 20	vs. Maryland*		Orlando Stadium Orlando, FL (Tangerine Bowl)	MTN	W 35–20	52,541	[16]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

^[2]

Game summaries

California

1 2 3 4 Total California 0 13 0 0 13 • Florida 13 0 21 7 41 Date: September 13 Location: Tampa Stadium Game attendance: 41,388

Scoring summary Q1 8:58 FLA Kellom 1 yard run (Clark kick) FLA 7–0 Q1 3:29 FLA Clark 33 yard field goal FLA 10–0 Q1 :24 FLA Clark 49 yard field goal FLA 13–0 Q2 10:46 CAL Lewis 24 yard pass from Campbell (Luckhurst kick) FLA 13–7 Q2 3:29 CAL Luckhurst 42 yard field goal FLA 13–10 Q2 :04 CAL Luckhurst 30 yard field goal Tie 13–13 Q3 5:49 FLA Faulkner 9 yard pass from Hawko (Clark kick) FLA 20–13 Q3 3:11 FLA Jones 3 yard run (Clark kick) FLA 27–13 Q3 1:15 FLA Garrett 20 yard pass from Hawko (Clark kick) FLA 34–13 Q4 13:23 FLA T. Williams 2 yard run (Clark kick) FLA 41–13

^[17]

Vs. Georgia

See also: 1980 Georgia Bulldogs football team and Florida–Georgia football rivalry

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Georgia	7	7	6	6	26
Florida	3	7	0	11	21

Game information
Georgia Buck Belue 7/16, 145 Yds, TD, 2 INT Herschel Walker 37 Rush, 238 Yds, TD Lindsay Scott 2 Rec, 114 Yds, TD Florida Wayne Peace 20/37, 286 Yds, TD, 2 INT James Jones 22 Rush, 89 Yds, TD Tyrone Young 10 Rec, 183 Yds

#20 Florida Gators (6–1) vs. #2 Georgia Bulldogs (8–0)

at Gator Bowl • Jacksonville, Florida

• Date: November 8
• Game weather: Sunny
• Game attendance: 68,528
• TV announcers (ABC): Al Michaels and Frank Broyles
• ^[18]

Scoring summary

Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP UGA FLA 1 13:09 Georgia Walker 72-yard touchdown run, Robinson kick good 7 0 1 7:07 Florida 40-yard field goal by Clark 7 3 2 13:29 77 Georgia Stewart 13-yard touchdown reception from Belue, Robinson kick good 14 3 2 7:10 Florida Collinsworth 9-yard touchdown reception from Peace, Clark kick good 14 10 3 9:38 Georgia 24-yard field goal by Robinson 17 10 3 3:58 Georgia 20-yard field goal by Robinson 20 10 4 14:14 81 Florida Jones 11-yard touchdown run, 2-point pass good 20 18 4 6:52 11 Florida 40-yard field goal by Clark 20 21 4 1:03 Georgia Scott 93-yard touchdown reception from Belue, 2-point pass incomplete 26 21 "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 26 21

^[19]

At Florida State

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Florida	7	6	0	0	13
Florida St	3	0	7	7	17

Game information

First quarter FSU – Bill Capece 44-yard field goal, 8:28. Florida St 3–0. FLA – Tyrone Young 53-yard pass from Wayne Peace (Brian Clark kick), 2:31. Florida 7–3. Drive: 88 yards. Second quarter FLA – Brian Clark 38-yard field goal, 9:55. Florida 10–3. FLA – Brian Clark 36-yard field goal, 1:48. Florida 13–3. Third quarter FSU – Hardis Johnson 19-yard pass from Rick Stockstill (Bill Capece kick), 10:12. Florida 13–10. Fourth quarter FSU – Hardis Johnson 20-yard pass from Rick Stockstill (Bill Capece kick), 14:24. Florida St 17–13. Top passers FLA – Wayne Peace – 9/24, 160 yards, TD, 4 INT FSU – Rick Stockstill – 11/18, 137 yards, 2 TD, 2 INT Top rushers FLA – FSU – Ricky Williams – 21 rushes, 75 yards Top receivers FLA – FSU – Hardis Johnson – 7 receptions, 107 yards

Florida Gators (7–3) at #3 Florida State Seminoles (9–1)

at Doak Campbell Stadium, Tallahassee, Florida

• Date: December 6
• Game attendance: 53,772
• TV: ABC
• Recap/Box

Personnel

1980 Florida Gators football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class RB 14 Johnell Brown So WR 21 Cris Collinsworth (C) Sr RB Calvin Davis WR Dwayne Dixon Fr TE 80 Chris Faulkner So OT 69 Dan Fike So WR 42 Johnny Gaffney Jr WR 28 Curt Garrett Jr QB 12 Bob Hewko So WR 89 Spencer Jackson So FB 30 James Jones So RB Doug Kellom TE 88 Wilber Marshall Fr QB Mark Massey TE 82 Mike Mularkey So QB Larry Ochab QB Wayne Peace Fr OL Dan Plonk RB 39 Carl Prioleau Sr OL John Redmond C 59 Doug Smith So WR 19 Johnny Smith Sr OL Jim Subers OT 70 Joe Wickline Sr RB 44 Derald Williams So RB 31 Terry Williams Sr WR 7 Tyrone Young So	Defense Pos. # Name Class DL 53 Rod Brooks (C) Sr DL 90 Val Brown So DE 87 Mike Clark Sr DL 61 Ron Coleman Sr DB Ivory Curry DL 66 Robin Fisher Jr DL 85 David Galloway Jr DB 43 Sonny Gilliam So DE 57 Tim Golden Sr S 20 Tim Groves Sr LB Fernando Jackson CB 24 Kyle Knight So DB Tony Lilly LB 51 David Little Sr DL Dock Luckie DB Vito McKeever DL 50 Yancey Sutton Sr CB 47 Bruce Vaughan So LB 95 Tom Weigmann So	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K 3 Brian Clark Jr P 4 Mark Dickert Jr	Head coach Charley Pell Coordinators/assistant coaches Mike Heimerdinger (GA) Vince Kendrick (RB) Mike Shanahan (OC) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

References

1. Norm Carlson, University of Florida Football Vault: The History of the Florida Gators, Whitman Publishing, LLC, Atlanta, Georgia, pp. 95–96 (2007).
2. 2015 Florida Gators Football Media Guide Archived 2015-12-08 at the Wayback Machine, University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida, pp. 111–112 (2015). Retrieved August 14, 2015.
3. "Consensus All-America Teams (1980-1989)". College Football at Sports-Reference.com.
4. Associated Press, "Belue-to-Scott Desperation Pass Saves 'Dogs from Jaws of Gators", The Albany Sunday Herald, p. 1D (November 9, 1980). Retrieved August 21, 2011.
5. "Florida thrashes Bears in second half". The San Francisco Examiner. September 14, 1980. Retrieved October 31, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
6. "Lightning, Gators strike Tech". The Macon Telegraph & News. September 21, 1980. Retrieved October 31, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
7. "Florida snaps SEC jinx". The Tennessean. September 28, 1980. Retrieved October 31, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
8. "LSU feasts on Gator gumbo". Daily World. October 5, 1980. Retrieved October 31, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
9. "Gators kick up a 15–3 storm". The Pensacola News-Journal. October 19, 1980. Retrieved October 31, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
10. "Florida dumps U of L, suffers by comparison". The Courier-Journal. October 26, 1980. Retrieved October 31, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
11. "Auburn fumbles to 21–10 loss". The Atlanta Journal & Constitution. November 2, 1980. Retrieved October 31, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
12. "Great Scott! Gators stunned". The Miami Herald. November 9, 1980. Retrieved October 31, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
13. "What couldn't be, was: Victory eludes UK again". Sunday Herald-Leader. November 16, 1980. Retrieved October 31, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
14. "Hurricanes blow away Gators". The Tampa Tribune. November 30, 1980. Retrieved October 31, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
15. "Seminoles escape threat by Gators". The Commercial Appeal. December 7, 1980. Retrieved October 31, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
16. "Peace's passes lead Florida over Terrapins". The Pensacola News-Journal. December 21, 1980. Retrieved October 31, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
17. Palm Beach Post. 1980 Sept 14. Retrieved 2015-Oct-14.
18. Ocala Star-Banner. 1980 Nov 09. Retrieved 2019-Jan-02.
19. 24/7 Sports. Retrieved 2019-Jan-02.