1983 Gator Bowl

The 1983 Gator Bowl was an American college football bowl game played on December 30, 1983, at Gator Bowl Stadium in Jacksonville, FL. The matchup featured the 10th-ranked Iowa Hawkeyes of the Big Ten Conference and the 11th-ranked Florida Gators of the Southeastern Conference. The Gators won, 14–6, to secure their first top 10 ranking in the season's final polls.

1983 Gator Bowl
39th Gator Bowl Game
Iowa Hawkeyes Florida Gators (9–2) (8–2–1) Big Ten SEC 6 14 Head coach:  Hayden Fry Head coach:  Charley Pell AP Coaches 10 10 AP Coaches 11 11
1 2 3 4 Total Iowa 0 3 3 0 6 Florida 7 7 0 0 14
Date	December 30, 1983
Season	1983
Stadium	Gator Bowl Stadium
Location	Jacksonville, FL
MVP	Owen Gill (Iowa RB)[1] Tony Lilly (Florida S)[1]
Referee	Jim Garvey (Eastern Independent)
Attendance	81,293
United States TV coverage
Network	ABC Sports
Announcers	Al Michaels and Frank Broyles
Gator Bowl  < 1982 1984 >

Teams

The 1983 Gator Bowl was the first meeting between the two programs.

Iowa

See also: 1983 Iowa Hawkeyes football team

Florida

See also: 1983 Florida Gators football team

Game summary

Scoring summary

Scoring summary

Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP IOWA FLA 1 0:40 12 87 5:53 FLA Neal Anderson 1-yard touchdown run, Bobby Raymond kick good 0 7 2 5:45 12 88 6:14 IOWA 32-yard field goal by Tom Nichol 3 7 2 1:08 FLA Fumble recovery returned 0 yards for touchdown by Doug Drew, Bobby Raymond kick good 3 14 3 11:00 6 15 3:04 IOWA 31-yard field goal by Tom Nichol 6 14 "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 6 14

^[2]

Team statistics

	Iowa	Florida
First downs	16	14
Rushing yards	40–114	44–168
Passing	13–30–4	9–23–2
Passing yards	167	92
Total offense	281	250
Fumbles lost	2–1	0–0
Punts–average	2–40.0	7–38.0
Penalties	7–44	12–105

Individual leaders

Passing
Iowa: Long – 13-28, 167 yds, 4 INT
Florida: Peace – 9-22, 92 yds, 2 INT

Rushing
Iowa: Gill – 10 carries, 83 yds; Granger – 9 carries, 37 yds
Florida: Anderson – 17 carries, 84 yds, 1 TD; Williams – 10 carries, 68 yds

Receiving
Iowa: Harmon – 6 catches, 90 yds
Florida: Dixon – 5 catches, 55 yds

^[3]

References

1. National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). "Bowl/All-Star Game Records: Most Valuable Players in Former Major Bowls" (PDF). 2012 NCAA Division I Football Records. NCAA.org. p. 90. Retrieved January 3, 2015.
2. "Gator Bowl to Florida, 14-6". The New York Times. December 31, 1983. Retrieved January 3, 2015.
3. Box score