1991 Florida Gators football team

The 1991 Florida Gators football team represented the University of Florida during the 1991 NCAA Division I-A 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.^[2]

1991 Florida Gators football
SEC champion
Sugar Bowl, L 28–39 vs. Notre Dame
Conference	Southeastern Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 8
AP	No. 7
Record	10–2 (7–0 SEC)
Head coach	Steve Spurrier (2nd season)
Offensive scheme	Fun and gun
Defensive coordinator	Ron Zook (1st season)
Base defense	4–4–3[1]
Captain	Brad Culpepper Cal Dixon Tim Paulk
Home stadium	Ben Hill Griffin Stadium
Seasons ← 1990 1992 →

1991 Southeastern Conference football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 7 Florida $	7	–	0	–	0			10	–	2	–	0
No. 5 Alabama	6	–	1	–	0			11	–	1	–	0
No. 14 Tennessee	5	–	2	–	0			9	–	3	–	0
No. 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

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.^[3]

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 7		San Jose State*	No. 6	Ben Hill Griffin Stadium Gainesville, FL		W 59–21	83,067	[4][5]
September 14	7:30 p.m.	No. 17 Alabama	No. 6	Ben Hill Griffin Stadium Gainesville, FL (rivalry)	ESPN	W 35–0	85,069	[6]
September 21	3:30 p.m.	at No. 18 Syracuse*	No. 5	Carrier Dome Syracuse, NY	ABC	L 21–38	49,823	[7][8]
September 28		vs. No. 21 Mississippi State	No. 14	Florida Citrus Bowl Orlando, FL	TBS	W 29–7	69,328	[9]
October 5	8:00 p.m.	at LSU	No. 13	Tiger Stadium Baton Rouge, LA (rivalry)	PPV	W 16–0	72,019	[10]
October 12	7:30 p.m.	No. 4 Tennessee	No. 10	Ben Hill Griffin Stadium Gainesville, FL (rivalry)	ESPN	W 35–18	85,165	[11]
October 19	1:00 p.m.	Northern Illinois*	No. 6	Ben Hill Griffin Stadium Gainesville, FL		W 41–10	83,708	[12]
November 2	3:30 p.m.	at Auburn	No. 6	Jordan-Hare Stadium Auburn, AL (rivalry)	ABC	W 31–10	83,714	[13]
November 9	4:00 p.m.	vs. No. 23 Georgia	No. 6	Gator Bowl Stadium Jacksonville, FL (rivalry)	ESPN	W 45–13	81,679	[14]
November 16		Kentucky	No. 5	Ben Hill Griffin Stadium Gainesville, FL (rivalry)		W 35–26	84,109	[15]
November 30	12:00 p.m.	No. 3 Florida State*	No. 5	Ben Hill Griffin Stadium Gainesville, FL (rivalry)	ABC	W 14–9	85,461	[16]
January 1, 1992	8:00 p.m.	vs. No. 18 Notre Dame*	No. 3	Louisiana Superdome New Orleans, LA (Sugar Bowl)	ABC	L 28–39	76,477	[17]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

^[3]

Roster

1991 Florida Gators football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class RB Brady Ackerman RB Chris Bilkie OL 69 Brian Fisher TE Charlie Dean QB 12 Terry Dean C 59 Cal Dixon Sr WR Monty Duncan WR Tre Everett WR Lester Ferdinand TE Jim Franklin WR Kevin Glenn WR Aubrey Hill WR 84 Harrison Houston OL Hesham Ismail Sr TE Terrell Jackson WR Willie Jackson QB G. A. Mangus QB 9 Shane Matthews Jr RB Willie McClendon RB Dexter McNabb RB Kelvin Randolph WR Ted Reynolds RB 33 Errict Rhett So OL Tony Rowell TE George Rushing WR Alonzo Sullivan OL Jim Watson OL Mark White	Defense Pos. # Name Class DB Myrick Anderson DB Ephesians Bartley DL Kevin Carter DL 50 Brad Culpepper Sr DL William Gaines DB Lawrence Hatch CB Larry Kennedy DL Tony McCoy DE Darren Mickell LB Carlton Miles DB Marquette Oliver LB Tim Paulk LB Ed Robinson CB Del Speer DE Harvey Thomas S 2 Will White FS 20 Sammy McCorkle Fr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K Arden Czyzewski P Shayne Edge	Head coach Steve Spurrier Coordinators/assistant coaches Ron Zook (DC) Charlie Strong (DE) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

Rankings

Further information: 1991 NCAA Division I-A football rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
( ) = First-place votes

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Final
AP	5 (1)	6	6 (1)	5 (1)	14	13	10	6	6	6	6	5	5	5	3	7
Coaches	7	6	7	5 (1)	15	13	10	6	6	6	6	5	5	5	4	8

Game summaries

San Jose State

See also: 1991 San Jose State Spartans football team

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 ..."^[18]

Syracuse

The 1991 season also included a disappointing 38–21 road loss to the seventeenth-ranked Syracuse Orangemen in the Carrier Dome.^[3]

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 Volunteers at #10 Gators

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.^[19]

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

See also: 1991 Georgia Bulldogs football team

The Gators defeated rival and twenty-third-ranked Georgia Bulldogs 45–13.^[20]

Kentucky

Florida clinched its first SEC title with a hard-fought 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. "^[21]

Florida State

See also: 1991 Florida State Seminoles football team and Florida–Florida State football rivalry

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Florida St	0	3	0	6	9
Florida	0	7	7	0	14

Game information

First quarter No scoring Second quarter FSU – Gerry Thomas 19-yard field goal, 8:31. Florida St 3–0. Drive: UF – Errict Rhett 3-yard run (Arden Czyzewski kick), 3:11. Florida 7–3. Drive: Third quarter UF – Harrison Houston 72-yard pass from Shane Matthews (Arden Czyzewski kick), 7:32. Florida 14–3. Drive: Fourth quarter FSU – Amp Lee 25-yard pass from Casey Weldon (pass failed), 5:24. Florida 14–9. Drive: Top passers FSU – Casey Weldon – 24/51, 305 yards, TD, INT UF – Shane Matthews – 13/30, 208 yards, TD, 3 INT Top rushers FSU – Amp Lee – 9 rushes, 24 yards UF – Errict Rhett – 24 rushes, 109 yards, TD Top receivers FSU – Kez McCorvey – 6 receptions, 89 yards UF – Harrison Houston – 2 receptions, 76 yards, TD

#3 Florida State Seminoles (10–1) at #5 Florida Gators (9–1)

at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, Gainesville, Florida

• Date: November 30
• Game attendance: 85,461
• TV announcers (ABC): Keith Jackson and Bob Griese
• Recap/Box

Among the Gators' 1991 victories, the 14–9 defensive upset of the Florida State Seminoles was a particularly memorable victory played in front of a record home crowd (the previous record set only five weeks earlier vs. Tennessee).^[3] 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 with two minutes remaining§, thus saving the victory for Florida.^[22]

Sugar Bowl

1 2 3 4 Total • Fighting Irish 0 7 10 22 39 Gators 10 6 0 12 28 Date: September 14 Location: Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, LA Game attendance: 76,447 Game weather: Indoors TV announcers (ABC): Al Michaels, Frank Gifford, Dan Dierdorf

Main article: 1992 Sugar Bowl

See also: 1991 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team

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.^[3] 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.^[23]

NFL Draft

The following Gators were selected in the 1992 NFL draft after the season.^[24]

Round	Pick	Player	Position	NFL Team
4	105	Tony McCoy	Defensive tackle	Indianapolis Colts
5	119	Dexter McNabb	Fullback	Green Bay Packers
5	127	Cal Dixon	Center	New York Jets
6	156	Tony Rowell	Center	Los Angeles Raiders
7	182	Tim Paulk	Linebacker	Atlanta Falcons
8	206	Hesham Ismail	Guard	Pittsburgh Steelers
9	241	Ephesians Bartley	Linebacker	Philadelphia Eagles
10	264	Brad Culpepper	Defensive tackle	Minnesota Vikings
12	309	Mike Brandon	Defensive end	Indianapolis Colts

References

1. "Zook's defense was offensive to foes". Tampa Bay Times. December 2, 1991. Retrieved September 20, 2023.
2. Carlson, University of Florida Football Vault, pp. 107–108.
3. 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.
4. "Florida's air attack too much for San Jose". The San Francisco Examiner. September 8, 1991. Retrieved November 12, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
5. "Big West". The Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, California. September 8, 1991. p. C18. Retrieved April 21, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
6. "Gators pummel Tide 35–0". The Tampa Tribune. September 15, 1991. Retrieved November 12, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
7. Dame, Mike (September 22, 1991). "Orange Crush Gators, 38-21". The Orlando Sentinel. p. 31. Retrieved January 16, 2021 – via Newspapers.com .
8. Sari Linn, Debra (September 22, 1991). "Orangemen Offer Gators an Option". The Orlando Sentinel. p. 39. Retrieved January 16, 2021 – via Newspapers.com .
9. "Gators run to win over Miss. St". The Pensacola News-Journal. September 29, 1991. Retrieved November 12, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
10. "Czyzewski's FGs, defense help UF beat LSU 16–0". The Palm Beach Post. October 6, 1991. Retrieved November 12, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
11. "Florida's revenge, Tennessee falls 35–18". The Tennessean. October 13, 1991. Retrieved November 12, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
12. "Florida struggles, but whips NIU". Chicago Tribune. October 20, 1991. Retrieved November 12, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
13. "Gators a step closer". St. Petersburg Times. November 3, 1991. Retrieved November 12, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
14. "Gators win 45–13, clinch tie for SEC". The Palm Beach Post. November 10, 1991. Retrieved November 12, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
15. "How sweet! Gators rule SEC". The Miami Herald. November 17, 1991. Retrieved November 12, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
16. "Florida finally solves slumping Florida State". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. December 1, 1991. Retrieved November 12, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
17. "Irish thwart Florida". Wisconsin State Journal. January 2, 1992. Retrieved November 12, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
18. "Steve Spurrier says early '90s wins over Alabama 'got us started there at Florida'". AL.com.
19. "Florida drops UT 35-18". Ocala Star-Banner. October 13, 1991 – via Google News Archive Search.
20. Larry Savage (November 10, 1991). "No. 6 Florida rules SEC". Ocala Star-Banner – via Google News Archive Search.
21. "Gators' streak vs. 'Cats filled with close calls". Archived from the original on May 29, 2016. Retrieved July 14, 2016.
22. Gainesville Sun. 1991 Dec 1.
23. "SEC Player of the Year Winners". College Football at Sports-Reference.com.
24. "1992 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 20, 2023.