When Florida beat FSU to finish up the regular season, it assured the Gators of a New Year’s Six bowl game, which meant the Gators would be playing out of state.
That should have sent a shudder through the members of the fan base with a sense of history.
Because while Florida has one nostril out of the water when it comes to its all-time bowl record (22-21), the Gators are an abysmal 6-13 in bowl games not played in Florida (where they are 16-8).
The five best and five worst trips out of the Sunshine State:
THE BEST
1. 1997 SUGAR BOWL: Hard to beat this one. All Florida did was beat FSU 52-20, avenging an earlier loss in Tallahassee, and win its first national title. Everything about the trip was memorable from watching Ohio State upset Arizona State to give the Gators a chance to Terry Jackson’s dive into the end zone to clinch it.
2. 2007 BCS CHAMPIONSHIP GAME: The game was played in Glendale, Ariz., but the lead-up was in Scottsdale where all of the interviews took place. Florida wasn’t supposed to have a chance, but turned out Ohio State’s offense had none in the 41-14 UF win.
3. 1994 SUGAR BOWL: The 1993 team was honored during this season and rightfully so. Those Gators finished off Florida’s first 11-win season by thumping West Virginia 41-7. The Mountaineers came in 11-0 and ranked second. It was Florida’s first win in a major bowl.
4. 2010 SUGAR BOWL: Despite all of the drama that surrounded this game concerning Urban Meyer’s resignation and return, Tim Tebow’s final game as a Gator was a memorable one. UF put up 659 yards — a bowl record that may never be broken by a Florida team — in the 51-24 rout of unbeaten and fourth-ranked Cincinnati.
5. 1988 ALL-AMERICAN: This was Florida’s first win in a bowl game outside the state, as the Gators beat Illinois 14-10 in Birmingham, Ala. Emmitt Smith scored both touchdowns and rushed for 159 yards and Huey Richardson ended it with a sack of Jeff George.
THE WORST
1. 1996 FIESTA BOWL: It was pretty ugly. With a national championship on the line, Florida led after the first quarter and then gave up 29 second-quarter points in a 62-24 loss to Nebraska. For weeks, the easy line was, “Nebraska just scored again.”
2. 1981 PEACH BOWL: In a freezing rain, Florida played like a team that didn’t want to be there, losing 26-6 to West Virginia in Fulton County Stadium. The Gators had minus-30 rushing yards and lost despite only allowing 201 total yards.
3. 1989 FREEDOM BOWL: Talk about a team that didn’t want to be there. This was Emmitt Smith’s final game as a Gator, but he had his pads off in the second half signing autographs. Washington rolled to a 34-7 win in Anaheim, Calif., Florida scoring on its first play and never again.
4. 2013 SUGAR BOWL: Florida tarnished an 11-1 season by getting handled by Louisville and Charlie Strong 33-23. There were only a few thousand Gator fans in attendance. Florida’s first play was a pick-six the other way.
5. 1977 SUN BOWL: The boys had a good time at this game … until it started. Texas A&M rushed for 241 yards and clobbered the Gators 37-14 in El Paso, Texas. Florida lost four fumbles in the game and didn’t score until it was 24-0.
I am certain Emmitt Smith didn’t play in the 1998 bowl game
I am certain none of this, nor the preceding article about our lousy history in the Peach Bowl, make a damn bit of difference.
One game at a time.
GO GATORS!
I’m thinking he meant the 1988 bowl game, if there was one. Emmitt left just before Spurrier arrived in 1990 as most of us know. Pat is human and makes mistakes like all of us. I hope everybody had a good Christmas.
I’d totally forgotten the 2013 Sugar Bowl and the beginning of a terrible downward spiral culminating with Muschamp’s firing and the hiring of MacYellowTeeth.
My wife, a University of Washington alum, just won’t let me forget about the 1989 Freedom Bowl. I think she still has the tee shirt.