Florida Gators football, 1930–39

The Florida Gators football team represents the University of Florida in the sport of American football. The University of Florida fielded its first official varsity football team in the fall of 1906, and has fielded a team every season since then, with the exception of 1943. During the 1930s, the Gators competed in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the Southern Conference until 1932, and the Southeastern Conference (SEC) from 1933 onward. They played their home games at Florida Field on the university's Gainesville, Florida campus.

This article includes a game-by-game list of the Florida Gators' ten football seasons from 1930 to 1939. During the 1930s, the Gators were coached by Charles W. "Charlie" Bachman (1928–1932), Dennis K. "Dutch" Stanley (1933–1935), and Josh Cody (1936–1939). Bachman, Stanley and Cody compiled an overall record of 42–52–7 (.451) during the decade.

Season overview
The 1930 college football season was Charlie Bachman's third as the head coach of the Florida Gators football team. Among these season's highlights were the Gators conference victories over the North Carolina State Wolfpack (27–0), Auburn Tigers (7–0), Clemson Tigers (27–0) and Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (55–7)&mdash;their first win in seven tries against the Yellow Jackets. Also notable was an intersectional victory over the Chicago Maroons (19–0) on their home field in Chicago, Illinois. It was also the first season the Gators played their home games at Florida Field, which was christened with a 20–0 thumping of the Gators by coach Wallace Wade's national champion Alabama Crimson Tide in front of a sell-out Homecoming crowd of over 21,000 fans. Bachman's 1930 Florida Gators finished the season with a 6–3–1 overall record and a 4–2–1 Southern Conference record, placing seventh of twenty-three teams in the conference standings.

Season overview
The 1931 college football season was the fourth of Charlie Bachman as the head coach of the Florida Gators football team. The season's highlights included the Gators' only victories over the North Carolina State (31–0) in Raleigh, North Carolina and the Auburn Tigers (13–12) in Jacksonville, Florida, both of which were fellow Southern Conference members. Bachman's 1931 Florida Gators finished with an overall record of 2–6–2 and a Southern Conference record of 2–4–2, placing fifteenth of twenty-three teams in the conference standings&mdash;Bachman's second worst conference record in five seasons.

Season overview
The 1932 college football season was Charlie Bachman's fifth and last as the head coach of the Florida Gators football team. In the Gators' final year as members of the Southern Conference, their only conference victory was a 19–0 shutout of the struggling Sewanee Tigers, and Bachman's 1932 Florida Gators finished twentieth of twenty-three teams in the conference standings. Notwithstanding the Gators' Depression-era struggles and 3–6 overall win-loss record, Bachman managed to end his tenure on a high note with a 12–2 intersectional upset of the UCLA Bruins in his final game. After the season, Bachman accepted an offer to become the head coach of the Michigan State Spartans, and he was later inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 1978.

Season overview
The 1933 college football season was Florida alumnus Dutch Stanley's first as the head coach of the Florida Gators football team. Stanley, who had been a standout end on the great 1928 Gators team, assembled an all-Florida-alumni coaching staff and led the Gators to a 5–3–1 revival following two consecutive losing seasons in 1931 and 1932. The 1933 season was also the first for the new Southeastern Conference (SEC), and Stanley's 1933 Florida Gators finished with a 2–3 SEC record and tied for ninth among the thirteen SEC charter members. The highlights of the 1933 season included SEC wins over the Sewanee Tigers and Auburn Tigers, and out-of-conference victories versus the North Carolina Tar Heels and Maryland Terrapins.

Season overview
The 1934 college football season was the high-water mark of Dutch Stanley's three-year tenure as the head coach of the Florida Gators football team. The highlights of the season included hard-fought victories over the Auburn Tigers and Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, both fellow Southeastern Conference (SEC) members, and the Virginia Tech Hokies and North Carolina State Wolfpack, two out-of-conference Southern teams. Stanley's 1934 Florida Gators finished the year with a 6–3–1 overall record and a 2–2–1 record in the SEC, placing seventh in the thirteen-member SEC. After 1934, the Gators would not win six or more games again in a single season until 1952.

Season overview
The 1935 college football season marked Dutch Stanley's third and final year as the head coach of the Florida Gators football team. The highlights of the season included the Gators' victories over the Sewanee Tigers (20–0) and the South Carolina Gamecocks (22–0). Stanley's 1935 Florida Gators finished with an overall record of 3–7 and a Southeastern Conference (SEC) tally of 1–6, placing twelfth of thirteen SEC members. Stanley submitted his resignation at the end of the season in the face of alumni discontent, but, in an unusual move, remained a member of the coaching staff when the new head coach, Josh Cody, took over in 1936. Stanley, who was also an education professor, later became the first dean of the university's new College of Health and Human Performance in 1946.

Season overview
The 1936 college football season was Josh Cody's first as the new head coach of the Florida Gators football team. The highlights of the season included a 32–0 shutout of the Stetson College Hatters, a Homecoming game win over the Maryland Terrapins (7–6), and the Gators' only conference victory over the Sewanee Tigers (18–7), but the season was also remembered for the Gators' three disappointing 0–7 shutout losses to the South Carolina Gamecocks, Kentucky Wildcats and Mississippi State Bulldogs. Cody's 1936 Florida Gators finished 4–6 overall and 1–5 in the Southeastern Conference (SEC), placing tenth of thirteen SEC teams in the conference standings&mdash;Cody's worst SEC finish in four seasons as the Gators football coach.

Season overview
The 1937 college football season was the second for Josh Cody as the head coach of the Florida Gators football team. The highlight of the season was the Gators' only 1930s win over the Georgia Bulldogs (6–0) in Jacksonville, Florida, but the season was mostly remembered for its disappointments&mdash;three one-point losses to the Temple Owls (6–7), the Mississippi State Bulldogs (13–14) and the Clemson Tigers (9–10). Cody's 1937 Florida Gators finished 4–7 overall and 3–4 in the Southeastern Conference (SEC), placing eighth of thirteen SEC teams in the conference standings.

Season overview
The 1938 college football season was Josh Cody's third as the head coach of the Florida Gators football team. The highlights of the season included a 21–7 Homecoming win over the Maryland Terrapins and a hard-fought 9–7 conference victory over the Auburn Tigers in Jacksonville, Florida, and the first-time meeting with the future in-state rival Miami Hurricanes. The season also included a 14–16 upset loss to the Stetson Hatters in Gainesville. Cody's 1938 Florida Gators finished 4–6–1 overall and 2–2–1 in the Southeastern Conference (SEC), placing seventh of thirteen SEC teams in the conference standings&mdash;Cody's best finish in the SEC.

Season overview
The 1939 college football season was the fourth and final year for Josh Cody as the head coach of the Florida Gators football team. The highlight of the Gators' season was a 7–0 intersectional upset of coach Frank Leahy's 9–2 Boston College Eagles on their home field in Boston, Massachusetts, in which future All-American end Fergie Ferguson was the defensive star of the game for the Gators. Cody's 1939 Florida Gators finished with a 5–5–1 overall record, but with a winless 0–3–1 record in the Southeastern Conference (SEC), placing twelfth of thirteen teams in the SEC. After leaving Florida, Josh Cody would later become the long-time head coach of the Temple Owls men's basketball team and the Temple University athletic director, and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a player in 1970.