Florida Gators football, 1910–1919

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 1910s, the Florida football team competed in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), and the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association (SIAA) after 1910. The University of Florida adopted the "Florida Gators" nickname for its sports teams in 1911; the earlier Florida football teams were known simply as "Florida" or the "Orange and Blue." The Gators played their home games on the university's Gainesville, Florida campus.

This article is a game-by-game list of the Florida Gators' ten football seasons from 1910 to 1919. During the 1910s, the Gators were coached by George E. Pyle (1909–1913), Charles J. "C.J." McCoy (1914–1916) and Alfred L. "Al" Buser (1917–1919). Pyle, McCoy and Buser compiled an overall record of 36–24–2 (.597) during the decade.

Season overview
The 1910 college football season was George E. Pyle's second as the head coach of the University of Florida football team. The Florida football team lost to the Mercer Bears for the fourth time in four tries, but also defeated three first-time collegiate opponents, Georgia A&M (52–0), The Citadel Bulldogs (6–2), and the College of Charleston Cougars (34–0), and beat the in-state rival Rollins College Tars (38–0) for the third consecutive meeting. Pyle's 1910 Florida football team finished its fifth varsity football season undefeated on its home field, with an overall record of 6–1 and a Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association {SIAA) record of 1–1.

Season overview
The 1911 college football season was George Pyle's third as the head coach of the University of Florida football team, and it was a pivotal year in the growth of the young Florida football program. Florida played four different college football teams from the state of South Carolina, including The Citadel Bulldogs, the South Carolina Gamecocks, the Clemson Tigers and the College of Charleston Cougars, and finished 3–0–1 against the four South Carolina college teams and returned home to Gainesville to celebrate with their new nickname: the "Florida Gators." Pyle's newly-christened Florida Gators finished their sixth varsity football season 5–0–1 &mdash;the first, and to date, the only undefeated season in the history of the Florida Gators football program.

Season overview
The 1912 college football season was the fourth for George Pyle as the Florida Gators football team's head coach. The 1912 season marked several first-time events for the Florida Gators: the first full season that the Florida football team would compete as the "Florida Gators"; the first games that they played against two future rivals, coach Mike Donahue's Auburn Tigers and coach John Heisman's Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (both games were losses); their first-ever victory over the South Carolina Gamecocks; their first season played in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association (SIAA); and the first time they ever participated in a post-season bowl game. Pyle's 1912 Florida Gators finished their seventh varsity football season with an SIAA conference record of 1–2 and an overall winning record of 5–2–1, including a 28–0 victory over the Vedado Tennis Club in the Bacardi Bowl played in Havana, Cuba on Christmas Day 1912.

Season overview
The 1913 college football season was George Pyle's fifth and last as the head coach of the Florida Gators football team. The highlight of the Gators' 1913 campaign was an incredible 144–0 victory over the Florida Southern Moccasins, followed five days later by a 0–55 loss to an Auburn Tigers team that would finish its season undefeated and untied. The Gators also defeated the Mercer Bears, 24–0, for their first win in six games against the Bears. Pyle's 1913 Florida Gators completed their eighth varsity football season with an overall record of 4–3 and their fourth year in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association (SIAA) with a conference record of 2–3; George Pyle finished his five-year tenure as the coach of the Florida Gators with an overall record of 26–7–3. After leaving Florida, Pyle became the athletic director of the West Virginia Mountaineers.

Season overview
The 1914 college football season was Charles J. "C.J." McCoy's first year of three as the head coach of the Florida Gators football team. McCoy's Gators extended their previous winning streaks over the Florida Southern Moccasins, The Citadel Bulldogs and the Mercer Bears, and enjoyed first-time victories against the King College Tornados and the Wofford College Terriers, but the Gators also suffered stinging Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association (SIAA) losses to the undefeated Auburn Tigers (0–20) and the Sewanee Tigers (0–26). McCoy's 1914 Florida Gators completed their ninth varsity football season on a four-game winning streak, with an overall record of 5–2 and an SIAA conference record of 1–2.

Season overview
The 1915 college football season was C. J. McCoy's second as the head coach of the Florida Gators football team. The Gators' 1915 season was one of mixed results. The Gators lengthened their winning records against the Florida Southern Moccasins, The Citadel Bulldogs and the Mercer Bears, and defeated the Tulane Green Wave in their first-ever meeting. However, the Gators also continued their losing streaks against the Auburn Tigers and the Sewanee Tigers, and lost their first-ever game against the Georgia Bulldogs 0–37 in Jacksonville, Florida. McCoy's 1915 Florida Gators completed their tenth varsity football season with an overall record of 4–3 and their sixth year in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association (SIAA) with a conference record of 2–3.

Season overview
The 1916 college football season was C. J. McCoy's third and last as the head coach of the Florida Gators football team. Believing that he had the makings of a great Gators squad, McCoy assembled the most ambitious and difficult Gators football schedule to date. McCoy's plans were thwarted, however, by a series of injuries and academic ineligibility problems, beginning when the Gators' starting quarterback, Ashley "Rammy" Ramsdell, broke his leg playing baseball against the Auburn Tigers. Depleted of first-string football talent and lacking depth, McCoy's 1916 Florida Gators ended their season disastrously with an overall record of 0–5 and a Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association (SIAA) conference record of 0–4. C. J. McCoy finished his three-year tenure as the Gators' coach with an overall record of 9–10.

Season overview
The 1917 college football season was Alfred L. "Al" Buser's first of three as the head coach of the Florida Gators football team. Buser was a former All-American lineman for the Wisconsin Badgers, and promised to bring a Midwestern power football style of play to revive the Gators after the winless 1916 season. The 1917 season, however, was also a disappointment. The Gators extended their winning streak over the Florida Southern Moccasins to four games, but their only Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association (SIAA) victory was a 21–13 win over the South Carolina Gamecocks, and they endured their sixth straight loss to coach Mike Donahue's Auburn Tigers. Buser's 1917 Florida Gators completed their football season with an SIAA conference record of 1–4 and an overall record of 2–4.

Season overview
The 1918 college football season was the second for Al Buser as the head coach of the Florida Gators football team. The Gators' ranks were depleted by the Spanish flu and the loss of World War I military volunteers and draftees, and the 1918 Gators played only one game&mdash;a 2–14 loss to a football team from Camp Johnston, a U.S. Army training installation in nearby Jacksonville, Florida. Buser's Gators did not play a Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association (SIAA) conference schedule in 1918.

Season overview
The 1919 college football season was Al Buser's third and last as the head coach of the Florida Gators football team. Florida students, fans and alumni had learned to suffer through football losses to major Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association (SIAA) opponents like the Georgia Bulldogs and Tulane Green Wave, but the 0–7 loss to the Florida Southern was viewed by many as an unacceptable failure. Nevertheless, Buser's 1919 Florida Gators completed their football season with an improved overall record of 5–3 and an SIAA conference record of 2–2. Al Buser finished his three-year tenure as the Gators' athletic director and football coach with an overall record of 7–8, and he later became the athletic director for Hamline University.