Florida Gators football, 1990–99

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 1990s, the Gators competed in Division I-A of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). They played their home games at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium (formerly known as 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 1990 to 1999. During the 1990s, the Gators were coached by Stephen O. "Steve" Spurrier (1990–2001), who led the Gators to six SEC championships, one consensus national championship and an overall win-loss record of 122–27–1 (.817).

Season overview
The 1990 college football season marked the return of the Gators' Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Steve Spurrier to his alma mater as the new head coach of the Florida Gators football team. Before Spurrier returned to Gainesville, the Gators had never won a Southeastern Conference (SEC) or national football championship; before Spurrier resigned to seek a coaching position in the National Football League in January 2002, the Gators would win six SEC titles, play for two national championships, and win one in 1996.

During Spurrier's first season, he was able to build on the strong talent recruited by departing Gators coach Galen Hall, but the Gators also reaped the benefits of Spurrier's "there are no excuses for losing" mantra. The 1990 season's highlights included a confidence-building 17–13 signature road win over the Alabama Crimson Tide in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, which set the tone for the remainder of the season, followed by conference blowouts of the Mississippi State Bulldogs (34–21), LSU Tigers (34–8), fourth-ranked Auburn Tigers (48–7), Georgia Bulldogs (38–7) and Kentucky Wildcats (47–15). The Gators also suffered two disappointing road losses to the fifth-ranked Tennessee Volunteers (3–45) in Knoxville, Tennessee, and the eighth-ranked Florida State Seminoles (30–45) in Tallahassee, Florida.

Even as Spurrier's new "fun 'n' gun" offensive scheme led by quarterback Shane Matthews, wide receiver Ernie Mills and tight end Kirk Kirkpatrick was breaking team scoring and yardage records, defensive coordinator Jim Bates coached one of the best defensive squads in team history, including two first-team All-Americans, defensive end Huey Richardson and safety Will White. Matthews finished the season with 2,952 passing yards and twenty-three touchdowns&mdash;then the most passing yards in Gators history.

Spurrier's 1990 Florida Gators, while ineligible to win the SEC title or receive a bowl bid because of lingering NCAA probation, nevertheless posted a best-in-the-SEC record of 6–1 and an overall record of 9–2, and laid the foundation for the Gators' run of six SEC championships and a national title during the next decade. They finished twelfth in the last Associated Press Poll.

Schedule and results


Season overview
The 1991 college football 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. The highlights of the season included dominating Southeastern Conference (SEC) victories over the seventeenth-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide (35–0), twenty-first-ranked Mississippi State Bulldogs (29–7), LSU Tigers (16–0), fourth-ranked Tennessee Volunteers (35–18), Auburn Tigers (31–10) and twenty-third-ranked Georgia Bulldogs (45–13), a hardfought win over the Kentucky Wildcats (35–26) to clinch the Gators' first officially recognized SEC championship, and an upset of the third-ranked Florida State Seminoles (14–9). The 1991 season also included a disappointing 38–21 road loss to the seventeenth-ranked Syracuse Orangemen in the Carrier Dome.

Among the Gators' 1991 victories, the 14–9 defensive upset of the Florida State Seminoles was a particularly memorable victory played in front of an overflow home crowd at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. 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, thus saving the victory for Florida.

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. 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.

Season overview
The 1992 college football season was Steve Spurrier's third as the Florida Gators football team's head coach, and the wins were harder to come by as the star-studded senior classes from 1990 and 1991 had graduated. The Gators racked up six tough Southeastern Conference (SEC) wins over the Kentucky Wildcats (35–19), LSU Tigers (28–21), Auburn Tigers (24–9), seventh-ranked Georgia Bulldogs (26–24), South Carolina Gamecocks (14–9), and Vanderbilt Commodores (41–21). They also suffered two crushing SEC losses to the fourteenth-ranked Tennessee Volunteers (14–31) in Knoxville, Tennessee, and the twenty-fourth-ranked Mississippi State Bulldogs (6–30) on a Thursday night in Starkville, Mississippi.

The Gators' non-conference schedule included a homecoming victory over the Louisville Cardinals (31–17), and another surprisingly difficult win over Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles (24–20). They closed their regular season with a road loss to the third-ranked Florida State Seminoles (24–45) in Tallahassee.

The Gators finished their SEC schedule with a 6–2 conference record, placing first among the six teams of the new SEC Eastern Division and earning a berth in the first-ever SEC Championship Game in Birmingham, Alabama. Spurrier's scrappy young Gators, however, fell short against the SEC Western Division champion, the second-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide (21–28). The Crimson Tide would later defeat the Miami Hurricanes in the Sugar Bowl to win the 1992 national championship.

Spurrier's 1992 Florida Gators posted a 9–4 overall record, concluding their season with a victory over the twelfth-ranked North Carolina State Wolfpack (27–10) in the Gator Bowl, and ranking tenth in the final Associated Press Poll.

Season overview
The 1993 college football season was the fourth for Steve Spurrier as the head coach of the Florida Gators football team. The players' and fans' preseason expectations for the Gators' fourth season under Spurrier were high, and some commentators began to speak openly about the possibility of the Gators making a run for the national title.

The Gators finished the regular season with a conference record of 7–1, and in first place among the six teams of the SEC Eastern Division, thus earning a berth in the second SEC Championship Game in Birmingham, Alabama. The Gators were paired against the Alabama Crimson Tide in the championship game&mdash;a rematch of the 1992 SEC Championship Game. The Gators defeated the Crimson Tide 28–13, winning their first SEC Championship Game and their second SEC football championship in three seasons.

Spurrier's 1993 Florida Gators compiled a 10–2 overall record. Although the Gators fell short of their hopes for a national championship, the 1993 season marked the first time that they were ranked in the top ten of the Associated Press Poll during every week of the season, and they were ranked fifth in the final AP Poll, following their 41–7 Sugar Bowl victory over the West Virginia Mountaineers.

Season overview
The 1994 college football season was Steve Spurrier's fifth as the head coach of the Florida Gators football team. Spurrier's 1994 Florida Gators posted an overall record of 10–2–1 and a 6–2 record in the Southeastern Conference (SEC), placing first among the six SEC Eastern Division teams and winning the SEC championship.

Season overview
The 1995 college football season was the Florida Gators football team's sixth year under head coach Steve Spurrier. The Gators won their first twelve games of the season, defeated the Arkansas Razorbacks 34–3 in the 1995 SEC Championship Game, and were ranked second in the nation, before losing the Bowl Alliance national championship game 24–62 to the Nebraska Cornhuskers in the 1996 Fiesta Bowl. Spurrier's 1995 Florida Gators compiled an overall record of 12–1 and a Southeastern Conference (SEC) record of 8–0, placing first among the six SEC Eastern Division teams and winning the SEC championship.

Season overview
The 1996 college football season was Steve Spurrier's seventh as the head coach of the Florida Gators football team. Spurrier's 1996 Florida Gators posted a 12–1 overall record an 8–0 record in the Southeastern Conference (SEC), placing first among the six SEC Eastern Division teams and winning the SEC championship. The Gators capped their season by defeating the top-ranked Florida State Seminoles 52–20 in a rematch in the Sugar Bowl and winning the national championship.

Season overview
The 1997 college football season was the eighth for Steve Spurrier as the head coach of the Florida Gators football team. Spurrier's 1997 Florida Gators finished with a 10–2 overall record and a 6–2 record in the Southeastern Conference (SEC), tying for second place among the six SEC Eastern Division teams.

Season overview
The 1998 college football season was the Florida Gators football team's ninth under head coach Steve Spurrier. Spurrier's 1998 Florida Gators compiled an overall record of 10–2 and a Southeastern Conference (SEC) record of 7–1, placing second among the six teams of the SEC Eastern Division.

Season overview
The 1999 college football season was Steve Spurrier's tenth as the head coach of the Florida Gators football team. The Gators returned to the SEC Championship Game after a two-year hiatus, but did not bring home another SEC Championship trophy. After losing the SEC Championship Game 34–7 to the Alabama Crimson Tide, the Gators ended their season with a last-second 37–34 loss to the Michigan State Spartans in the Citrus Bowl. Spurrier's 1999 Florida Gators posted a 9–4 overall record and a 7–1 record in the Southeastern Conference, placing first among the six SEC Eastern Division teams.