2000 Florida Gators football team

2000 Florida Gators football
SEC Champions SEC Eastern Division Champions
SEC Championship Game, W 28–6 vs. Auburn
Sugar Bowl, L 37–20 vs. Miami
Conference	Southeastern Conference
Division	Eastern Division
Ranking
Coaches	No. 11
AP	No. 10
2000 record	10–3 (7–1 SEC)
Head coach	Steve Spurrier
Defensive coordinator	Jon Hoke
Captain	Alex Brown Derrick Chambers Jesse Palmer Gerard Warren Alex Willis
Home stadium	Ben Hill Griffin Stadium
Seasons

2000 SEC football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
Eastern Division
#10 Florida x†		7	–	1					10	–	3
#20 Georgia		5	–	3					8	–	4
#19 South Carolina		5	–	3					8	–	4
Tennessee		5	–	3					8	–	4
Vanderbilt		1	–	7					3	–	8
Kentucky		0	–	8					2	–	9
Western Division
#18 Auburn x		6	–	2					9	–	4
#22 LSU		5	–	3					8	–	4
#24 Mississippi State		4	–	4					8	–	4
Ole Miss		4	–	4					7	–	5
Arkansas		3	–	5					6	–	6
Alabama		3	–	5					3	–	8
Championship: Florida 28, Auburn 6
† – BCS representative as champion x – Division champion/co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

The 2000 Florida Gators football team represented the University of Florida in the sport of American football during the 2000 college football season. The Gators competed in Division I-A of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC), and played their home games at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on the university's Gainesville, Florida campus. They were coached by Steve Spurrier, who led the Gators to their sixth SEC championship, a Sugar Bowl berth, and an overall win-loss record of 10–3 (.769). The season was the team's eleventh of twelve under Spurrier.

Schedule and results

Date	Opponent#	Rank#	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
9–2–2000*	Ball State	#9	Ben Hill Griffin Stadium • Gainesville, FL	PPV	W 40–19	85,095
9–9–2000*	Middle Tennessee	#8	Ben Hill Griffin Stadium • Gainesville, FL	PPV	W 55–0	84,311
9–16–2000	#11 Tennessee	#6	Neyland Stadium • Knoxville, TN	CBS	W 27–23	108,768
9–23–2000	Kentucky	#3	Ben Hill Griffin Stadium • Gainesville, FL	CBS	W 59–31	85,319
9–30–2000	Mississippi State	#3	Scott Field • Starkville, MS	CBS	L 35–47	43,816
10–7–2000	Louisiana State	#12	Ben Hill Griffin Stadium • Gainesville, FL	JP	W 41–9	85,365
10–14–2000	#19 Auburn	#10	Ben Hill Griffin Stadium • Gainesville, FL	CBS	W 38–7	85,710
10–28–2000	#13 Georgia	#8	Alltel Stadium • Jacksonville, FL	CBS	W 34–23	84,404
11–4–2000	Vanderbilt	#6	Vanderbilt Stadium • Nashville, TN	JP	W 43–21	32,714
11–11–2000	#21 South Carolina	#5	Ben Hill Griffin Stadium • Gainesville, FL (HC)	CBS	W 41–21	85,718
11–18–2000*	#3 Florida State	#4	Doak Campbell Stadium • Tallahassee, FL	ABC	L 7–30	83,042
12–2–2000	#18 Auburn	#7	Georgia Dome • Atlanta, GA (SEC Championship)	ABC	W 28–6	73,427
1–2–2001*	#2 Miami	#7	Superdome • New Orleans, LA (Sugar Bowl)	ABC	L 20–37	64,407
*Non-Conference Game. #Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game.

Sources: 2012 Florida Football Media Guide, and GatorZone.com.

Game notes

Ball State

	1	2	3	4	OT
Ball State	7	3	9	0	19
Florida	12	14	7	7	40

Middle Tennessee St.

	1	2	3	4	OT
Middle Tennessee State	0	0	0	0	0
Florida	21	17	10	7	55

Tennessee

	1	2	3	4	OT
Florida	0	7	10	10	27
Tennessee	3	9	8	3	23

Kentucky

	1	2	3	4	OT
Kentucky	3	14	7	7	31
Florida	10	28	14	7	59

Mississippi State

	1	2	3	4	OT
Florida	0	10	13	12	35
Mississippi State	5	11	8	23	47

September 30, 2000

The Florida Gators came into Davis Wade Stadium in Starkville, Mississippi ranked third in the nation. The unranked Mississippi State Bulldogs ran for 351 yards, 172 yards and a touchdown for Dicenzo Miller, and 156 yards and a touchdown for Dontae Walker. Bulldogs quarterback Wayne Madkin also ran for two touchdowns. The Bulldogs compiled 517 total yards of offense.

A frustrated Steve Spurrier rotated three quarterbacks including Rex Grossman. Grossman went 13 for 16 with 231 yards and two touchdowns. All together, the Gators had 494 yards and four touchdowns through the air.

Mississippi State won the game 47–35, breaking Florida's 72-game winning streak against unranked teams in front of a crowd of 43,816. After the game, the Mississippi State fans stormed the field and tore down the goal posts, parts of which ended up all over campus.

	Florida	Mississippi State
First Downs	26	25
Rushed-Yards	22-M78	57-351
Passing Yards	494	166
Sacked-Yards Lost	3-23	6-58
Return Yards	73	54
Passes	34-57-1	14-27-2
Punts	1-45.0	7-42.0
Fumbles-Lost	2-2	2-1
Penalties-Yards	7-46	10-85
Time of Possession	25:16	34:44

LSU

	1	2	3	4	OT
LSU	0	3	0	6	9
Florida	7	10	10	14	41

Auburn

	1	2	3	4	OT
Auburn	0	7	0	0	7
Florida	14	21	0	3	38

Georgia

	1	2	3	4	OT
Georgia	3	14	0	6	23
Florida	9	8	10	7	34

Vanderbilt

	1	2	3	4	OT
Florida	10	7	19	7	43
Vanderbilt	7	6	0	7	20

South Carolina

	1	2	3	4	OT
South Carolina	21	0	0	0	21
Florida	3	28	10	0	41

Florida State

	1	2	3	4	OT
Florida	7	0	0	0	7
Florida State	14	0	13	3	30

SEC Championship Game

SEC Championship Game
#18 Auburn vs. #7 Florida

by Quarter 1 2 3 4 Total Auburn 0 3 3 0 6 • Florida 14 7 7 0 28 Date: December 2 Location: Georgia Dome, Atlanta, GA Source: [1] Scoring summary 1 FLA Caldwell 10 yard pass from Grossman (Chandler kick) FLA 7-0 1 FLA Caldwell 66 yard pass from Grossman (Chandler kick) FLA 14-0 2 FLA Gaffney 27 yard pass from Grossman (Chandler kick) FLA 21-0 2 AUB Duval 44 yard field goal FLA 21-3 3 AUB Duval 21 yard field goal FLA 21-6 3 FLA Haugabrook 12 yard pass from Grossman (Chandler kick) FLA 28-6

Miami (Sugar Bowl)

	1	2	3	4	OT
Miami	10	3	14	10	37
Florida	7	3	7	3	20

Notable players

• 07 QB Jesse Palmer (Sr.)
• 08 QB Rex Grossman (Fr.)
• 09 QB Brock Berlin (Fr.)
• 05 RB Earnest Graham (So.)
• 33 RB Ran Carthon (Fr.)
• 06 WR Taylor Jacobs (So.)
• 10 WR Jabar Gaffney (Fr.)
• 17 WR Reche Caldwell (So.)
• 78 T Kenyatta Walker (Jr.)
• 57 DE Bobby McCray (Fr.)
• 61 DT Gerard Warren (Jr.)
• 45 LB Andra Davis (Jr.)
• 03 CB Lito Sheppard (So.)
• 04 S Marquand Manuel (Jr.)

Season links

1. Schedule/Results - http://gatorzone.com/sched.php?sport=footb&curyearb=2000&submita=1
2. Roster - http://gatorzone.com/football/bios.php?year=2000
3. Rankings - http://www.collegefootballpoll.com/polls_1936_present.html
4. Statistics - http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/college/stats/2000/ffateamstats.html

See also

• Auburn–Florida football rivalry
• Florida–Florida State football rivalry
• Florida Gators
• Florida–Georgia football rivalry
• Florida–LSU football rivalry
• Florida–Miami football rivalry
• Florida–Tennessee football rivalry
• History of the University of Florida
• List of Florida Gators football players

Bibliography

• 2009 Southeastern Conference Football Media Guide, Florida Year-by-Year Records, Southeastern Conference, Birmingham, Alabama, p. 60 (2009).
• 2012 Florida Football Media Guide, University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida, pp. 107–116 (2012).
• Carlson, Norm, University of Florida Football Vault: The History of the Florida Gators, Whitman Publishing, LLC, Atlanta, Georgia (2007). ISBN 0-7948-2298-3.
• Golenbock, Peter, Go Gators! An Oral History of Florida's Pursuit of Gridiron Glory, Legends Publishing, LLC, St. Petersburg, Florida (2002). ISBN 0-9650782-1-3.
• Hairston, Jack, Tales from the Gator Swamp: A Collection of the Greatest Gator Stories Ever Told, Sports Publishing, LLC, Champaign, Illinois (2002). ISBN 1-58261-514-4.
• McCarthy, Kevin M., Fightin' Gators: A History of University of Florida Football, Arcadia Publishing, Mount Pleasant, South Carolina (2000). ISBN 978-0-7385-0559-6.

External links

• College Football Data Warehouse, Florida Yearly Results: 2000–2004. Retrieved September 16, 2012.