The Gators in Tampa
(December 5, 2003)
The Gators in Tampa
(December 5, 2003)
The 2004 Outback Bowl will mark the fortieth time the University of Florida football team has played in Tampa. In the previous 39 games, the Gators have 23 wins, 13 losses and 13 ties. The first appearance was in 1912 and the most recent game the 2003 Outback Bowl.
The earliest games were played behind the Plant Hotel in Tampa, which is now part of the University of Tampa campus. Later games were played at Plant Field and Phillips field, which were the home fields for the UT Spartans football program. The Gators played at Tampa Stadium eleven times and at Raymond James Stadium last January.
This article continues with a look at some of the more notable games played by the Gators in Tampa and a chart of all their appearances.
1912 - Head Coach G. E. Pyle and the Gators were heading to Cuba for the "Bacardi Bowl" and wanted a tune-up game. They defeated a pickup team called the Tampa Athletic Club by the score of 44-0. The next week, UF defeated the Vedado Club in Havana 28-0 and finished the season 5-2-1.
1919 - The third game in the Florida-Georgia series was held in Tampa. Georgia won the game 16-0.
1949- Paul "Bear" Bryant brought a strong Kentucky team to town at a jammed packed Phillips Fields. Bryant pulled his starters early, and threated to put them back in if the fans did not quit crowding the sidelines, as the Wildcats cruised 35-0.
1968 - Several years prior, Florida head coach Ray Graves agreed to bring his team to Tampa, if a new football stadium was built. When the city was discussing the issue, the proposed visits by the Florida football team were a key factor in the feasibility study. So, the University of Florida played a major role in setting up the Tampa Bay area's football future.
In just the fourth event at Tampa Stadium, the Gators and Air Force opened the 1968 season. The stadium's original configuration sat 47,000, the end zones would be enclosed when the area got an NFL team, but over 50,000 fans showed up that day. Larry Smith scored the winning touchdown on 3 yard fourth quarter run and Florida won the game 23-20. The highlight for Air Force was a 98 yard kick return by Curtis Martin for a Falcons touchdown.
Even the Air Force mascot has become a part of Tampa Bay lore. Before the game, a trained Falcon was to fly down from the press box to the arm of waiting trainer. The bird got about halfway down and flew off, setting off Falcon sightings in the Tampa area. One story had the bird found a couple of day later in a nest near Rocky Point and another had the Falcon waiting when the team returned to MacDill Air Force Base.
1969 - This season the Gators had the "Super Sophs," as John Reaves hit Carlos Alvarez on the winning two point conversion with 2:14 left. Reaves and Alvarez were teammates at Tampa Robinson High School and UF topped Tulane 18-17.
1970 - John Reaves threw three scoring passes, as the Gators defeated Kentucky 24-13.
1976 - Late in the season opener, in a show of poor clock management, Florida QB Jimmy Fisher thru the ball out of bounds at the North Carolina 2 yard line on fourth down. The Gators lost 24-21.
1980 - After not posting a victory in the 1979 season, head coach Charley Pell posts his first win 41-13 over California.
1984 - This game is fondly remembered for the talent that was on the field before a sold out Tampa Stadium. About fifty of the players on the field, either playing or suited up, would see action in the NFL. Charley Pell, who resign due to an NCAA investigation three games into the season, was coaching the Gators and the University of Miami head coach was Jimmy Johnson. Red-shirt freshman quarterback Kerwin Bell threw a touchdown pass to Frankie Neal and Florida had a 20-18 lead with 41 seconds remaining. Bernie Kosar matched the Hurricanes 72 yards on four pass plays and Miami was back in front 25-20. Florida got the ball back with seven seconds left, but a desperation pass was intercepted and returned to make the final score 32-20.
1989 - This was a game that was originally scheduled to be a Mississippi State home game, but it was bought out by a Tampa UF booster group. The Gators, coached by Galen Hall, beat MSU 21-0.
2002 - After the 2002 season, under first year head coach Ron Zook, Florida made its first Outback Bowl appearance. For the Gators, Earnest Graham ran for two scores and Rex Grossman threw a pair of touchdown passes. UF could not overcome four scores by Michigan running back Chris Perry and fell 38-30.
| UF Football in Tampa |
| Season | Opponent | Result |
| 1912 | Tampa Athletic Club | W 44-0 |
| 1914 | Florida Southern | W 59-0 |
| 1916 | Tennessee | L 24-0 |
| 1919 | Georgia | L 16-0 |
| 1920 | Tulane | L 14-0 |
| 1921 | South Carolina | T 7-7 |
| 1922 | American Legion | W 14-0 |
| 1922 | Mississippi | W 58-0 |
| 1923 | Wake Forest | W 16-7 |
| 1924 | Wake Forest | W 34-0 |
| 1925 | Mississippi State | W 12-0 |
| 1926 | Hampden-Sydney | T 0-0 |
| 1927 | North Carolina State | L 12-6 |
| 1929 | Virginia Military Institute | W 18-7 |
| 1930 | North Carolina State | W 27-0 |
| 1931 | South Carolina | T 6-6 |
| 1932 | North Carolina State | L 17-6 |
| 1932 | North Carolina | L 18-13 |
| 1933 | Maryland | W 19-0 |
| 1934 | North Carolina State | W 14-0 |
| 1935 | South Carolina | W 22-0 |
| 1938 | Tampa | W 33-0 |
| 1940 | Tampa | W 23-0 |
| 1942 | Tampa | W 26-6 |
| 1946 | North Carolina State | L 37-6 |
| 1947 | Furman | W 24-7 |
| 1948 | Auburn | W 16-9 |
| 1949 | Kentucky | L 35-0 |
| 1968 | Air Force | W 23-20 |
| 1969 | Tulane | W 18-17 |
| 1970 | Kentucky | W 24-13 |
| 1971 | Duke | L 12-6 |
| 1972 | Southern Methodist | L 21-14 |
| 1973 | Southern Mississippi | W 14-13 |
| 1974 | Maryland | W 17-10 |
| 1976 | North Carolina | L 24-21 |
| 1980 | California | W 41-13 |
| 1984 | Miami | L 32-20 |
| 1989 | Mississippi State | W 21-0 |
| 2002 | Michigan | L 38-30 |
