1959 Florida Gators football team

The 1959 Florida Gators football team represented the University of Florida during the 1959 NCAA University Division football season. The season was Bob Woodruff's tenth and last year as the head coach of the Florida Gators football team. The Gators celebrated a close conference win over the Mississippi State Maroons (14–13), and suffered close conference defeats to the Vanderbilt Commodores (6–13), the top-ranked LSU Tigers (0–9) and the eighth-ranked Auburn Tigers (0–6). Woodruff finished his tenure on a high note, with the Gators' victories over the Florida State Seminoles (18–8) and the twelfth-ranked Miami Hurricanes (23–14), their primary in-state rivals. Woodruff's 1959 Florida Gators finished with an overall record of 5–4–1 and a Southeastern Conference (SEC) record of 2–4, placing ninth among twelve SEC teams.[1]

1959 Florida Gators football
ConferenceSoutheastern Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 19
APNo. 19
Record5–4–1 (2–4 SEC)
Head coach
Home stadiumFlorida Field
(capacity: 44,000)
1959 Southeastern Conference football standings
ConfOverall
TeamW L TW L T
No. 5 Georgia $ 7 –0 –010 –1 –0
No. 3 LSU 5 –1 –09 –2 –0
No. 2 Ole Miss # 5 –1 –010 –1 –0
No. 10 Alabama 4 –1 –27 –2 –2
Auburn 4 –3 –07 –3 –0
Vanderbilt 3 –2 –25 –3 –2
Georgia Tech 3 –3 –06 –5 –0
Tennessee 3 –4 –15 –4 –1
No. 19 Florida 2 –4 –05 –4 –1
Kentucky 1 –6 –04 –6 –0
Tulane 0 –5 –13 –6 –1
Mississippi State 0 –7 –02 –7 –0
  • $ – Conference champion
  • # Berryman, Billingsley, Dunkel, Sagarin national champion
Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule
DateOpponentRankSiteResultAttendanceSource
September 18at Tulane
W 30–030,000[2]
September 26Mississippi StateNo. 19
W 14–1333,330[3]
October 3Virginia*No. 19
  • Florida Field
  • Gainesville, FL
W 55–1025,136[4]
October 10at Rice*No. 17
T 13–1333,449[5]
October 17at VanderbiltNo. 19
L 6–1319,384[6]
October 24No. 1 LSUdagger
  • Florida Field
  • Gainesville, FL (rivalry)
L 0–947,578[7]
October 31at No. 8 Auburn
L 0–631,681[8]
November 7vs. No. 11 Georgia
L 10–2140,726[9]
November 21Florida State*
  • Florida Field
  • Gainesville, FL (rivalry)
W 18–838,359[10]
November 28vs. No. 12 Miami (FL)*
  • Gator Bowl Stadium
  • Jacksonville, FL (rivalry)
W 23–1423,681[11]
  • *Non-conference game
  • daggerHomecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

[1][12]

Postseason

Despite having returned the Gators to competitive respectability within the Southeastern Conference (SEC) in his ten seasons as the Gators' coach and athletic director, University of Florida president J. Wayne Reitz declined to renew Woodruff's contract in 1959 after two previous contract extensions. Woodruff returned to the University of Tennessee, his alma mater, in 1963, where he became the long-time athletic director of the Tennessee Volunteers sports program. During the 1950s, the Gators compiled an overall record of 53–42–6 (.555) during the decade.

References
  1. 2015 Florida Gators Football Media Guide Archived 2015-12-08 at the Wayback Machine, University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida, p. 107 (2015). Retrieved August 16, 2015.
  2. "Gators explode to swamp Green Wave, 30–0". The Orlando Sentinel. September 19, 1959. Retrieved September 19, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. "Florida Gators nip Maroons, 14–13". The Bradenton Herald. September 27, 1959. Retrieved October 8, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. "Florida wears down Virginia for 55–10 win". The Progress-Index. October 4, 1959. Retrieved October 8, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. "Rice Owls tie Florida in final minutes, 13–13". The Tampa Tribune. October 11, 1959. Retrieved October 8, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. "Vanderbilt dumps Florida from unbeaten ranks". The Commercial Appeal. October 18, 1959. Retrieved October 8, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. "Cannon carries LSU past Florida, 9–0". The Knoxville News-Sentinel. October 25, 1959. Retrieved October 8, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. "Auburn squeaks by tough Gators, 6–0". The Montgomery Advertiser. November 1, 1959. Retrieved October 8, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. "Georgia whips Florida, 21–10". Fort Lauderdale News. November 8, 1959. Retrieved October 8, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. "Westbrook wiggles Florida past FSU". St. Lucie News Tribune. November 22, 1959. Retrieved October 8, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. "Florida rips Miami 23–14 as Dick Allen turns Tiger". Chattanooga Sunday Times. November 29, 1959. Retrieved October 8, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. Department of Sports Publicity. "University of Florida 1960 Football Brochure" (PDF). floridagators.com. University Athletic Association, Inc. Retrieved March 15, 2018.
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