1992 Florida Gators football team

The 1992 Florida Gators football team represented the University of Florida during the 1992 NCAA Division I-A football season. The 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.

1992 Florida Gators football
SEC Eastern Division co-champion
Gator Bowl champion
Gator Bowl, W 27–10 vs. NC State
ConferenceSoutheastern Conference
DivisionEastern Division
Ranking
CoachesNo. 11
APNo. 10
Record9–4 (6–2 SEC)
Head coach
Offensive schemeFun and gun
Defensive coordinatorRon Zook (2nd season)
Base defense4–4–3
CaptainShane Matthews
Carlton Miles
Home stadiumBen Hill Griffin Stadium
(Capacity: 83,000)[1]
1992 Southeastern Conference football standings
ConfOverall
TeamW L TW L T
Eastern Division
No. 10 Florida xy 6 2 09 4 0
No. 8 Georgia x 6 2 010 2 0
No. 12 Tennessee 5 3 09 3 0
South Carolina 3 5 05 6 0
Vanderbilt 2 6 04 7 0
Kentucky 2 6 04 7 0
Western Division
No. 1 Alabama x$ 8 0 013 0 0
No. 16 Ole Miss 5 3 09 3 0
No. 23 Mississippi State 4 4 07 5 0
Arkansas 3 4 13 7 1
Auburn 2 5 15 5 1
LSU 1 7 02 9 0
Championship: Alabama 28, Florida 21
  • $ Conference champion
  • x Division champion/co-champions
  • y Championship game participant
Rankings from AP Poll

The Gators' non-conference schedule included a homecoming victory over the Louisville Cardinals (31–17), and another surprisingly difficult win over Southern Miss 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 later defeated 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 NC State Wolfpack (27–10) in the Gator Bowl, and ranking tenth in the final AP Poll.[2]

Schedule

DateOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendanceSource
September 12KentuckyNo. 4JPSW 35–1984,553
September 19at No. 14 TennesseeNo. 4ABCL 14–3197,137
October 1at No. 24 Mississippi StateNo. 13ESPNL 6–3038,886
October 10LSUNo. 23
  • Ben Hill Griffin Stadium
  • Gainesville, FL (rivalry)
JPSW 28–2183,401
October 17AuburnNo. 23
  • Ben Hill Griffin Stadium
  • Gainesville, FL (rivalry)
ABCW 24–984,098
October 24Louisville*daggerNo. 20
  • Ben Hill Griffin Stadium
  • Gainesville, FL
W 31–1784,476
October 31vs. No. 7 GeorgiaNo. 20ABCW 26–2482,429
November 7Southern Miss*No. 14
  • Ben Hill Griffin Stadium
  • Gainesville, FL
W 24–2082,882[3]
November 14South CarolinaNo. 11
  • Ben Hill Griffin Stadium
  • Gainesville, FL
JPSW 14–984,777
November 21at VanderbiltNo. 9JPSW 41–2132,279
November 28at No. 3 Florida State*No. 6ABCL 24–4568,311
December 5vs. No. 2 AlabamaNo. 12ABCL 21–2883,091[4]
December 31vs. No. 12 NC State*No. 14
TBSW 27–1071,233
  • *Non-conference game
  • daggerHomecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Primary source: 2015 Florida Gators Football Media Guide.[2]

Roster

1992 Florida Gators football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos.#NameClass
QB 12 Terry Dean So
WR 1 Jack Jackson RFr
WR 22 Willie Jackson Jr
OL 69 Brian Fisher Jr
QB 9 Shane Matthews Sr
RB 33 Errict Rhett Jr
OL 73 Jim Watson Jr
OL 50 Gantt Crouch Jr
OL 76 Ryan Taylor So
Defense
Pos.#NameClass
LB 57 Myrick Anderson Sr
DE 57 Kevin Carter So
DT 94 William Gaines Jr
DB 10 Monty Grow Jr
DE 99 Mike Karr Sr
DT 61 Ellis Johnson So
CB 4 Del Speer Sr
DB 2 Will White
Special teams
Pos.#NameClass
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured Injured
  • Redshirt Redshirt

References

  1. University of Florida Sports Information Department. "Florida 1992 Football Guide" (PDF). floridagators.com. University Athletic Association, Inc. Retrieved March 15, 2018.
  2. 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.
  3. "Gators survive close call 24–20". The Palm Beach Post. November 8, 1992. Retrieved March 28, 2021 via Newspapers.com.
  4. "Bama: Bye Gators, hi UM". The Miami Herald. December 6, 1992. Retrieved March 28, 2021 via Newspapers.com.
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