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 | |
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SEC Eastern Division co-champion Gator Bowl champion | |
SEC Championship Game, L 21–28 vs. Alabama | |
Gator Bowl, W 27–10 vs. NC State | |
Conference | Southeastern Conference |
Eastern Division | |
Ranking | |
Coaches | No. 11 |
AP | No. 10 |
Record | 9–4 (6–2 SEC) |
Head coach |
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Offensive scheme | Fun and gun |
Defensive coordinator | Ron Zook (2nd season) |
Base defense | 4–4–3 |
Captain | Shane Matthews Carlton Miles |
Home stadium | Ben Hill Griffin Stadium (Capacity: 83,000)[1] |
Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Team | W | L | T | W | L | T | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Eastern Division | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
No. 10 Florida xy | 6 | – | 2 | – | 0 | 9 | – | 4 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
No. 8 Georgia x | 6 | – | 2 | – | 0 | 10 | – | 2 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
No. 12 Tennessee | 5 | – | 3 | – | 0 | 9 | – | 3 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
South Carolina | 3 | – | 5 | – | 0 | 5 | – | 6 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Vanderbilt | 2 | – | 6 | – | 0 | 4 | – | 7 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Kentucky | 2 | – | 6 | – | 0 | 4 | – | 7 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Western Division | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
No. 1 Alabama x$ | 8 | – | 0 | – | 0 | 13 | – | 0 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
No. 16 Ole Miss | 5 | – | 3 | – | 0 | 9 | – | 3 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
No. 23 Mississippi State | 4 | – | 4 | – | 0 | 7 | – | 5 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Arkansas | 3 | – | 4 | – | 1 | 3 | – | 7 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Auburn | 2 | – | 5 | – | 1 | 5 | – | 5 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
LSU | 1 | – | 7 | – | 0 | 2 | – | 9 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Championship: Alabama 28, Florida 21 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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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
Date | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance | Source |
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September 12 | Kentucky | No. 4 | JPS | W 35–19 | 84,553 | ||
September 19 | at No. 14 Tennessee | No. 4 | ABC | L 14–31 | 97,137 | ||
October 1 | at No. 24 Mississippi State | No. 13 | ESPN | L 6–30 | 38,886 | ||
October 10 | LSU | No. 23 |
| JPS | W 28–21 | 83,401 | |
October 17 | Auburn | No. 23 |
| ABC | W 24–9 | 84,098 | |
October 24 | Louisville* | No. 20 |
| W 31–17 | 84,476 | ||
October 31 | vs. No. 7 Georgia | No. 20 | ABC | W 26–24 | 82,429 | ||
November 7 | Southern Miss* | No. 14 |
| W 24–20 | 82,882 | [3] | |
November 14 | South Carolina | No. 11 |
| JPS | W 14–9 | 84,777 | |
November 21 | at Vanderbilt | No. 9 | JPS | W 41–21 | 32,279 | ||
November 28 | at No. 3 Florida State* | No. 6 | ABC | L 24–45 | 68,311 | ||
December 5 | vs. No. 2 Alabama | No. 12 | ABC | L 21–28 | 83,091 | [4] | |
December 31 | vs. No. 12 NC State* | No. 14 |
| TBS | W 27–10 | 71,233 | |
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Primary source: 2015 Florida Gators Football Media Guide.[2]
Roster
1992 Florida Gators football team roster | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Players | Coaches | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Offense
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Defense
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Special teams
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References
- University of Florida Sports Information Department. "Florida 1992 Football Guide" (PDF). floridagators.com. University Athletic Association, Inc. Retrieved March 15, 2018.
- 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.
- "Gators survive close call 24–20". The Palm Beach Post. November 8, 1992. Retrieved March 28, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- "Bama: Bye Gators, hi UM". The Miami Herald. December 6, 1992. Retrieved March 28, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.