1994 Florida Gators football team

The 1994 Florida Gators football team represented the University of Florida during the 1994 NCAA Division I-A football season. The season was Steve Spurrier's fifth as the head coach of the Florida Gators football team. Spurrier's 1994 Florida Gators posted an overall record of 10–2–1 and a 6–1 record in the Southeastern Conference (SEC), placing first among the six SEC Eastern Division teams and winning the SEC championship.[2]

1994 Florida Gators football
SEC champion
SEC Eastern Division champion
Sugar Bowl, L 17–23 vs. Florida State
ConferenceSoutheastern Conference
DivisionEastern Division
Ranking
CoachesNo. 7
APNo. 7
Record10–2–1 (7–1 SEC)
Head coach
Offensive schemeFun and gun
Defensive coordinatorBob Pruett (1st season)
Base defense3–4
CaptainTerry Dean
Aubrey Hill
Ellis Johnson
Larry Kennedy
Henry McMillian
Home stadiumBen Hill Griffin Stadium
(Capacity: 83,000)[1]
1994 Southeastern Conference football standings
ConfOverall
TeamW L TW L T
Eastern Division
No. 7 Florida x$ 7 –1 –010 –2 –1
No. 22 Tennessee 5 –3 –08 –4 –0
South Carolina 4 –4 –07 –5 –0
Georgia 3 –4 –16 –4 –1
Vanderbilt 2 –6 –05 –6 –0
Kentucky 0 –8 –01 –10 –0
Western Division
No. 5 Alabama x 8 –0 –012 –1 –0
No. 9 Auburn 6 –1 –19 –1 –1
No. 24 Mississippi State 5 –3 –08 –4 –0
LSU 3 –5 –04 –7 –0
Arkansas 2 –6 –04 –7 –0
Ole Miss 2 –6 –04 –7 –0
Championship: Florida 24, Alabama 23
  • $ – Conference champion
  • x – Division champion/co-champions
Rankings from AP Poll

Before the season

The Gators were eyeing a national championship.[3]

Florida received verbal commitments the following recruits in 1994: Amp Campbell, Ed Chester, Jaquez Green, Isaac Hilliard, Michael Jackson, Nafis Kareem, Travis McGriff, Jamie Richardson, Dossy Robbins and Deak Story.[4] Amp Campbell was considered to be the best signing of the year as he was a top cornerback prospect and part of USA Today's All-America team.[4]

Schedule
DateOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendance
September 3New Mexico State*No. 1
W 70–2184,721
September 10KentuckyNo. 2
  • Ben Hill Griffin Stadium
  • Gainesville, FL
ABCW 73–785,238
September 17at No. 15 TennesseeNo. 1
ESPNW 31–096,656
October 1at Ole MissNo. 1
JPSW 38–1438,360
October 8LSUNo. 1
  • Ben Hill Griffin Stadium
  • Gainesville, FL (rivalry)
JPSW 42–1885,385
October 15No. 6 AuburnNo. 1
  • Ben Hill Griffin Stadium
  • Gainesville, FL (rivalry)
ABCL 33–3685,562
October 29GeorgiaNo. 5
  • Ben Hill Griffin Stadium
  • Gainesville, FL (rivalry)
ESPNW 52–1485,604
November 5Southern Miss*daggerNo. 4
  • Ben Hill Griffin Stadium
  • Gainesville, FL
W 55–1785,448
November 12South CarolinaNo. 4
  • Ben Hill Griffin Stadium
  • Gainesville, FL
JPSW 48–1785,028
November 19at VanderbiltNo. 3
PPVW 24–733,508
November 26at No. 7 Florida State*No. 4
ABCT 31–3180,210
December 3vs. No. 3 AlabamaNo. 6
ABCW 24–2374,751
January 1, 1995vs. No. 7 Florida State*No. 5
ABCL 17–2376,244
  • *Non-conference game
  • daggerHomecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

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

Roster
1994 Florida Gators football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos.#NameClass
TE 91 Tremayne Allen Jr
WR 15 Reidel Anthony Fr
QB 12 Terry Dean Sr
WR 28 Chris Doering Jr
WR 5 Jacquez Green Fr
WR 19 Ike Hilliard Fr
WR 1 Jack Jackson Jr
QB 10 Eric Kresser So
WR 3 Travis McGriff Fr
G 71 Jeff Mitchell So
OT 74 Jason Odom Jr
RB 21 Fred Taylor Fr
QB 7 Danny Wuerffel So
 Defense
Pos.#NameClass
DT 67 Mark Campbell Jr
DE 57 Kevin Carter Sr
DT 61 Ellis Johnson Sr
SS 4 Lawrence Wright So
 Special teams
Pos.#NameClass
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured Injured
  • Redshirt Redshirt

Rankings
Main article: 1994 NCAA Division I-A football rankings
Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
( ) = First place votes.
Week
PollPre123456789101112131415Final
AP1 (15)1 (14)2 (15)1 (27)1 (33)1 (31)1 (39)1 (44)554434657
Coaches1 (17)2 (23)2 (18)2 (20)2 (22)1 (34)1 (43)665554647

Season summary

New Mexico State
New Mexico State at #1 Florida
1 234Total
Aggies 7 1400 21
• Gators 28 28014 70
Scoring summary
Q1FLAHillard 6 yard pass from Dean (Davis kick)FLA 7–0
Q1NMSL. Davis 73 yard pass from Ledbetter (Culin kick)Tie 7–7
Q1FLAJackson 13 yard pass from Dean (Davis kick)FLA 14–7
Q1FLAJackson 8 yard pass from Dean (Davis kick)FLA 21–7
Q1FLAHill 15 yard pass from Dean (Davis kick)FLA 28–7
Q2NMSL. Davis 27 yard pass from Ledbetter (Culin kick)FLA 28–14
Q2FLAPalmer 10 yard pass from Dean (Davis kick)FLA 35—14
Q2FLAJackson 8 yard pass from Dean (Davis kick)FLA 42–14
Q2NMSL. Davis 7 yard pass from Ledbetter (Culin kick)FLA 42–21
Q2FLAJackson 3 yard pass from Dean (Davis kick)FLA 49–21
Q2FLAHillard 7 yard pass from Kresser (Davis kick)FLA 56–21
Q4FLATaylor 9 yard run (Davis kick)FLA 63–21
Q4FLAMalone 13 yard run (Davis kick)FLA 70–21

[5]

  • Terry Dean tied an NCAA record by throwing for seven touchdowns in the first half.[6]

Kentucky
Kentucky at #2 Florida
1 234Total
Wildcats 0 700 7
• Gators 14 172121 73
  • Date: September 10
  • Location: Ben Hill Griffith Stadium
  • Game attendance: 85,238
Scoring summary
Q1FLAHill 16-yard pass from Dean (Davis kick)FLA 7–0
Q1FLAWilliams 15-yard run (Davis kick)FLA 14–0
Q2FLAHill 4-yard pass from Dean (Davis kick)FLA 21–0
Q2KENCurtis 36-yard pass from O'Ferral (Sivinski kick)FLA 21–7
Q2FLADavis 31-yard field goalFLA 24–7
Q2FLADoering 5-yard pass from Dean (Davis kick)FLA 31–7
Q3FLAWilliams 2-yard run (Davis kick)FLA 38–7
Q3FLAAnthony 65-yard pass from Dean (Davis kick)FLA 45–7
Q3FLAMcCray 33-yard fumble return (Davis kick)FLA 52–7
Q4FLAHillard 25-yard pass from Wuerffel (Davis kick)FLA 59–7
Q4FLABowen 15-yard pass from Kresser (Davis kick)FLA 66–7
Q4FLABaker 15-yard run (Davis kick)FLA 73–7
See also: 1997 Kentucky Wildcats football team
  • E. Williams 13 Rush, 115 Yds

[7]

Tennessee

Florida State
#4 Florida at #7 Florida State
1 234Total
Gators 7 1770 31
Seminoles 3 0028 31
Main article: Choke at Doak
See also: 1994 Florida State Seminoles football team and Florida–Florida State football rivalry

SEC Championship
Main article: 1994 SEC Championship Game

Florida State (Sugar Bowl)
#7 Florida State vs. #5 Florida
1 234Total
• Seminoles 3 1730 23
Gators 3 707 17
Main article: 1995 Sugar Bowl (January)

Postseason

The Seminoles then won a rematch in the Sugar Bowl, 23–17, referred to as "The Fifth Quarter in the French Quarter."

References
  1. University of Florida Sports Information Department. "Florida 1994 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. "National title Gators' goal". Rome News-Tribune. August 17, 1994. p. 4-B.
  4. King, Bill (1994), Florida out to catch best prep receivers, web: News-Press, retrieved March 13, 2023
  5. Ocala Star-Banner. 1994 Sep 04. Retrieved 2018-Nov-17.
  6. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2018-Nov-17.
  7. Gainesville Sun. 1994 Sep 11. Retrieved 2018-Nov-17.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.