The 1991 Florida Gators football team represented the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

during the

1991 NCAA Division I-A football season The 1991 NCAA Division I-A football season was the main college football season sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The season began on August 28, 1991, and ended on January 1, 1992. For the second consecutive seaso ...

. The season was

Steve Spurrier Stephen Orr Spurrier (born April 20, 1945) is an American former American football, football quarterback and coach who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 10 seasons before coaching for 38 years, primarily in college. He is often ...

's second as the head coach of the Florida Gators football team. The Gators were led by quarterback

Shane Matthews Michael Shane Matthews (born June 1, 1970) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for all or part of fourteen seasons during the 1990s and 2000s. He played college footba ...

and first-team All-American defensive tackle

Brad Culpepper John Broward "Brad" Culpepper (born May 8, 1969) is an American former professional football player who was a defensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL) for nine seasons during the 1990s and early 2000s. Culpepper was as an All-Ame ...

.Carlson, ''University of Florida Football Vault'', pp. 107–108. Spurrier's 1991 Florida Gators compiled the first-ever ten-win season in program history, an overall record of 10–2 and a perfect SEC record of 7–0.

Schedule

Primary source: ''2015 Florida Gators Football Media Guide''.
2015 Florida Gators Football Media Guide
'', University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida, p. 107 (2015). Retrieved August 16, 2015.

Roster

Rankings

Game summaries

San Jose State

The season opened with a 59–21 victory over the

San Jose State Spartans The San Jose State Spartans are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent San José State University. SJSU sports teams compete in the Mountain West Conference (MW) at the NCAA Division I level, with football competing in the Football B ...

Alabama

The Gators defeated

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

, 35–0. Spurrier treasured the wins against the Crimson Tide: "Those victories early – '90, '91 – really got us started there at Florida ..."

Syracuse

The 1991 season also included a disappointing 38–21 road loss to the seventeenth-ranked Syracuse Orangemen in the

Carrier Dome The JMA Wireless Dome, originally the Carrier Dome (1980–2022) and colloquially called "The Dome," or more recently "The JMA Dome," is a domed sports stadium in Syracuse, New York. Located on the campus of Syracuse University in the University ...

Mississippi State

The Gators had a dominating confidence win over the twenty-first-ranked

Mississippi State Bulldogs Mississippi State Bulldogs is the name given to the athletic teams of Mississippi State University, in Mississippi State, Mississippi. The university is a founding member of the Southeastern Conference and competes in NCAA Division I. Sports sp ...

, 29–7.

LSU

Florida blanked the

LSU Tigers The LSU Tigers and Lady Tigers are the athletic teams representing Louisiana State University (LSU), a state university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. LSU competes in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as a ...

16–0.

Tennessee

The Gators defeated the fourth-ranked

Tennessee Volunteers The Tennessee Volunteers and Lady Volunteers are the 20 male and female varsity college athletics, intercollegiate athletics programs that represent the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee. The Volunteers compete in NCAA Division I, ...

35–18.

Northern Illinois

Florida beat Northern Illinois 41–10 .

Auburn

The

Auburn Tigers The Auburn Tigers are the athletic teams representing Auburn University, a public four-year coeducational university located in Auburn, Alabama, United States. The Auburn Tigers compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Associa ...

fell to Florida 31–10.

Georgia

The Gators defeated rival and twenty-third-ranked

Georgia Bulldogs The Georgia Bulldogs are the athletic teams that represent the University of Georgia. The female athletic teams are sometimes referred to as Lady Bulldogs. The Bulldogs compete in NCAA Division I and are members of the Southeastern Conference ( ...

45–13.

Kentucky

Florida clinched its first SEC title with a hard-fought win over the

Kentucky Wildcats The Kentucky Wildcats are the men's and women's intercollegiate athletic squads of the University of Kentucky (UK), a founding member of the Southeastern Conference. The Kentucky Wildcats is the student body of the University of Kentucky. 30,473 ...

, 35–26. "The Gators appeared on their way to a comfortable victory with a 28-6 lead in the third quarter. That's when the UF band started playing the song "Pour Some Sugar on Me" by Def Leppard and students began throwing little sugar packets into the air. Then UK quarterback Pookie Jones went wild, almost spoiling the party. "

Florida State

Among the Gators' 1991 victories, the 14–9 defensive upset of the Florida State Seminoles was a particularly memorable victory played in front of a record home crowd (the previous record set only five weeks earlier vs. Tennessee). The Gators scored touchdowns on a first-quarter run by tailback

Errict Rhett Errict Undra Rhett (born December 11, 1970) is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL) for seven seasons during the 1990s and early 2000s. Rhett played college football for the ...

, and a 72-yard bomb from Shane Matthews to wide receiver Harrison Houston in the third quarter, and held on to win. Gators defensive ends

Darren Mickell Darren Mickell (born August 3, 1970) is an American former college and professional football player who was a defensive end in the National Football League (NFL) for ten seasons during the 1990s and early 2000s. Mickell played college footbal ...

and Harvey Thomas kept Seminoles quarterback

Casey Weldon William Casey Weldon (born February 3, 1969) is a former professional American football player. Weldon is best known for being the quarterback for Florida State in the late-1980s and early-1990s. During his senior season in 1991, Weldon finishe ...

off balance and on the run in the second half, and, in the fourth quarter, Gators safeties Will White and Del Speer combined to break up a fourth-down pass to the end zone by Weldon with two minutes remaining§, thus saving the victory for Florida.

Sugar Bowl

Postseason

The Gators closed out their season with their first New Year's Day bowl appearance since

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; f ...

, a 28–39 defeat by the

Notre Dame Fighting Irish The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are the athletic teams that represent the University of Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish participate in 23 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I intercollegiate sports and in the NCAA's Division ...

in the

Sugar Bowl The Sugar Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in New Orleans, Louisiana. Played annually since January 1, 1935, it is tied with the Orange Bowl and Sun Bowl as the second-oldest bowl games in the country, surpassed onl ...

, and were ranked seventh in the final

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Poll. Florida won the team's first official SEC championship, 59 seasons after joining the conference as a charter member. Quarterback

repeated as SEC Player of the Year in 1991.

References

{{Southeastern Conference football champions

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

Florida Gators football seasons Southeastern Conference football champion seasons

Florida Gators football The Florida Gators football program represents the University of Florida (UF) in American college football. Florida competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Eastern Division of ...