The 1969 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

1969 NCAA University Division football season The 1969 NCAA University Division football season was celebrated as the centennial of college football (the first season being the one in 1869). During the 20th century, the NCAA had no playoff for the major college football teams, later known a ...

. The season was the tenth, last, and arguably most successful season for

Ray Graves Samuel Ray Graves (December 31, 1918 – April 10, 2015) was an American college and professional football player and college football coach. He was a native of Tennessee and a graduate of the University of Tennessee, where he was the starting ...

as the head coach of the Florida Gators football team. Graves' 1969 Florida Gators finished their regular season with an overall record of 8–1–1 and an SEC record of 3–1–1, placing fourth among the ten SEC teams. Florida concluded the year with a Gator Bowl victory over SEC-champion

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

. Afterwards, Graves resigned from the head coaching position to become the university's athletic director, and was replaced by Tennessee head coach

Doug Dickey Douglas Adair Dickey (born June 24, 1932) is an American former college football player and coach and college athletics administrator. Dickey is a South Dakota native who was raised in Florida and graduated from the University of Florida, wher ...

.
2016 Florida Gators Football Media Guide
', University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida, p. 110–111 (2015). Retrieved August 14, 2015. Graves' final Gators squad was led by a surprising group of second-year offensive players known as the "Super Sophs", that included quarterback

John Reaves Thomas Johnson "John" Reaves (March 2, 1950 – August 1, 2017) was an American college and professional football player who was a quarterback for 11 seasons in the National Football League (NFL) and three seasons in the United States Football L ...

, wide receiver Carlos Alvarez and tailback Tommy Durrance.

Before the season

The team was captained by Mac Steen.

Schedule

Primary source: ''2016 Florida Gators Football Media Guide'' Attendance figures: ''1970 University of Florida Brochure''.

Roster

Season summary

Houston

In the opening game against the seventh-ranked Houston Cougars, the unranked Gators debuted a new passing offense which set the tone of success for the rest of the season and upset the Cougars 59–34. Carlos Alvarez had 6 catches and 182 yards receiving.

Mississippi State

In the second week of play, the Gators beat

Mississippi State Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university adjacent to Starkville, Mississippi. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Univer ...

. 47–25. Alvarez had 12 catches and 180 yards receiving.

Florida State

The Gators won the matchup over

Florida State Florida State University (FSU) is a public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher e ...

21–6 on the back of a defensive surge that was unparalleled in Gator history. The Gators defense, led by junior defensive lineman

Jack Youngblood Herbert Jackson Youngblood III (born January 26, 1950) is an American former professional football player who was a defensive end for the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League (NFL) for fourteen seasons during the 1970s and 1980s. He ...

, and sophomore defensive lineman Robert Harrell, sacked FSU quarterback Bill Cappleman eleven times for 91 yards leaving FSU with a total of negative 18 yards rushing in the game. Youngblood had been shifted to defensive end, with Harrell at tackle. Harrell earned National Defensive Lineman of The Week honors. In addition to the pass rush, the FSU offense fumbled the ball eight times, losing five. Two other Gator Sophomores starred in the game as well,

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

n wide out Carlos Alvarez and quarterback John Reaves. Alvarez had seven catches for 134 yards.

Tulane

On "Super Saturday" in Tampa, the Gators came from behind and went for two to beat winless

Tulane Tulane University, officially the Tulane University of Louisiana, is a private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by seven young medical doctors, it turned into a comprehensive pub ...

by an 18–17 score. Alvarez had 11 catches for 146 yards. "It was a damn poor victory, but it tasted a lost better than a defeat would have" wrote Jack Hairston.

North Carolina

The Gators defeated the North Carolina Tar Heels 52–2 and Alvarez caught 4 passes for 122 yards.

Vanderbilt

Florida won over the

Vanderbilt Commodores The Vanderbilt Commodores are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Vanderbilt University, located in Nashville, Tennessee. Vanderbilt fields 16 varsity teams (6 men's teams and 10 women's teams), 14 of which compete at the National ...

41–20. Reaves threw 5 touchdowns and Alvarez had 11 catches for 112 yards.

Auburn; Georgia

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities o ...

(SEC) loss to 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 Associat ...

and a tie with the rival Georgia Bulldogs cost the Gators a share of their elusive first SEC football championship.

Kentucky

In a 31–6 victory 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 ...

31–6. Alvarez had 10 catches for 105 receiving yards.

Miami

Florida beat the

Miami Hurricanes The Miami Hurricanes (known informally as The U, UM, or The 'Canes) are the intercollegiate sports teams that represent the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. The Hurricanes compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic A ...

35–16 as Carlos Alvarez had a then-record 237 receiving yards on 15 receptions.

Postseason

Tennessee

In a strange twist, the Gators were invited to play coach

's SEC champion

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

in the December 1969 Gator Bowl.Nash, ''The Gainesville Sun Presents'', pp. 73–76. In a game dominated by a Gators defense led by linebacker Mike Kelley (the game's MVP), defensive back Steve Tannen and

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formations over the years have substantially changed how the position is ...

, the Gators upset the Volunteers 14–13 to cap their 9–1–1 season—the Gators' best ever single-season record to that time. After the Gator Bowl, Ray Graves resigned as the head coach of the Gators football team, but continued as the

athletic director An athletic director (commonly "athletics director" or "AD") is an administrator at many American clubs or institutions, such as colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches an ...

of the Florida Gators sports program until 1979. During the 1960s, Graves compiled an overall record of 70–31–4 (.686) during the decade, making Graves the winningest coach in the history of the Gators football program until that time.

References

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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 Gator Bowl 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 o ...