Gators in Tampa


The 2006 Outback Bowl was the 41st time the University of Florida football team had played in Tampa. In those games, dating back to 1912, the Gators have 24 wins, 14 losses and 3 ties.

The earliest games were played behind the Plant Hotel in Tampa, which is now part of the University of Tampa campus. Later games were played at Plant Field and Phillips field, which were the home fields for the UT Spartans football program. The Gators played at Tampa Stadium eleven times and at Raymond James Stadium three times.

Here is a look at some of the more notable games played by the Gators in Tampa and a chart of all their appearances.

1912 - Head Coach G. E. Pyle and the Gators were heading to Cuba for the "Bacardi Bowl" and wanted a tune-up game. They defeated a pickup team called the Tampa Athletic Club by the score of 44-0. The next week, UF defeated the Vedado Club in Havana 28-0 and finished the season 5-2-1.

1916 - The first game against future SEC rival Tennessee was a 24-0 victory by the Volunteers.

1919 - The third game in the Florida-Georgia series was held in Tampa. Georgia won the game 16-0.

1938 - For five consecutive seasons, twice in Gainesville, the Gators played the University of Tampa Spartans. UF won all five and by an average score of 27-2.

1949 - Paul "Bear" Bryant brought a strong Kentucky team to town at a jammed packed Phillips Field. Bryant pulled his starters early, and threatened to put them back in if the fans did not quit crowding the sidelines, as the Wildcats cruised 35-0.

1968 - Several years prior, Florida head coach Ray Graves agreed to bring his team to Tampa, if a new football stadium was built. When the city was discussing the issue, the proposed visits by the Florida football team were a key factor in the feasibility study. So, the University of Florida played a major role in setting up the Tampa Bay area's football future.

In just the fourth event at Tampa Stadium, the Gators and Air Force opened the 1968 season. The stadium's original configuration sat 47,000, the end zones would be enclosed when the area got an NFL team, but over 50,000 fans showed up that day. Larry Smith scored the winning touchdown on a 3 yard fourth quarter run and Florida won the game 23-20. The highlight for Air Force was a 98 yard kick return by Curtis Martin for a Falcons touchdown.

Even the Air Force mascot has become a part of Tampa Bay lore. Before the game, a trained Falcon was to fly down from the press box to the arm of waiting trainer. The bird got about halfway down and flew off, setting off Falcon sightings in the Tampa area. One story had the bird found a couple of days later in a nest near Rocky Point and another had the Falcon waiting when the team returned to MacDill Air Force Base.

1969 - This season the Gators had the "Super Sophs," as John Reaves hit Carlos Alvarez on the winning two point conversion with 2:14 left. Reaves and Alvarez were teammates at Tampa Robinson High School and UF topped Tulane 18-17.

1970 - John Reaves threw three scoring passes, as the Gators defeated Kentucky 24-13.

1976 - Late in the season opener, in a show of poor clock management, Florida QB Jimmy Fisher through the ball out of bounds at the North Carolina 2 yard line on fourth down. The Gators lost 24-21.

1980 - After not posting a victory in the 1979 season, head coach Charley Pell posts his first win 41-13 over California.

1984 - This game is fondly remembered for the talent that was on the field before a sold out Tampa Stadium. About fifty of the players on the field, either playing or suited up, would see action in the NFL. Charley Pell, who resigned due to an NCAA investigation three games into the season, was coaching the Gators and the University of Miami head coach was Jimmy Johnson. Red-shirt freshman quarterback Kerwin Bell threw a touchdown pass to Frankie Neal and Florida had a 20-18 lead with 41 seconds remaining. Bernie Kosar marched the Hurricanes 72 yards on four pass plays and Miami was back in front 25-20. Florida got the ball back with seven seconds left, but a desperation pass was intercepted and returned to make the final score 32-20.

1989 - This was a game that was originally scheduled to be a Mississippi State home game, but it was bought out by a Tampa UF booster group. The Gators, coached by Galen Hall, beat MSU 21-0.

photo 2002 - After the 2002 season, under first year head coach Ron Zook, Florida made its first Outback Bowl appearance. For the Gators, Earnest Graham ran for two scores and Rex Grossman threw a pair of touchdown passes. UF could not overcome four scores by Michigan running back Chris Perry and fell 38-30.

2003 - The Gators second straight Outback Bowl took place on New Year's Day 2004. A Chris Leak TD pass opened the scoring, then Iowa reeled off 27 unanswered points to post a 37-17 victory.

2005 - Two years later against Iowa, Florida jumped to a 31-7 after three quarters and held on for a 31-24 victory.


UF Football in Tampa
SeasonOpponentResult
1912 Tampa Athletic Club W 44-0
1914 Florida Southern W 59-0
1916 Tennessee L 24-0
1919 Georgia L 16-0
1920 Tulane L 14-0
1921 South Carolina T 7-7
1922 American Legion W 14-0
1922 Mississippi W 58-0
1923 Wake Forest W 16-7
1924 Wake Forest W 34-0
1925 Mississippi State W 12-0
1926 Hampden-Sydney T 0-0
1927 North Carolina State L 12-6
1929 Virginia Military Institute W 18-7
1930 North Carolina State W 27-0
1931 South Carolina T 6-6
1932 North Carolina State L 17-6
1932 North Carolina L 18-13
1933 Maryland W 19-0
1934 North Carolina State W 14-0
1935 South Carolina W 22-0
1938 Tampa W 33-0
1940 Tampa W 23-0
1942 Tampa W 26-6
1946 North Carolina State L 37-6
1947 Furman W 24-7
1948 Auburn W 16-9
1949 Kentucky L 35-0
1968 Air Force W 23-20
1969 Tulane W 18-17
1970 Kentucky W 24-13
1971 Duke L 12-6
1972 Southern Methodist L 21-14
1973 Southern Mississippi W 14-13
1974 Maryland W 17-10
1976 North Carolina L 24-21
1980 California W 41-13
1984 Miami L 32-20
1989 Mississippi State W 21-0
2002 Michigan L 38-30
2003 Iowa L 37-17
2005 Iowa W 31-24



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