1980 Florida Gators football team

The 1980 Florida Gators football team represented the University of Florida during the 1980 NCAA Division I-A football season. The season was the Florida Gators football team's second season under new head coach Charles B. "Charley" Pell, and marked a remarkable one-year turnaround for the Gators from their 0–10–1 record in 1979.[2] The winless 1979 season was the worst season in Gators history, and it was Pell's first campaign as the new head coach of the Gators, after the Gators' previous head coach, Doug Dickey, was fired in the aftermath of a 4–7 season in 1978.[2] Pell's 1980 Florida Gators posted an 8–4 overall record and a Southeastern Conference (SEC) record of 4–2, tying for fourth place in the ten-team SEC.[3] The Gators capped their season with a 35–20 bowl victory over the Maryland Terrapins in the Tangerine Bowl, marking the first time in the history of major college football that a winless team received a bowl bid the following season.[2] Linebacker David Little set the career record for tackles by a Gator and was consensus All-American.[4] Receiver Cris Collinsworth was first-team All-American. The season features the famous "Run Lindsay Run" in the close loss to national champion Georgia.[5]

1980 Florida Gators football
Tangerine Bowl, W 35–20 vs. Maryland
ConferenceSoutheastern Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 19
1980 record8–4 (4–2 SEC)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorMike Shanahan (1st season)
CaptainRod Brooks
Cris Collinsworth
David Little
Home stadiumFlorida Field
(Capacity: 62,800)[1]
1980 Southeastern Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
No. 1 Georgia $ 6 –0 –0  12 –0 –0
No. 19 Mississippi State 5 –1 –0  9 –3 –0
No. 6 Alabama 5 –1 –0  10 –2 –0
LSU 4 –2 –0  7 –4 –0
Florida 4 –2 –0  8 –4 –0
Tennessee 3 –3 –0  5 –6 –0
Ole Miss 2 –4 –0  3 –8 –0
Kentucky 1 –5 –0  3 –8 –0
Auburn 0 –6 –0  5 –6 –0
Vanderbilt 0 –6 –0  2 –9 –0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule
DateOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendance
September 13vs. California*
W 41–1341,388
September 20at Georgia Tech*
W 45–1235,165
September 27Mississippi State
W 21–1556,225
October 4LSUNo. 19
  • Florida Field
  • Gainesville, FL (rivalry)
L 7–2459,299
October 18at Ole Miss
W 15–336,012
October 25Louisville*
  • Florida Field
  • Gainesville, FL
W 13–062,687
November 1Auburn
  • Florida Field
  • Gainesville, FL (rivalry)
W 21–1063,274
November 8vs. No. 2 GeorgiaNo. 20
ABCL 21–2668,528
November 15at KentuckyNo. 20
W 17–1551,766
November 29Miami (FL)*No. 18
  • Florida Field
  • Gainesville, FL (rivalry)
ABCL 7–3156,437
December 6at No. 3 Florida State*No. 19
ABCL 13–1753,772
December 20vs. Maryland*
MTNW 35–2052,541
  • *Non-conference game
  • Homecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Primary source: 2015 Florida Gators Football Media Guide.[3]


Personnel
1980 Florida Gators football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos.#NameClass
RB Johnell Brown
WR 21 Cris Collinsworth (C) Sr
RB Calvin Davis
WR Dwayne Dixon
TE 80 Chris Faulkner So
OT 69 Dan Fike So
WR Johnny Gaffney
WR Curt Garrett
QB 12 Bob Hewko So
WR 89 Spencer Jackson So
FB 30 James Jones So
RB Doug Kellom
TE 88 Wilber Marshall Fr
QB Mark Massey
TE Mike Mularkey
QB Larry Ochab
QB Wayne Peace Fr
OL Dan Plonk
RB Carl Prioleau
OL John Redmond
C 59 Doug Smith So
WR 19 Johnny Smith Sr
OL Jim Subers
OT 70 Joe Wickline Sr
RB Derald Williams
RB Terry Williams
WR 7 Tyrone Young So
 Defense
Pos.#NameClass
DL Rod Brooks (C)
DL Val Brown
DE 87 Mike Clark Sr
DL Ron Coleman
DB Ivory Curry
DL Robin Fisher
DL David Galloway
DB 43 Sonny Gilliam So
DE 57 Tim Golden Sr
S 20 Tim Groves Sr
LB Fernando Jackson
CB 24 Kyle Knight So
DB Tony Lilly
LB David Little
DL Dock Luckie
DB Vito McKeever
DL Yancey Sutton
CB 47 Bruce Vaughan So
LB Tom Weigmann
 Special teams
Pos.#NameClass
K 3 Brian Clark Jr
P 4 Mark Dickert Jr
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured
  • Redshirt

Season summary

vs. Georgia
See also: 1980 Georgia Bulldogs football team and Florida–Georgia football rivalry
#20 Florida Gators (6–1) vs. #2 Georgia Bulldogs (8–0)
1 2 34Total
Georgia 7 7 6626
Florida 3 7 01121

at Gator Bowl • Jacksonville, Florida

[7]

at Florida State
See also: 1980 Florida State Seminoles football team
#19 Florida Gators at #3 Florida State Seminoles
1 2 34Total
Florida 7 6 0013
Florida State 3 0 7717

at Doak Campbell Stadium, Tallahassee, Florida

  • Date: December 6
  • Game attendance: 53,772
  • TV: ABC
  • Recap/Box

References
  1. Sports Publicity Department. "1980 Press Guide University of Florida" (PDF). floridagators.com. University Athletic Association, Inc. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
  2. Norm Carlson, University of Florida Football Vault: The History of the Florida Gators, Whitman Publishing, LLC, Atlanta, Georgia, pp. 95–96 (2007).
  3. 2015 Florida Gators Football Media Guide Archived 2015-12-08 at the Wayback Machine, University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida, pp. 111–112 (2015). Retrieved August 14, 2015.
  4. "Consensus All-America Teams (1980-1989)". College Football at Sports-Reference.com.
  5. Associated Press, "Belue-to-Scott Desperation Pass Saves 'Dogs from Jaws of Gators", The Albany Sunday Herald, p. 1D (November 9, 1980). Retrieved August 21, 2011.
  6. Ocala Star-Banner. 1980 Nov 09. Retrieved 2019-Jan-02.
  7. 24/7 Sports. Retrieved 2019-Jan-02.
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