Each week we bring you a bit of a history lesson about Florida’s opponent. Today, we go back to 1991 when Florida and Alabama faced off in the second game of the season at a stadium that had not yet been christened “the Swamp.” Florida had christened the new addition to the north end zone the week before with a 59-21 win over San Jose State. At the time, it was the biggest crowd to ever see a game in the state of Florida. That record lasted one week.
There was a time before everything you ever said in front of people ended up on YouTube or Twitter and you needed a quarter to make a phone call.
But somehow, Steve Spurrier still found a way to speak to a group of Gators and tick off Alabama fans.
That is the back story to an unbelievable performance by No. 6 Florida against No. 17 Alabama in 1991, a 35-0 win that announced to the SEC that Florida was here to stay. Well, as long as Spurrier was at UF.
Let Spurrier tell the story – “We played in the SEC Media Days golf tournament, me and Norm (Carlson) and someone from Golden Flakes and we won it. And that night, I was supposed to give a little talk to the Birmingham Gator Club. And I started talking about how Alabama was coming to Gainesville. And I said, ‘We got a chance to beat ‘em, like, 42-7.’ I just felt that good about the team and how we always were able to score points at home. And we had just beaten Auburn the year before at home 48-7.”
On the Monday of the game, Birmingham columnist Charles Hollis – who was a vocal critic of Spurrier’s swagger – wrote that Spurrier was going around predicting Florida would beat Alabama by 30 points.
“I never predicted anything,” Spurrier said. “I said we had a chance.”
Like a Lloyd Christmas chance? Who beats Alabama by 30 anywhere?
The Tide may have used the Hollis column for motivation just like Florida used one of his columns that ripped Spurrier and the Gators a year before. But the Florida players were oblivious to this controversy.
“I never even heard about it,” said quarterback Shane Matthews. “What happened?”
The truth is that it was not a big deal, but to the fans wearing houndstooth, it was a how-dare-you? moment.
And it was hardly a blowout in the first half.
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The score at halftime was 6-0 with the Gators settling for two Arden Czyzewski field goals. The Gator defense knocked starting quarterback Danny Woodson out of the game in the second quarter (he was replaced by Jay Barker) and kept giving the ball to the offense via turnovers.
“Our defense was fantastic that night,” said Spurrier. “And we always felt comfortable in that stadium. We just felt like we would score eventually.”
One of the biggest plays in that first half came on a fourth-and-1 when UF’s Brad Culpepper jumped over Alabama guard William Barger and tackled the running back in the backfield.
“That was a big play and it was funny because I saw Dabo Swinney years later and he said, ‘You don’t remember me, but I remember you?’ Culpepper said.
“He was a walk-on receiver on that Alabama team and he told me they got reamed on the plane home by (Alabama coach) Gene Stallings. Dabo said, ‘You guys stomping us like you did helped us because we didn’t lose a game again until 1993.’ ”
Alabama won the rest of its games in ’91 and all of them in ’92 on their way to a national title.
But back to the stomping.
Matthews hit Tre Everett with a touchdown pass on a corner route and Willie Jackson found his way to the end zone on another pair of TD passes.
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“They blitzed the crap out of us the whole game, but we figured some things out,” Matthews said. “It was electric in that place. I always say the win over Alabama the year before was the most important in Gator history, but this one was pretty special, too.
“To beat them at their place and then come back the next year and do what we did to them, I don’t know if our team expected it.”
Errict Rhett ran for 170 yards in the game and finished off the scoring with a 3-yard touchdown run.
Florida by 30? How about 35?
“I don’t know if anyone has beaten them that badly since,” Spurrier said. “Or maybe ever before. Someone should look that up.”
Someone did. You’re welcome.
The loss for Alabama stands as the largest shutout loss since Auburn beat the Tide 40-0 in 1957. That was before a lot of you were born. The only team to beat Alabama worse than the 35-0 score since that 1991 game was Arkansas 42-6 in 1998.
Scores like that don’t happen often to the Crimson Tide.
But one did on Sept. 1, 1991.
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