1950 Florida Gators football team

The 1950 Florida Gators football team represented the University of Florida during the 1950 college football season. The season was Bob Woodruff's first of ten as the new head coach of the Florida Gators football team. Woodruff was a former college football player and assistant for coach Robert Neyland's Tennessee Volunteers, who made his name as an up-and-coming young head coach leading the Baylor Bears for three seasons in the late 1940s. Like Neyland, Woodruff emphasized stout defense, the kicking game and a ball control offense. In Woodruff's first season of 1950, the Gators offense, led by quarterback Haywood Sullivan and offensive coordinator Frank Broyles, posted record numbers. Sullivan was the first sophomore in SEC history to throw for more than 1,000 yards in a season. He set nine school records.[note 1] The highlights of the season included two Southeastern Conference (SEC) victories over the Auburn Tigers (27–7) and the thirteenth-ranked Vanderbilt Commodores (31–27)—the first season since 1940 in which the Gators won two or more SEC games. The Gators' twentieth ranking after the Vanderbilt game marked their first-ever appearance in the top twenty of the weekly Associated Press Poll. Woodruff's 1950 Florida Gators finished 5–5 overall and 2–4 in the SEC, placing tenth among twelve conference teams.[3]

1950 Florida Gators football
The 1950 Gators practice under the lights before the first night game at Florida Field.
Conference	Southeastern Conference
1950 record	5–5 (2–4 SEC)
Head coach	Bob Woodruff (1st season)
Captain	Angus Williams
Home stadium	Florida Field (Capacity: 39,453)[1]

1950 Southeastern Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 7 Kentucky $	5	–	1	–	0			11	–	1	–	0
No. 4 Tennessee	4	–	1	–	0			11	–	1	–	0
No. 16 Alabama	6	–	2	–	0			9	–	2	–	0
No. 20 Tulane	3	–	1	–	1			6	–	2	–	1
Georgia Tech	4	–	2	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Georgia	3	–	2	–	1			6	–	3	–	3
Mississippi State	3	–	4	–	0			4	–	5	–	0
Vanderbilt	3	–	4	–	0			7	–	4	–	0
LSU	2	–	3	–	2			4	–	5	–	2
Florida	2	–	4	–	0			5	–	5	–	0
Ole Miss	1	–	5	–	0			5	–	5	–	0
Auburn	0	–	7	–	0			0	–	10	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

Also of note, lights were installed at Florida Field during the summer of 1950, and the Gators opened the season with their first home night game, a 7–3 win over The Citadel.[4]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result
September 23	The Citadel*		Florida Field Gainesville, FL	W 7–3
September 30	Duquesne*		Florida Field Gainesville, FL	W 27–14
October 7	at Georgia Tech		Grant Field Atlanta, GA	L 13–16
October 14	Auburn		Florida Field Gainesville, FL (rivalry)	W 27–7
October 21	at No. 13 Vanderbilt		Dudley Field Nashville, TN	W 31–27
October 28	Furman*	No. 20	Florida Field Gainesville, FL	W 19–7
November 4	at No. 5 Kentucky	No. 17	McLean Stadium Lexington, KY	L 6–40
November 11	vs. Georgia		Gator Bowl Stadium Jacksonville, FL (rivalry)	L 0–6
November 18	No. 17 Miami (FL)*		Florida Field Gainesville, FL (rivalry)	L 14–20
November 25	vs. No. 17 Alabama		Gator Bowl Stadium Jacksonville, FL	L 13–41
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

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

Notes

1. These included average (50.3%), yardage (1,170), and average for a single game (7 for 7 against Kentucky).[2]

References

1. The Department of Publicity and The Department of Intercollegiate Athletics. "1950 Florida Football Facts 'n Figures" (PDF). floridagators.com. University Athletic Association, Inc. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
2. see Golenbock, Go Gators!, p. 58
3. 2015 Florida Gators Football Media Guide Archived 2015-12-08 at the Wayback Machine, University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida, pp. 109–110 (2015). Retrieved August 15, 2015.
4. Florida Field timeline at FloridaGators.com