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
Conference	Southeastern Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 19
1980 record	8–4 (4–2 SEC)
Head coach	Charley Pell (2nd season)
Offensive coordinator	Mike Shanahan (1st season)
Captain	Rod Brooks Cris Collinsworth David Little
Home stadium	Florida Field (Capacity: 62,800)[1]

1980 Southeastern Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		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

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 13	vs. California*		Tampa Stadium Tampa, FL		W 41–13	41,388
September 20	at Georgia Tech*		Grant Field Atlanta, GA		W 45–12	35,165
September 27	Mississippi State		Florida Field Gainesville, FL		W 21–15	56,225
October 4	LSU	No. 19	Florida Field Gainesville, FL (rivalry)		L 7–24	59,299
October 18	at Ole Miss		Hemingway Stadium Oxford, MS		W 15–3	36,012
October 25	Louisville*		Florida Field Gainesville, FL		W 13–0	62,687
November 1	Auburn		Florida Field Gainesville, FL (rivalry)		W 21–10	63,274
November 8	vs. No. 2 Georgia	No. 20	Gator Bowl Stadium Jacksonville, FL (rivalry)	ABC	L 21–26	68,528
November 15	at Kentucky	No. 20	Commonwealth Stadium Lexington, KY		W 17–15	51,766
November 29	Miami (FL)*	No. 18	Florida Field Gainesville, FL (rivalry)	ABC	L 7–31	56,437
December 6	at No. 3 Florida State*	No. 19	Doak Campbell Stadium Tallahassee, FL (rivalry)	ABC	L 13–17	53,772
December 20	vs. Maryland*		Orlando Stadium Orlando, FL (Tangerine Bowl)	MTN	W 35–20	52,541
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

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

Roster

1980 Florida Gators football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class TE 87 Mike Clark Sr WR 21 Cris Collinsworth Sr TE 80 Chris Faulkner So T 69 Dan Fike So QB 12 Bob Hewko So WR 89 Spencer Jackson So FB 30 James Jones So QB Wayne Peace Fr C 59 Doug Smith So WR 19 Johnny Smith Sr OT 70 Joe Wickline Sr WR 7 Tyrone Young So	Defense Pos. # Name Class DB 43 Sonny Gilliam So DE 57 Tim Golden Sr S 20 Tim Groves Sr CB 24 Kyle Knight So LB 88 Wilber Marshall Fr CB 47 Bruce Vaughan So	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K 3 Brian Clark Jr P 4 Mark Dickert Jr	Head coach Charley Pell Coordinators/assistant coaches Vince Kendrick (RB) Mike Shanahan Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

Game summaries

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	3	4	Total
Georgia	7	7	6	6	26
Florida	3	7	0	11	21

at Gator Bowl • Jacksonville, Florida

• Date: November 8
• Game weather: Sunny
• Game attendance: 68,528
• TV announcers (ABC): Al Michaels and Frank Broyles
• [6]

Game information
Georgia Buck Belue 7/16, 145 Yds, TD, 2 INT Herschel Walker 37 Rush, 238 Yds, TD Lindsay Scott 2 Rec, 114 Yds, TD Florida Wayne Peace 20/37, 286 Yds, TD, 2 INT James Jones 22 Rush, 89 Yds, TD Tyrone Young 10 Rec, 183 Yds

Scoring summary

Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP UGA FLA 1 13:09 Georgia Walker 72-yard touchdown run, Robinson kick good 7 0 1 7:07 Florida 40-yard field goal by Clark 7 3 2 13:29 77 Georgia Stewart 13-yard touchdown reception from Belue, Robinson kick good 14 3 2 7:10 Florida Collinsworth 9-yard touchdown reception from Peace, Clark kick good 14 10 3 9:38 Georgia 24-yard field goal by Robinson 17 10 3 3:58 Georgia 20-yard field goal by Robinson 20 10 4 14:14 81 Florida Jones 11-yard touchdown run, 2-point pass good 20 18 4 6:52 11 Florida 40-yard field goal by Clark 20 21 4 1:03 Georgia Scott 93-yard touchdown reception from Belue, 2-point pass incomplete 26 21 "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 26 21

[7]

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.