1992 Florida Gators football team

The 1992 Florida Gators football team represented the University of Florida during the 1992 NCAA Division I-A football season. The season was Steve Spurrier's third as the Florida Gators football team's head coach, and the wins were harder to come by as the star-studded senior classes from 1990 and 1991 had graduated. The Gators racked up six tough Southeastern Conference (SEC) wins over the Kentucky Wildcats (35–19), LSU Tigers (28–21), Auburn Tigers (24–9), seventh-ranked Georgia Bulldogs (26–24), South Carolina Gamecocks (14–9), and Vanderbilt Commodores (41–21). They also suffered two crushing SEC losses to the fourteenth-ranked Tennessee Volunteers (14–31) in Knoxville, Tennessee, and the twenty-fourth-ranked Mississippi State Bulldogs (6–30) on a Thursday night in Starkville, Mississippi.

1992 Florida Gators football
SEC Eastern Division co-champion
Gator Bowl champion
Gator Bowl, W 27–10 vs. NC State
ConferenceSoutheastern Conference
DivisionEastern Division
Ranking
CoachesNo. 11
APNo. 10
Record9–4 (6–2 SEC)
Head coach
Offensive schemeFun and gun
Defensive coordinatorRon Zook (2nd season)
Base defense4–4–3
CaptainShane Matthews
Carlton Miles
Home stadiumBen Hill Griffin Stadium
Seasons
← 1991
1993 →
1992 Southeastern Conference football standings
ConfOverall
TeamW L TW L T
Eastern Division
No. 10 Florida xy620940
No. 8 Georgia x6201020
No. 12 Tennessee530930
South Carolina350560
Vanderbilt260470
Kentucky260470
Western Division
No. 1 Alabama x$8001300
No. 16 Ole Miss530930
No. 23 Mississippi State440750
Arkansas341371
Auburn251551
LSU170290
Championship: Alabama 28, Florida 21
  • $ – Conference champion
  • x – Division champion/co-champions
  • y – Championship game participant
Rankings from AP Poll

The Gators' non-conference schedule included a homecoming victory over the Louisville Cardinals (31–17), and another surprisingly difficult win over Southern Miss Golden Eagles (24–20). They closed their regular season with a road loss to the third-ranked Florida State Seminoles (24–45) in Tallahassee.

The Gators finished their SEC schedule with a 6–2 conference record, placing first among the six teams of the new SEC Eastern Division and earning a berth in the first-ever SEC Championship Game in Birmingham, Alabama. Spurrier's scrappy young Gators, however, fell short against the SEC Western Division champion, the second-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide (21–28). The Crimson Tide later defeated the Miami Hurricanes in the Sugar Bowl to win the 1992 national championship.

Spurrier's 1992 Florida Gators posted a 9–4 overall record, concluding their season with a victory over the twelfth-ranked NC State Wolfpack (27–10) in the Gator Bowl, and ranking tenth in the final AP Poll.[1]

Schedule

DateOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendanceSource
September 12KentuckyNo. 4JPSW 35–1984,553[2]
September 19at No. 14 TennesseeNo. 4ABCL 14–3197,137[3]
October 1at No. 24 Mississippi StateNo. 13ESPNL 6–3038,886[4]
October 10LSUNo. 23
  • Ben Hill Griffin Stadium
  • Gainesville, FL (rivalry)
JPSW 28–2183,401[5]
October 17AuburnNo. 23
  • Ben Hill Griffin Stadium
  • Gainesville, FL (rivalry)
ABCW 24–984,098[6]
October 24Louisville* No. 20
  • Ben Hill Griffin Stadium
  • Gainesville, FL
W 31–1784,476[7]
October 31vs. No. 7 GeorgiaNo. 20ABCW 26–2482,429[8]
November 7Southern Miss*No. 14
  • Ben Hill Griffin Stadium
  • Gainesville, FL
W 24–2082,882[9]
November 14South CarolinaNo. 11
  • Ben Hill Griffin Stadium
  • Gainesville, FL
JPSW 14–984,777[10]
November 21at VanderbiltNo. 9JPSW 41–2132,279[11]
November 28at No. 3 Florida State*No. 6ABCL 24–4568,311[12]
December 5vs. No. 2 AlabamaNo. 12ABCL 21–2883,091[13]
December 31vs. No. 12 NC State*No. 14
TBSW 27–1071,233[14]
  • *Non-conference game
  • Homecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

[1]

Roster

1992 Florida Gators football team roster
PlayersCoaches
Offense
Pos.#NameClass
QB12Terry DeanSo
WR1Jack JacksonRFr
WR22Willie JacksonJr
OL69Brian FisherJr
QB9Shane MatthewsSr
RB33Errict RhettJr
OL73Jim WatsonJr
OL50Gantt CrouchJr
OL76Ryan TaylorSo
Defense
Pos.#NameClass
LB57Myrick AndersonSr
DE57Kevin CarterSo
DT94William GainesJr
DB10Monty GrowJr
DE99Mike KarrSr
DT61Ellis JohnsonSo
CB4Del SpeerSr
DB2Will White
FS20Sammy McCorkle  Fr
Special teams
Pos.#NameClass
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured
  • Redshirt

References