Florida Gators

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — From 1938 to 1987, Florida and Miami played football every season, with the exception of one year when an inconvenience known as World War II got in the way. That's 48 out of 49 years. The game was so big, in fact, that from 1953 until 1979, it was the last game on the schedule for 24 of 27 years. From 1981-87, it was the first game six of seven years. 

And then it was gone. 

In the three-plus decades since, the explanation for disbanding one of the most storied in-state rivalries in the South has been told and retold, but rarely with mutual acceptance or satisfaction. Bottom line: Florida wanted out of the series and the Gators exited with the disclaimer they were doing so with the goal of playing a more attractive "national schedule." 

UF replaced UM on the 1988 slate with a home opener against Division I-AA Montana State. The Gators won 73-0. 

The Hurricanes (coaches, players, administrators and most definitely fans) had some fun those days at the expense of the Gators, especially as UF was floundering in mediocrity (and NCAA scandal) and the Hurricanes were winning and/or playing for national championships. Then came Dec. 31, 1989, and Steve Spurrier's introduction news conference upon his return, via Duke, to his alma mater. Spurrier made it clear. "We can't run, duck or hide from Miami," he proclaimed that day, and within months UF and UM had an agreement to play six times over eight seasons, starting in 1992. Florida also made good on its commitment to that "national" goal by landing home-and-home contracts with Michigan State and Washington. 

But then the Southeastern Conference expanded and went to an eight-game schedule — plus a league championship game — and all those attractive non-league games were wiped out. Florida and Miami would not play again until the Sugar Bowl following the 2000 season. Since then, there have been a couple more home-and-homes, plus a date in the Peach Bowl, with the Hurricanes gaining a sweeping upper hand with seven wins over the last eight meetings, dating to 1986, including the last one by a 21-16 count six years ago in Miami Gardens at what was then known as Sun Life Stadium.  UM leads the series 29-26. 

In case you've been living in a cave the last few months, you've probably heard the Gators and Hurricanes are playing for the 56th time Saturday night at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, a game that not only will kick off the 150th year of college football — UF and UM will have the nation's attention all to themselves — but looms so large that ESPN is flooding the zone with both its College GameDay and SEC Nation crews. Making the week all the more festive and nostalgic was the news Tuesday that Florida and Miami have agreed to another home-and-home series, with the two teams opening their 2024 seasons at Spurrier/Florida Field (Aug. 31, mark it down), and squaring off again Sept. 20, 2025, at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens. 

It just feels right. 

Who knows? One or all of the future games may one day take their rightful place among the most notable played in the historic series, which would be great for no other reason than the relevance of more Florida-Miami games being up for debate. For the time being, however, there's a bountiful bunch to pick from. Which brings us to the below list. 

They're not ranked, but rather in chronological order for their respective category. 

Welcome back, Gators and Canes. It'll do the heart of old-schoolers some good to know there's more orange and blue versus green and white memories on the way after this weekend.  


FIVE CLASSICS 

Oct. 15, 1938 (Gainesville) 
Miami 19, Florida 7 
UF's inaugural football season was 1906. UM joined the fray in 1926. It took eight years before the two programs played their first game, even though both toyed with contests against in-state foes such as Tampa, Rollins and Stetson. The Hurricanes, in fact, even played two Southeastern Conference teams (Ole Miss and Georgia) before facing the Gators that first time. Finally, in '38, the two squared off at Florida Field, where the home team led by seven at halftime, only to surrender 19 unanswered points after intermission, mostly on the strength of Miami tailback Eddie Dunn. The Gators and Hurricanes played annually for the next 49 years, except for 1943 due to World War II, before the controversial disbanding of the series after the 1987 meeting.



Nov. 27, 1971 (Miami)
Florida 45, Miami 16 
Nearly 50 years later, it remains one of biggest brouhahas in college football history. The Gators had secured the program's first losing record in 10 years, so they weren't going to a bowl game. The only intriguing element left of the season was whether senior quarterback John Reaves would break Jim Plunkett's NCAA record for all-time passing yards. He needed 344 and had 330 midway through the fourth quarter, with his team coasting, 38-9. The UF defense forced a punt that figured to get Reaves the ball back for his gimme 14 yards, but Harvin Clark returned the punt 82 yards for a touchdown. The next time the Gators got the ball back, Reaves threw an interception. On the UF sideline, the players encouraged Coach Doug Dickey to let the Hurricanes score and thus give Reaves one more chance at Plunkett's record. Dickey balked before giving in. What ensued was one of the most surreal scenes that every played out on a football field. From the Florida 8, UM quarterback John Hornibrook took the snap and the entire Gators' defense dropped to the turf — executing the infamous "Florida Flop" — as Hornibrook rolled to his left, met zero resistance and walked into the end zone for a touchdown. On the next drive, Reaves hit Carlos Alvarez for a 15-yard completion and the record. After the game, UM coach Fran Curci refused to shake Dickey's hand and railed about UF's "bush league stunt." Miami's assistant coaches and players yelled obscenities at the Gators, who without a care made a mad dash — en masse — for the swimming pool behind one of the end zones and took a victorious plunge.

Nov. 22, 1980 (Gainesville)
Miami 31, Florida 7
Florida came in ranked 18th, while Miami was nowhere to be found in the polls. The Gators, in the second season under Coach Charley Pell and one a year removed from an all-time worst 0-10-1 campaign, had eight wins with two to play, and were locked into a Tangerine Bowl berth. Everything else was going to be gravy. Miami, obviously, wasn't impressed. The Canes, led by quarterback Jim Kelly, dominated the game and in the final moments were whooping it up but good on the sidelines, much to the dismay of the UF student section, which responded by bombarding the visitors with oranges and tangerines. UM coach Howard Schnellenberger was so furious he called a timeout just before the clock hit zero, sent out his field-goal unit and tacked on a 25-yard, up-your-backside three points as time expired. "I did that because I wanted the press to come and ask me why I kicked the field goal," Schnellenberger said afterward. It worked. The debris was a topical subject postgame and only upped the ante of an already intense rivalry. "How are you supposed to like somebody when they're sitting in the stands and you're on the field and they're chucking oranges at you?" asked UM's Don Bailey. "The crowd was beyond anything that I had ever seen." Sept. 1, 1984 (Tampa)
Miami 32, Florida 20 
Just an absolutely fantastic game to open the 1984 season; a season the 10th-ranked Hurricanes entered as the reigning national champions and saw the No. 17 Gators suffer their only loss in the opening week of what (or so they thought for seven months) ended with the first SEC championship in school history. What a beginning, though. Tampa Stadium was electric that night as the two teams — armed with a combined two dozen or so future NFL players — went back and forth in a game that marked ESPN's first season televising live college football. Florida took a 20-19 lead with 41 seconds left in the game, on a touchdown pass from walk-on true freshman quarterback Kerwin Bell to Frankie Neal. UM sophomore quarterback Bernie Kosar, who guided his team to a mega-upset in the Orange Bowl of unbeaten Nebraska to win the national title nine months earlier, stunningly drove the Canes 72 yards in five plays, hitting wideout Eddie Brown with the go-ahead 12-yard scoring strike with just seven seconds remaining for a 26-20 lead. On the game's final play, Miami safety Tolbert Bain intercepted Bell and returned the play 59 yards for a touchdown to turn that six-point margin to 12. Worth noting: the spread was 6 1/2. From there, Florida went 9-0-1 the rest of the season, including 6-0-1 in SEC play and clinched the league title at Kentucky. The following June, at the SEC Meetings in Destin, Fla., conference presidents voted to vacate Florida's championship after the Gators were hit with some of the worst sanction over NCAA violations ever levied on a program.  

Jan. 2, 2000 (New Orleans) 
Miami 37, Florida 20 
The two had not played in 13 years and apparently couldn't wait until kickoff of the 62nd Sugar Bowl to get things going. UF and UM players, three nights before the game, got into an ugly brawl on Bourbon Street, with no fewer than a dozen players (six from each team, according to reports, so at least it was fair) being involved. It only added more spice to the hotly anticipated series renewal between the Canes, ranked No. 2 in the nation, and the seventh-ranked Gators. "If it wasn't a rivalry before, it is now," UF offensive tackle Kenyatta Walker said in the run-up between fight and football. Florida tailback Earnest Graham's 37-yard touchdown in the third quarter had UF ahead 17-13, but Miami's Ken Dorsey fired two touchdown passes in the period to retake the lead, as the Canes closed things by scoring 24 of the game's final 27 points. Dorsey finished with 270 yards, three TDs and a couple interceptions, while tailback Clinton Portis had 97 yards. UF quarterback Rex Grossman passed for 252 yards, one TD and two picks, while the Gators got 136 yards on the ground from Graham. The game marked Spurrier's only crack at the Canes in 12 years coaching his alma mater. 


FIVE THAT WERE GOOD FOR THE GATORS

Nov. 22, 1952 (Gainesville) 
Florida 43, Miami 6 
UF's lone win in the series over an eight-season run from 1949-1956 came in 1952 and it remains the most resounding blowout by either team in the rivalry's history. It also was remarkably timely for the Gators in their quest to build the program's brand, as it came on the next-to-last weekend of the season and got the attention of certain bowl officials. That was a very, very big deal at the time. Why? Because Florida had never been to a bowl game. The Gators were 5-2, having beaten Georgia 30-0 and Auburn 31-21 on consecutive weeks, to jump to No. 18 in the national poll, but a 26-12 loss at Tennessee knocked them out of the rankings with two games to go. Running back Rick Casares carried 29 times for 127 yards to account for more than half of UF's 250 rushing yards, as the Gators trampled the Hurricanes to climb back into the Top 20, then finished the season with a 27-0 shutout of Paul "Bear" Bryant-coached Kentucky to end the regular season. Florida was off to the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, where on Jan. 1 they defeated Tulsa, 14-13, to finish the season 8-3 and cap one of the best campaign's in program history. 

Nov. 28, 1959 (Jacksonville) 
Florida 23, Miami 14 
UF weathered (and righted) a five-game winless streak (0-4-1) by, first, defeating Florida State 18-8 in just the second meeting against the Seminoles, then upsetting 12th-ranked Miami 23-14 in the season finale in what was the second year of a two-game agreement that took the series to Jacksonville. Just a week earlier, the Hurricanes had upset No. 11 Michigan State, so few saw this one coming, given how the Gators had struggled with four straight midseason losses in conference (including 9-0 and 6-0 defeats against LSU and Auburn, respectively). By beating UM, though, the Gators sent out Bob Woodruff, the program's all-time winningest coach, with a victory in his final game. Woodruff was replaced by Ray Graves in 1960. 

Sept. 3, 1983 (Gainesville) 
Florida 28, Miami 3
The one-sided, season-opening outcome was more noteworthy for what happened after the game than during it. Florida absolutely dismantled Miami, which came into the game with a freshman quarterback (Kosar), four new offensive linemen and two starting wideouts who had combined for only five receptions in their careers. Kosar (three picks) and the Canes turned the ball over seven times against a Wilber Marshall-led defense, while Gators quarterback Wayne Peace completed his first eight passes, threw for 146 yards, two scores and no interceptions in handing UM its worst defeat in four years. "We weren't that sharp," Peace said afterward, perhaps with a touch of sarcasm. "Typical opening game." Said counterpart Kosar: "Not the best way to start a career, but I'll learn from my mistakes." Oh, he did, all right. So did all the Hurricanes, who rebounded from the debacle by winning their next 11 games and won that first national championship under the direction of Schnellenberger, who bolted after the season for the USFL team and a position that, as it turned out, never materialized in the doomed league. Sept. 7, 1985 (Miami)
Florida 35, Miami 23 
Again, this season-opening outcome was more noteworthy for what happened afterward — as in over the next nine years. First, the game, which was not televised because UF, ranked No. 5, was on NCAA probation and facing a TV ban. No matter. The Gators went on the road and spoiled the much-anticipated starting debut of UM quarterback Vinny Testaverde, who was thoroughly outplayed by Bell, the sophomore who passed for 248 yards and four touchdowns (two to Ricky Nattiel). Bell rallied the Gators from a 21-20 deficit in the fourth quarter with 15 straight points to put the game away, as the Canes' lone score in the final period came when UF punter Ray Criswell backed out of the end zone with 36 seconds to play for a safety. The next time Miami lost at the Orange Bowl was Sept. 24, 1994, against Washington, a stunning 58-game streak, that still stands as the NCAA record. 

Sept. 6, 2008 (Gainesville) 
Florida 26, Miami 3 

By UF-UM standards, this one was fairly run-of-the-mill and uneventful … until the final 25 seconds. First, the game, which was Tim Tebow's lone crack at the Hurricanes and ended the Gators' six-game losing skid in the series. Tebow, the reigning Heisman Trophy winner, went 21-for-35 for 256 yards and two touchdowns through the air and rushed 13 times for 55 yards. His work had Florida ahead 23-3 when Florida coach Urban Meyer called a timeout and sent in Jonathan Williams to kick a 29-yard field goal to stretch a 20-point cushion to 23, which was somewhat noteworthy in Las Vegas (and beyond) given the point spread was UF by 22. Miami coach Randy Shannon barely acknowledged Meyer in the postgame ritual at midfield, just brushing Meyer's hand as he made his way toward the UM locker room. In his postgame session with media, Shannon suggested Meyer's choice of sportsmanship would assist the Hurricanes in the future (as in recruiting). "I'll just say this one statement," Shannon began afterward. "Sometimes when you do things, and people see what type of person you really are, you turn a lot of people off. Now, whatever you want to get out of that, I won't say it again, But it helped us, It helped us more than you'll ever know." Meyer got word of Shannon's remarks. "Why don't we talk about the players that played a great, hard-nosed football game?" he said. "I learned a long time ago just coach your team and take care of yourself. Special teams offense and defense occupies all our time. I'm good. We've got to move on." The Gators did just that — all the way to a second national title in three seasons. 


FIVE THAT WERE BAD FOR THE GATORS 

Dec. 1, 1956 (Gainesville) 
Miami 20, Florida 7  
A five-game winning streak, with four in SEC play, had the Gators hovering near the top of the league rankings until UF, ranked 13th, went to Jacksonville on the next-to-last weekend of the season and got thumped 28-0 by No. 5 Georgia Tech. That left the finale against Miami, at home, as a chance to exit the season on a high note. The 18th meeting between the two marked the first time in the UF-UM series that both teams came in ranked; the Hurricanes at No. 6, the Gators at No. 18. Florida, though, was without its starting backfield, as both halfback Jackie Simpson and fullback Joe Brodsky, were sidelined with injuries. Their absence proved too much to overcome, as UF could mount little of an offensive attack against a UM team, coached by Andy Gustafson and led by All-America fullback and future first-round NFL draft pick Don Bosseler. Miami exited the game victorious and with an 8-0-1 record, but also on NCAA probation and ineligible to play in a bowl game. As it turned out, the Canes lost their regular-season finale the next week, falling 14-7 at home against Pittsburgh. Their 8-1-1 record, though, was the best during the '56 season among the 22 NCAA independent programs.  

Nov. 26, 1966 (Gainesville)
Miami 21, Florida 16 

The greatest season in Florida history — led by its greatest player — had gone sideways three weeks earlier when Spurrier and the No. 7 Gators were not only upset, but thoroughly humiliated in a 27-10 loss to rival Georgia. UF bounced back a week later by defeating Tulane at home and wrapping up a berth in the Orange Bowl. After a week off, the Gators sat at No. 9 when the Hurricanes, led by All-America defensive and future Pro Football Hall-of-Famer Ted Hendricks, came calling. It wasn't pretty. UM quarterback Bill Miller outshined the soon-to-be Heisman winner by throwing for a pair of touchdowns and dashing 40 yards for another, as the Canes jumped to a 21-3 lead at halftime. Meanwhile, the 6-foot-8 Hendricks (a.k.a. "The Mad Stork") dominated the line of scrimmage and along with his defensive line mates threw Spurrier around like an orange and blue rag doll. Spurrier, though, kept coming. He passed for 145 yards in the fourth quarter alone, drawing the Gators within a possession, only to have his desperation end-zone heave for running back Larry Smith from the UM 31 fall incomplete on the final play of the final game of his Hall-of-Fame career. Afterward, Spurrier had some things to say. "In four years at Florida, I've never said anything about the officiating, but at least twice today, I was trying to watch receivers catch a ball and got the hell knocked out of me," he said. "I'm not crying, but I've thrown more than 700 passes and I've never had one roughing-the-passer penalty called. It was obvious today and I feel I should say something." Oh, and one more thing: "These officials were gutless," Spurrier added. Hendricks, meanwhile, left the game with nothing but admiration for his All-America counterpart. "He's a cool quarterback," Hendricks said. UM coach Charlie Tate concurred. "With that guy throwin' the football, you never can relax."

Sept. 5, 1987 (Miami) 
Miami 31, Florida 4 
The last game before the scuttling of the rivalry was a forgettable one for the Gators. Not only did they come in ranked 20th nationally, but it marked the program's first game off its NCAA television ban, so what transpired — and it was ugly; for both sides, actually — was out there for all to see. Bell, a senior, had his Heisman campaign torpedoed basically before it began. UF rushed 37 times for 42 yards (Note: Maybe the Gators should've given more than five carries to freshman tailback Emmitt Smith, who two weeks later rushed for 224 yards and two TDs in UF's first win at Alabama since 1963). Bell threw a pick-six, one of his three interceptions. Florida's only points came when Miami long-snapper Willie Peguese sailed snaps over the head of punter Jeff Feagles and out of the end zone in both the first and third quarters. That Florida team, under Galen Hall, went on to finish 6-6, with loss to Troy Aikman and UCLA in the Aloha Bowl. That Miami team — coached by Jimmy Johnson, quarterbacked by Ken Erickson and armed with Michael Irvin and Bennie Blades, to name a few — went 12-0 and beat Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl to claim the program's second national crown.

Sept. 6, 2003 (Miami) 
Miami 38, Florida 33 
This marked the second game of a home-and-home edition of the revised, albeit temporary, series. In 2002, UM came to Gainesville ranked No. 1 and, led by quarterback Ken Dorsey, pounded UF 41-16 in the second game under Coach Ron Zook. A year later, Zook took the 21st-ranked Gators to South Florida and his team — rotating a trio of QBs in Chris Leak, Ingle Martin and Gavin Dickey — opened a huge 33-10 third-quarter lead on the No. 3 Hurricanes and their new starting quarterback, a kid named Brock Berlin. Three years earlier, Berlin was named USA Today Offensive Player of the Year and signed to play for Spurrier, but could not beat out Rex Grossman and opted to transfer. Berlin was booed mercilessly by the home crowd as the Canes' 33-game regular-season winning streak looked all but over. Instead, Berlin guided UM to 28 unanswered points and a stunning victory — he finished 21 of 41 for 341 yards, two touchdowns, two interceptions — and mocked his former team with Gator chomps on the way off the field. "My emotions are just sailing right now," Berlin said. "It's been a roller-coaster ride. I've tried to be as calm as I could these last two weeks. I'm just glad it's over with." Not only was it the biggest comeback in Miami history, but the biggest blown lead by Florida since coughing away its 28-point fourth-quarter edge in 1994 at Florida State in the infamous "Choke at Doak." It was also the last time the rivalry was staged in the old Orange Bowl. 

Sept. 7, 2013 (Miami Gardens) 
Miami 21, Florida 16 
Just because it was the last meeting between the two — and an eyesore. How 'bout five turnovers for the 12th-ranked Gators and six trips inside the Hurricanes' 20-yard line, with four of them ending with no points. Want more? Florida had the ball for more than 38 minutes (compared to 21:40 for Miami, which came in ranked 24th), tallied 413 yards of total offense (versus 212) and punted four times (to UM's nine). Still, the Gators trailed the entire game after the Canes' first touchdown (thanks to a missed extra point, of course). The turnovers (2 interceptions, 3 fumbles) — including a sack/fumble by quarterback Jeff Driskel to set up a UM touchdown run by Duke Johnson inside four minutes remaining — and 10 penalties were too much to overcome. The loss was Florida's seventh in the last eight meetings in the series. It was also the beginning of what turned out to be the worst season for the Gators in 33 years, as the program, under head coach Will Muschamp, went on to finish 4-8, with home losses to Vanderbilt and Georgia Southern.