Dooley’s Dozen: Florida football’s 12 seasons following bad bowl losses
It was two days before Christmas a year ago and Gator fans were basically picked up by their collective feet and paddled on their bare bottoms. UCF 29, Florida 17.
It was one final (we hope) example of Team Quit. It meant that the upstart Golden Knights and their fans had bragging rights and Florida was stuck with its third losing season in the last nine years.
It was an embarrassing way for an embarrassing team to go out.
Many of those players are back and have been shocked back to life with Billy Napier brand paddles. UCF is a distant memory, almost as if it never happened.
But it did and became part of Gator lore, that dark chapter of embarrassing bowl losses stuck in the back of the book.
Some UF teams have responded well to bad bowl losses. Others. Not so much.
The Dooley’s Dozen today looks at how 12 teams responded to mind-numbing bowl losses (and they are kind of ranked in order of stink).
2008: Citrus Bowl loss to Michigan Wolverines
Doug Benc/Getty Images
This actually was a good game if you didn’t care about defense. In [autotag]Tim Tebow[/autotag]’s Heisman Trophy-winning year — and Lloyd Carr’s final game — Florida lost to Michigan, 41-35, and the embarrassment was the Florida defense.
How did UF respond? By winning the national title the next year. That was a pretty good response.
2000: Citrus Bowl loss to Michigan State Spartans
Andy Lyons /Allsport
Again, this was a tough one because Florida could not stop anybody and Plaxico Burress – who committed to Florida but failed to qualify – lit the Gators up for 13 catches. And Florida lost to an interim coach as Nick Saban had bolted for LSU.
How did UF respond? [autotag]Steve Spurrier[/autotag]’s penultimate team was his last one to win the SEC (beating Auburn) and won 10 games.
1996: Sugar Bowl loss to FSU Seminoles
Jonathan Daniel/ALLSPORT
Certainly, things would be much better two years later. But the “Fifth Quarter in the French Quarter” was an all-around disaster. It started with a massive and bloody fight between players at a team dinner and ended with Florida rushing for five yards in a 23-17 loss.
How did UF respond? The Gators won every game they played in the regular season and reached the national title game.
2004: Chick-fil-A Bowl loss to Miami Hurricanes
AP Photo/John Bazemore
Seriously, what was worse? Getting a field goal blocked for a TD because the ball was set down a yard closer than it should have been or assistants wearing Illinois shorts to practice or losing to Brock Berlin for the second time?
How did UF respond? New coach, new attitude. [autotag]Urban Meyer[/autotag] went 9-3 and greatness was on the way.
2013: Sugar Bowl loss to Louisville Cardinals
Chuck Cook-USA TODAY Sports
OK, now you are getting really depressed. That was so embarrassing for Florida, which was outnumbered in the stands 20-1, minimum. An 11-win team looked disinterested.
How did UF respond? Not well. Nope, the next [autotag]Will Muschamp[/autotag] team went 4-8 with a loss to GEORGIA SOUTHERN. Blech.
2016: Citrus Bowl loss to Michigan Wolverines
Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports
Even after losing [autotag]Will Grier[/autotag], [autotag]Jim McElwain[/autotag] held it together enough to get to 10 wins. Unfortunately, it was again another guy named Jim and it was a 41-7 obliteration.
How did UF respond? They were pretty much the same. Won the SEC East again, lost to Alabama again, lost to FSU again. Won nine games. It was also the only team to lose to Tennessee in the last 17 years.
1975: Gator Bowl loss to Maryland Terrapins
AP Photo/Mark Foley
This was a great Gator team. Just not on a rainy night in Jacksonville. The players on the 9-2 team didn’t want to be there. They wanted the Sugar Bowl. And it showed as Maryland won 13-0.
How did UF respond? That game felt like the beginning of the end for Doug Dickey. His next team won eight games (and Fourth and Dumb) and the win totals kept dwindling.
2020: Cotton Bowl loss to Oklahoma Sooners
Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports
Our last chance to watch [autotag]Kyle Trask[/autotag] was marred by opt-outs and a general lack of enthusiasm from the coaching staff. The Sooners – led by Spencer Rattler – were dominant to the tune of 55-20.
How did UF respond? By playing their tails off early in the season and then embarrassing the program down the stretch. The 6-7 record included a come-from-behind win over Samford. Come on.
1989: Freedom Bowl loss to Washington Huskies
Mike Powell/Getty Images
You knew Florida was in trouble when [autotag]Emmitt Smith[/autotag] took his pads off at halftime. This was a team with an interim coach and Steve Spurrier on the way. Washington won 34-7.
How did UF respond? The head ball coach will tell you the next team won the SEC title. It was the beginning of something magical in Gainesville.
1973: Tangerine Bowl loss to Miami (Ohio)
AP Photo/Mark Foley
The game was played in Gainesville because Florida wanted it to be played in Gainesville. Florida lost 16-7 to a team that included defensive back [autotag]Ron Zook[/autotag] on a freezing cold night that only dummies like me showed up for.
How did UF respond? The 1974 team won seven of its first eight games and made it all the way to the Sugar Bowl.
1966: Sugar Bowl loss to Missouri Tigers
AP Photo/File
Steve Spurrier did a wonderful job of calling his own plays and rallying the team in its first major bowl game. But going for two each time is one of those stories Gator fans would rather forget.
How did UF respond? Spurrier won the Heisman and the Gators won nine games for the first time and handled Georgia Tech in the Orange Bowl.
1996: Fiesta Bowl loss to Nebraska Cornhuskers
Steve Dunn/Allsport
You knew this was coming. I remember writing that it was like a “four-hour trip to the dentist”, which made some dentists back in Gainesville angry. The following day, Spurrier was still devastated.
How did UF respond? Players I have talked to will tell you they used that game as off-season fuel. And the result was Florida’s first national championship team.
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