Good, Bad and Ugly: Florida football’s last decade of bowl games
Bowls have not always been good to Florida as anyone can see by a 24-22 record all-time. But there was a time when the Gators were really bad when it came to postseason play.
That was before the Gators won 10 of 14 bowl games to get that record over .500.
Heading into the Gasparilla Bowl, it’s interesting to look back on the last decade, because even though the Gators are on their fourth coach of the decade (seven if you count interims) and even though Florida fell short of a bowl game twice in the decade, UF went 5-3 in the post-Urban Meyer world in bowl games (sorry, we had to bring his name up).
There have been some great moments and some not-so-great. So, we present the good, the bad and the ugly of Florida’s last decade of bowl games.
THE GOOD
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It was Dan Mullen’s first bowl game and there were opt-outs on both sides. But it was Michigan and it was a New Year’s Six bowl game and the Gators came ready to play at the Chick-fil-A Bowl.
And after a slow start, it was a second-half rout.
Florida had taken the lead late in the second quarter on a Feleipe Franks 20-yard TD run, then blitzed the Wolverines with a 28-point second half that included a pair of touchdown catches by Lamical Perine and an interception return for a score by Chauncey-Gardner Johnson.
Gardner-Johnson was the defensive MVP of his second straight bowl game. Franks was the offensive MVP.
And the night was made that much better when Florida’s players who would be returning vowed to be back in Atlanta for the national title game the next year. It was a pretty good night to be a Gator.
THE BAD
Crystal LoGiudice-USA TODAY Sports
But Florida’s performance in the 2013 Sugar Bowl was a major step back for the program in its second year under Will Muschamp.
After all, this was a team that was a play away from being in the national title game.
And all week, we heard about how they wanted to finish on a strong note and they were spending all of their off-time watching film. Turns out, that was a bit of a fib.
And this team started the game with a player forgetting to go in motion, the primary receiver running the wrong route and a deflection to a defensive back for an easy pick-six.
It ended up 33-23 Louisville thanks to a late Gator rally, but this wasn’t only embarrassing because Louisville was coached by Charlie Strong, who wanted the Florida job, but because the Louisville crowd dwarfed the Florida crowd in the Superdome.
THE UGLY
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We knew going in that Florida might be in trouble because Kadarius Toney and Kyle Pitts had opted out. But there was still Kyle Trask and a team that had been in the playoff hunt until the end of the season.
What we didn’t know was that Dan Mullen was going to treat the Cotton Bowl like an early spring game and Florida had no chance.
Florida only trailed 17-13 when all heck broke loose. Spencer Rattler started lighting things up and the running game of Oklahoma was unstoppable (435 yards). Mullen started using younger players, pulled Trask and it went downhill in a hurry.
The final was 55-20, a miserable end to a season that fell apart at the end.
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