Wikipedia

1969 Florida Gators football team

The 1969 Florida Gators football team represented the University of Florida during the 1969 NCAA University Division football season. The season was the tenth, last, and arguably most successful season for Ray Graves as the head coach of the Florida Gators football team. Graves' 1969 Florida Gators finished their regular season with an overall record of 8–1–1 and an SEC record of 3–1–1, placing fourth among the ten SEC teams. Florida concluded the year with a Gator Bowl victory over SEC-champion Tennessee. Afterwards, Graves resigned from the head coaching position to become the university's athletic director, and was replaced by Tennessee head coach Doug Dickey.[1]

1969 Florida Gators football
Gator Bowl, W 14–13 vs. Tennessee
ConferenceSoutheastern Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 17
APNo. 14
Record9–1–1 (3–1–1 SEC)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorFred Pancoast (1st season)
Defensive coordinatorGene Ellenson (5th season)
CaptainMac Steen
Home stadiumFlorida Field
Seasons
← 1968
1970 →
1969 Southeastern Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 15 Tennessee $ 5 – 1 – 0 9 – 2 – 0
No. 10 LSU 4 – 1 – 0 9 – 1 – 0
No. 20 Auburn 5 – 2 – 0 8 – 3 – 0
No. 14 Florida 3 – 1 – 1 9 – 1 – 1
No. 8 Ole Miss 4 – 2 – 0 8 – 3 – 0
Georgia 2 – 3 – 1 5 – 5 – 1
Vanderbilt 2 – 3 – 0 4 – 6 – 0
Alabama 2 – 4 – 0 6 – 5 – 0
Kentucky 1 – 6 – 0 2 – 8 – 0
Mississippi State 0 – 5 – 0 3 – 7 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

Graves' final Gators squad was led by a surprising group of second-year offensive players known as the "Super Sophs", that included quarterback John Reaves, wide receiver Carlos Alvarez and tailback Tommy Durrance.

Before the season

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The team was captained by Mac Steen.[2]

Schedule

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DateOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendanceSource
September 20No. 7 Houston*
W 59–3453,807[3]
September 27at Mississippi StateNo. 12
W 47–3537,000[4]
October 4Florida State*No. 12
  • Florida Field
  • Gainesville, FL (rivalry)
W 21–663,957[5]
October 11vs. Tulane*No. 12
W 18–1743,102[6]
October 18North Carolina* No. 10
  • Florida Field
  • Gainesville, FL
W 52–262,945[7]
October 25VanderbiltNo. 10
  • Florida Field
  • Gainesville, FL
W 41–2048,631[8]
November 1at No. 17 AuburnNo. 7
L 12–3850,086[9]
November 8vs. No. 16 GeorgiaNo. 13
ABCT 13–1370,862[10]
November 15Kentucky
  • Florida Field
  • Gainesville, FL (rivalry)
W 31–655,279[11]
November 29at Miami (FL)*
W 35–1670,934[12]
December 27vs. No. 11 Tennessee*No. 15
  • Gator Bowl Stadium
  • Jacksonville, FL (rivalry)
NBCW 14–1372,248[13]
  • *Non-conference game
  •  Homecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

[1][14]

Roster

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1969 Florida Gators football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos. # Name Class
WR Carlos Alvarez So
QB John Reaves So
Defense
Pos. # Name Class
Special teams
Pos. # Name Class
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  •   Injured
  •   Redshirt

Season summary

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Houston

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In the opening game against the seventh-ranked Houston Cougars, the unranked Gators debuted a new passing offense which set the tone of success for the rest of the season and upset the Cougars 59–34. Carlos Alvarez had 6 catches and 182 yards receiving.[1]

Mississippi State

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In the second week of play, the Gators beat Mississippi State. 47–25. Alvarez had 12 catches and 180 yards receiving.[1]

Florida State

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1 234Total
FSU 0 600 6
• Florida 0 777 21
Scoring summary
2?FLAAlvarez 10 yard pass from ReavesFLA 7-0
2?FSUPederson 22 yard pass from CapplemanFLA 7-6
3?FLAAlvarez 30 yard pass from ReavesFLA 14-6
4?FLADurrance 1 yard runFLA 21-6

The Gators won the matchup over Florida State 21–6 on the back of a defensive surge that was unparalleled in Gator history. The Gators defense, led by junior defensive lineman Jack Youngblood, and sophomore defensive lineman Robert Harrell, sacked FSU quarterback Bill Cappleman eleven times for 91 yards leaving FSU with a total of negative 18 yards rushing in the game. Youngblood had been shifted to defensive end, with Harrell at tackle.[15] Harrell earned National Defensive Lineman of The Week honors.[16]

In addition to the pass rush, the FSU offense fumbled the ball eight times, losing five. Two other Gator Sophomores starred in the game as well, All-American wide out Carlos Alvarez and quarterback John Reaves. Alvarez had seven catches for 134 yards.[1]

Tulane

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On "Super Saturday" in Tampa,[17] the Gators came from behind and went for two to beat winless Tulane by an 18–17 score.[16] Alvarez had 11 catches for 146 yards.[1] "It was a damn poor victory, but it tasted a lost better than a defeat would have" wrote Jack Hairston.[18]

North Carolina

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The Gators defeated the North Carolina Tar Heels 52–2 and Alvarez caught 4 passes for 122 yards.[1]

Vanderbilt

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Florida won over the Vanderbilt Commodores 41–20. Reaves threw 5 touchdowns[16] and Alvarez had 11 catches for 112 yards.[1]

Auburn; Georgia

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A Southeastern Conference (SEC) loss to the Auburn Tigers and a tie with the rival Georgia Bulldogs cost the Gators a share of their elusive first SEC football championship.

Kentucky

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In a 31–6 victory over the Kentucky Wildcats 31–6. Alvarez had 10 catches for 105 receiving yards.[1]

Miami

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Florida beat the Miami Hurricanes 35–16 as Carlos Alvarez had a then-record 237 receiving yards on 15 receptions.[1]

Postseason

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Tennessee

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Gator Bowl
1 234Total
• Florida 7 070 14
Tennessee 0 1003 13
  • Date: December 27
  • Location: Gator Bowl

In a strange twist, the Gators were invited to play coach Doug Dickey's SEC champion Tennessee Volunteers in the December 1969 Gator Bowl.[19] In a game dominated by a Gators defense led by linebacker Mike Kelley (the game's MVP), defensive back Steve Tannen and defensive end Jack Youngblood, the Gators upset the Volunteers 14–13 to cap their 9–1–1 season—the Gators' best ever single-season record to that time.[19] After the Gator Bowl, Ray Graves resigned as the head coach of the Gators football team, but continued as the athletic director of the Florida Gators sports program until 1979.

External videos
  1969 Gator Bowl, YouTube video.

During the 1960s, Graves compiled an overall record of 70–31–4 (.686) during the decade, making Graves the winningest coach in the history of the Gators football program until that time.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 2016 Florida Gators Football Media Guide, University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida, p. 110–111 (2015). Retrieved August 14, 2015.
  2. ^ Buddy Martin (December 18, 1969). "Mac Steen: HeIs Gators Answer To jerry Kramer". Ocala Star-Banner.
  3. ^ "Florida bombards Houston, 59 to 34". Pensacola News Journal. September 21, 1969. Retrieved October 21, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "Gators outscore Mississippi State in 47–35 slugfest". The Commercial Appeal. September 28, 1969. Retrieved October 21, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "Gator defenders muscle into act". St. Petersburg Times. October 5, 1969. Retrieved October 21, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "Gators bite off brash Tulane challenge 18–17". The Tampa Tribune. October 12, 1969. Retrieved October 21, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "UNC killed by angry Gators, 52–2". The Charlotte Observer. October 19, 1969. Retrieved October 21, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "Gators smash Vandy, 41–20". The Knoxville News-Sentinel. October 26, 1969. Retrieved October 21, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "Auburn hands Florida first defeat of year". The Opelika-Auburn News. November 2, 1969. Retrieved October 21, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "Florida, Georgia tie, 13–13". The Bradenton Herald. November 9, 1969. Retrieved October 21, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "Bowl-hungry Gators nab 31–6 win over Kentucky". Tallahassee Democrat. November 16, 1969. Retrieved October 21, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "Florida beats Miami 35–16; Reaves No. 1". The Danville Register. November 30, 1969. Retrieved October 21, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ "Florida upsets Vols in Gator". The El Paso Times. December 28, 1969. Retrieved October 21, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ Sports Publicity Department. "1970 University of Florida Football Brochure" (PDF). floridagators.com. University Athletic Association, Inc. Retrieved March 15, 2018.
  15. ^ "Florida State Football - 1969 Year In Review".
  16. ^ a b c "Great Teams and Eras: The Super Sophs".
  17. ^ "Florida, Tulane Clash in Tampa". Sarasota Journal. October 10, 1969. p. 30.
  18. ^ "What Writers Said About Gators". Ocala Star-Banner. October 12, 1969. p. 2D.
  19. ^ a b Nash, The Gainesville Sun Presents, pp. 73–76.
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