Florida Gators Sport Report and Nostalgia for September 5th

It is game day!!

There have been 245 days since the Florida Gators played their last game, a 28-20 win over the East Carolina Pirates, the Gators opponent next week.

Of course, the Gators will be sporting a new brand new head coach in Jim McElwain for tomorrow night’s season opener.

Gator Nation seems to pumped and ready for the start. I do not remember this much anticipation since the opening of the Urban Meyer era. While we were excited each season of the Tim Tebow era, Coach Mac will find himself in front of about 90,000 fans sitting on a powder keg of excitement ready to explode once again in The Swamp.

An aerial attack of reasonable production will be all it takes to light the fuse.

Florida Gators through the years

September 5 has not been one of our better days in the early part of the season over the years as we are 2-2 though leading on the scoreboard 135-65.

The two losses on the 5th were both to the Miami Hurricanes. In 1981 the Gators lost a heart breaker 21-20. The Gators also lost in 1987 by the unusual score of 31-4, but for Gators that score was tempered with the debut of #22, running back Emmitt Smith.

Emmitt did not have a real coming out party that game against Miami, Florida Gator fans did see a glimpse of what might be with him. I believe he ran for less than 30 yards on just a handful of carries, but as they say, you could tell that he had “it”.

Following the two September 5th losses to Miami the Gators would not play on the fifth again until 1998 when The Citadel came to Gainesville to face Steve Spurrier’s Gator squad. The Gators won that day 49-10. In that game Jesse Palmer threw for over 300 yards and four touchdowns as the Gators accumulated 401 yards of offense.

Finally in 2009 the Gators played their fourth game on 9/5 when they squared off against Charleston Southern and defeated the Buccaneers 62-3. In that game the Gators, behind Tim Tebow, gained 624 yards.

Tomorrow at 7:30 the Gators will begin their fifth game on September 5th.

Yesterday in Gator Sports

The Florida Gators volleyball team began Friday’s action with a 3-0 sweep of the #11 Oregon Ducks. The Gators won with scores of 25-18, 25-19 and closed out the match with a 25-20 win.

The #4 Gators are now 3-0 on the season while Oregon dropped to 5-1.

The Florida Gators cross country teams had a successful meet the Covered Bridge Open in Boone, NC. The Florida men won the event hosted by Appalachian State, while the women finished 2nd.

Florida State won the women’s side, and finished 3rd behind Appalachian State in the men’s event.

The Gators soccer team closed out the day with a 3-2 win in overtime against Oklahoma State. The Gators won the match when Brook Sharp scored at the 99:41 mark unassisted.

Florida Gators in action Saturday

At 3:00 the Gators will face #3 Texas in Austin at the VERT Challenge. The match will be on ESPN Gainesville Radio 850/95.3.

Then at 7:30 in The Swamp the Gators will open the 2015 football season against New Mexico State Aggies. The game can be found on the SEC Network and the Gator Sports Network for radio. It can also be heard on Sirius 119 and XM 192.

Remember whether you’ve got your own teeth or not keep smiling everybody.

#1 this day in 2012

gatorgrowl
David Shepherd has been a member of Gator Country since 1996. He retired from CSX Railroad in 2001 after nearly 30 years of service. Since that time he has worked for Gator Country, Waycross Journal Herald and First Baptist Church in Paris. He loves listening to his grandchildren plqying music. He has been married to Donna for 42 years.