Florida Gators Sport Report and Nostalgia for September 12th

There is something different about waking up on Florida Gators game days and especially like the day when the game is played at night. It sort of gives you the whole day to enjoy the other games, or not, and then sign off the day with the game.

What I am looking forward to in the game tonight is to see a continuation of what Gators fans saw last week. Over the past four seasons we have had games in which the offense looked good, but then the next game it would appear to be a cluster of disorganization and the complete opposite of what fans had seen the prior week.

I was disappointed in the score of East Carolina win over Towson because having a strong second opponent will help us more in getting ready for the SEC schedule which starts next week. Maybe the game last week was an aberration and the Gators will see a better squad than what they saw last week against New Mexico State.

I am also interested in the Kentucky Wildcats as they travel to take on the South Carolina Gamecocks. Neither of these teams were very impressive last weekend.

While the Gamecocks did take on the North Carolina Tar Heels and won a close one, the Wildcats has to score in the final minute to pull back ahead of the University of Louisiana Lafayette. It will be interesting to see if either or both teams come out and play well in their conference openers.

Normally I pull for the SEC, but only because a stronger SEC makes the Gators look good when the Gators are ranked and trying to get as close to the top as they can. Big wins over conference foes helps at season’s end when bowls are being picked.

With that being said, I cannot root for the Tennessee Volunteers today against Oklahoma. I lived in Tennessee for three years recently and I have a lot of friends who are good Vol fans, but their Internet base of fans may be the worse in conference. This goes all the way back to the mid 90’s when I first started reading message boards and interacting with fans on line.

Those fans seem be to back, so I am pulling for the Boomer Sooners.

This date if Florida Football History

The Florida Gators have played six games on September 12 over the years and have a perfect record of 6-0.

The six games does include a few cupcakes along with a 1970 game against the Duke Blue Devils and the Kentucky Wildcats in 1992.

I was at the Duke game in 1970 as it was played in Jacksonville and was the season opener for the Gators.

While we did not have the Internet to interact with in those years, nor did we have talk radio, Gator fans knew or believed this was going to be our year. Coach Graves left the cupboard full, Coach Dickey was a proven coach who had already shown he could win SEC titles in Tennessee.

The Gators did pull out a close 21-19 win and the fan base was not pleased. The players that lit up the scoreboard in 1969 relied on a 45 yard punt return for a touchdown by Carlos Alvarez to secure the win.

Doug Dickey would not have survived nine years as a coach in this era of Gators football, in the 70’s we sort of expected not to win big games.

Game Notes for today.

  • The last time the Gators defeated an opponent two times in one calendar year was 2000 (Auburn)
  • The Gators are 36-4 in September since 2005.
  • The Gators are 30-12 against member of the American Athletic Conference. Former SEC member Tulane is a member of the conference.
  • In the season opener Florida played nine true freshmen and 12 redshirt freshmen.
  • The last time the Pirates were in Gainesville was 1983, a game the Gators won 24-17. John L. Williams and Neal Anderson each rushed for over 100 yards.
  • Here is to a great day in the Swamp.

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

    Last week in The Swamp

    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.