The announcement of the 25th Outback Bowl matchup between the Florida Gators and Penn State Nittany Lions at Raymond James Statdium was made Sunday. It will feature two 7-5 teams. Florida will be making its 20th straight bowl appearance, tops in the SEC, and fourth in the Outback—Meyer’s second. The game will be broadcast on ABC Sports at 1 p.m.
This will be just the third meeting all-time between UF and the Nittany Lions, as the Orange and Blue posted a 17-7 win in the Gator Bowl on
Dec. 30, 1962, when Rip Ingle was head coach and Paterno was an assistant cach. Ingle is the uncle of Jerry Starr Spurrier, wife of South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier, who finally got his wish go compete against JoPa and collected a 21-6 victory in the Citrus Bowl on Jan. 1, 1998.
Florida is 17-19 all-time in bowls and owns a 1-2 record in the Outback Bowl, with its most recent trip to the contest a 31-24 victory over Iowa on Jan. 2, 2006.
“We are excited to hear that we are going to the Outback Bowl and play in another New Year’s Day game,” head coach Urban Meyer said. “We are proud of our history of playing in January Bowl games – not everyone gets to enjoy that experience. We’ve been fortunate around here to be in a bowl game for 20 consecutive years and I’ve told our players and staff to not take that for granted. This is atremendous opportunity to continue to grow and develop as a football team, while having a week of hospitality in the great Gator city of Tampa.
“I have fond memories of my first bowl game at Florida in the 2006 Outback game. I remember the great job that Jim McVay and his staff did in hosting our football team. I want to thank Jim and the Outback Bowl Committee for inviting us back. We look forward to facing Penn State andone of the true legends in the game in Coach Joe Paterno. I have a tremendous amount of respect for Coach Paterno and I will be honored to have the opportunity to coach in the same game as him.
Paterno, the all-time leader in wins, has a lifetime record of 498-177-7 since joining the staff in 1950.
He also has a stellar post-season record, with more bowl victories (24) than any coach in history. He also tops the list of bowl appearances with 36. He has a 11 bowl losses, and 1 tie with his latest win in the 2010 Capital One Bowl. Paterno is the only coach with the distinction of having won each of the current four major bowls—Rose, Orange, Fiesta, and Sugar—as well as the Cotton Bowl Classic, at least once. Under Paterno, Penn State has won at least three bowl games each decade since 1970.
Paterno has led Penn State to two national championships (1982 and 1986) and five undefeated, untied seasons (1968, 1969, 1973, 1986, and 1994). Four of his unbeaten teams (1968, 1969, 1973, and 1994) won major bowl games and were not awarded a national championship.
Penn State under Paterno has won the Orange Bowl (1968, 1969, 1973, and 2005), the Cotton Bowl Classic (1972 and 1974), the Fiesta Bowl (1977, 1980, 1981, 1986, 1991, and 1996), the Liberty Bowl (1979), the Sugar Bowl (1982), the Aloha Bowl (1983), the Holiday Bowl (1989), the Citrus Bowl (1993 and 2010), the Rose Bowl (1994), the Outback Bowl (1995, 1998, and 2006) and the Alamo Bowl (1999 and 2007).
Since joining the Big Ten Conference in 1993, Penn State under Paterno has won the Big Ten championship three times (1994, 2005, and 2008). Paterno has had 29 finishes in the Top 10 national rankings.
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The Gator Ticket Office will begin taking ticket orders for the 2011 Outback Bowl on Monday, Dec. 6, 2011, starting at 9 a.m. All fans can order online at http://www.GatorZone.com/tickets, by visiting the Gator Ticket Office starting on Monday or by calling their order in. The deadline for ordering bowl tickers is 11:59 Friday, Dec. 10.
The Gator Ticket Office will accept ticket orders from all Gator Boosters and general public fans and there will be no limits on the number of tickets a fan may order. However, if the Gator Ticket Office oversells by the deadline, tickets may be reduced or refunded using the Gator Booster Priority Point system. If the Gator Ticket Office must issue reductions or refunds, notifications will be made as soon as possible after the deadline.
Outback Bowl tickets are $70 for stadium seats or $150 for Club seats.
A map of seating allotments can be viewed on http://www.GatorZone.com/tickets.
All tickets will be sent via first-class U.S. mail during the week of December 13 to those fans who purchase tickets.
There are three ways fans can purchase tickets:
1. The quickest and most efficient way to order tickets is by visiting http://www.GatorZone.com/tickets and clicking on “Manage My Account.”
2. Call 800-344-2867, ext. 6800 (Nationwide), Monday-Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. and place an order with a Gator Ticket Office Specialist.
3. Come to the Gator Ticket Office and place an order with a Ticket Office Specialist. The Ticket Office is located on the west side of Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, open Monday-Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
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UF Students will have an opportunity to purchase 2011 Outback Bowl tickets on Monday, Dec. 6, at 6 p.m. Tickets are $70 each and are limited to one (1) per full-time, UF student. To purchase, students must visit GatorZone.com/tickets/students.
Students who purchase tickets MUST pick up their student bowl ticket at the Student Ticket Office, Wednesday, Dec. 8, through Friday, Dec. 10. Students must bring their valid Gator1 ID with them to pick up their ticket. All UF students will be sent a detailed e-mail to their Gatorlink e-mail address detailing these procedures.