Former UF coach Doug Dickey and quarterback John Reaves on the sideline during a game in the early 1970s. (File photo)
Citrus Bowl History Lesson 1: Gators vs Miami (Ohio), 1973
Sunday, December 27, 2015 | Football, Chris Harry
Florida's date against Michigan in the Citrus Bowl will be UF's sixth time in the game.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Long before the folks at Capital One or Buffalo Wild Wings were involved, the Citrus Bowl had another name. The Tangerine Bowl.
It also had a nickname.
"The Little Bowl with the Big Heart."
The Elks Club of Orlando founded an organization, Florida Citrus Sports, to help benefit a local hospital specializing in work with disabled children. The Tangerine's first game on Jan. 1, 1947 featured Catawba beating Maryville 31-6 before about 8,900 in what was known as Orlando Stadium. Visits from the likes of Emory & Henry, Morris Harvey (those are schools, not people), Saint Vincent, East Texas State and Juniata followed during the 1950s. The game didn't draw its first ranked foe until 1969 when No. 20 Toledo defeated Davidson 56-33.
The Tangerine Bowl's first participant from its home state was none other than the University of Tampa, which defeated Kent State in 1972 and folded its football program two years later.
Its first visit from the University of Florida came in 1973 -- and the Gators didn't even have to leave town. More on that later.
Come Jan. 1, when Florida (10-3) takes on Michigan (9-3) in the 67th edition of the Citrus Bowl, it'll mark just the sixth time the Gators have played in the game staged 110 miles from the UF campus. That's three fewer appearances than Florida's nine visits to the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville and two fewer than those coveted eight berths to the Sugar Bowl.
Over the next five days, FloridaGators.com will revisit UF's five previous Orlando trips, one of which -- the first one -- wasn't even a trip at all.
The year was 1973. The Gators were in the fourth season of the up-and-down Doug Dickey era. And the Tangerine Bowl, the actual stadium (so renamed in 1952), was undergoing a 33,000-seat renovation, forcing the game to be relocated.
To Gainesville, as it turned out.
So off to the time machine we go.
FOR HISTORICAL CONTEXT
(Elsewhere in the news on Dec. 22, 1973)
* In Tallahassee, Florida Gov. Reubin Askew ordered state department heads to cut back their spending requests and said govenrment employees would have to work harder because of a possible drop in tax revenue during the energy crisis.
* Some 275 miles above earth, the astronauts in the Skylab -- Gerald Carr, Ed Gibson and William Pogue -- were treated to Christmas carols radioed in from Mission Control, including a pre-recorded concert from the choir at Oklahoma State University, Pogue's alma mater.
* Howard Hughes reportedly was seen in the Bahamas. Sources in Nassau said the billionaire recluse had taken over the 12th and 13th floors at the Xanadu Princess Hotel in Freeport.
* Florida State football coach Larry Jones resigned following the Seminoles first winless season since 1947. Jones, who went 15-19 in four seasons, left the post amid pressure following a series of articles in The St. Petersburg Times where in which members of the team alleged brutal training tactics that caused 28 players (mostly backups) to quit.
* At the movies: "The Way We Were," starring Robert Redford and Barbra Streisand; "American Graffiti," directed by George Lucas and starring Ron Howard and Richard Dreyfuss; "Midnight Cowboy," starring Jon Voight and Dustin Hoffman.
* On television: There's never been a night of TV like Saturday night from 8-11 on CBS in the early 1970s: "All In the Family," followed by "M*A*S*H," then "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," then "The Bob Newhart Show," and finally, "The Carol Burnett Show."
* On the radio: The countdown of the top three songs of that year ended like this: No. 3 - "Killing Me Softly With His Song," by Roberta Flack; No. 2. - "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown" by Jim Croce; No. 1: "Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree" by Tony Orlando and Dawn.
THE SETUP
Meanwhile, the Gators were in the process of rolling through November, beating Auburn, Georgia, Kentucky and the rival Miami Hurricanes before destroying Florida State 49-0 on Dec. 1 for a their fifth straight win. The Gators were on the cusp of jumping back into the Top 20 and into the national conversation.
In Orlando, the bowl honchos had watched UF's late-season rally and feverishly threw together a plan to play the Tangerine Bowl at Florida Field. The Gators (7-4) were delighted with the turn of events and jumped at the chance to be matched against the Redskins (10-0) and their nation's No. 1-ranked defense.
Both teams went to Orlando, where the pre-game festivities and activities were staged, then bused to Gainesville the night before the game.
Miami, with shutouts in three of its previous four games, was riding the nation's longest winning streak, a run of 11 straight equaled only by Alabama and Penn State. The Redskins had allowed just 59 points all season. One of their defensive backs -- get this -- was named Ron Zook.
The Gators, looking to reach eight wins and a season-ending ranking for the first time under Dickey, were designated as the visiting team in their own stadium. The weather was anything but Sunshine State-like.
THE GAME
The temperature at kickoff was 39 degrees and the Gators played like they'd been left out in the cold, as Miami made a case for the big time by easily handling the Gators 16-7 on their home field before a shivering crowd of 37,234 that reports claimed were exaggerated by as many as 8,000.
The win gave the Redskins a final record of 11-0.
Miami running back Chuck Varner, who shared game MVP honors with teammate and linebacker Brad Cousino, rushed 28 times for 156 yards, including a 3-yard touchdown in the third quarter that pushed the Redskins ahead 13-0. Miami completed just one of eight passing attempts for six yards yards, yet really didn't even need that much. That was because the Redskins steamrolled the Gators on the ground, carrying 70 times for 239 yards rushing. That was 50 yards more than the Gators' entire offense output (189 total yards) on the night.
The Redskins' defense harassed UF quarterbacks Don Gaffney and David Bowden all night, throwing the two for a combined total of minus-63 yards in losses.
Tailback Nat Moore rushed for 101 yards on 16 carries for the Gators and scored the team's lone touchdown, but that 1-yarder came with just 2:15 left in the game to make the score 13-7. The Redskins recovered the ensuing onsides kick and actually added a field goal in the final minute to cap the scoring and their unbeaten season.
THE QUOTES
* "Our team was ready, but the cold weather bothered Don Gaffney. We thought he was ready, but I found out at the half he was grimacing when he threw the ball. A back injury was bothered by the cold. Nobody else was bothered. We played a good team tonight. ... Miami compared to Georgia from our conference." -- Dickey
* "I'm not saying we could beat Alabama or LSU, but we could stay with them." -- Miami coach Billy Mallory.
THE FALLOUT
For UF, the spinning-wheels ways under Dickey at his alma mater continued, as the Gators finished unranked and with a record of 7-5, giving him a 23-21-1 combined mark in the four years since Dickey jumped from Tennessee to take over for Ray Graves following UF's 9-1-1 season of 1969.
Miami of Ohio and that phenomenal defense completed a perfect 11-0 season -- a record matched only by national champion Notre Dame and No. 5 Penn State -- and finished ranked 15th in The Associated Press poll.
Coming Monday: Citrus Bowl Lesson 2 -- Maryland (1980)
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