Great Games: Florida-Tennessee 1984
Thursday, September 14, 2006 | Football
As part of the celebration of the 100th season of Florida football, gatorzone.com will run a series of historical features throughout the preseason and the 2006 campaign. The series will give Gator fans an appreciation and understanding of the past teams and players that helped build the Gator football program.
During preseason practice, readers can learn about ground-breaking Florida teams of the past on Tuesdays and Thursdays with the “Great Teams and Eras” series. In addition to those stories, each Friday from the beginning of preseason practice until the season's first game will feature a look at one of Florida's legendary players as part of the “Gator Greats” series.
Once the season is underway, the look back in time will continue on Tuesdays and Thursdays with “Rivalries and Series” and “Great Games” entries relevant to the week's opponent. Occasionally, additional stories will be unveiled on Wednesday of game weeks when the opportunity arises.
As the 2006 football season approaches, take some time to sit back and reflect on the teams, players and moments that all lead up to this, the 100th season of Florida Gator football.
Florida-Tennessee, 1984
By Norm Carlson
One of the most unselfish and productive players in Florida football history was John L. Williams, a team-oriented athlete whose performance in the 1984 Tennessee game mirrored what he meant to the Gators during his four-year career.
Williams came to Florida in 1982 out of state champion Palatka High School, coached by former Gator lineman Bob (Grubby) Lyle. He was a star tailback, one of the most highly-recruited athletes in the country.
Florida also signed Neal Anderson and Lorenzo Hampton, a pair of pretty-fair country tailbacks, and something had to give in order to get playing time for all three stars. The best blocker of the group, by far, was John L. and he agreed to move to the less glamorous fullback position to block for the Anderson-Hampton duo and help the team win.
And he did it without a hint of resentment, or any public quotations on the subject.
Game after game during his career, John L. made the key block to spring a long run or give Kerwin Bell time to complete a throw. He made crucial third-down runs to keep the scoring drives alive, and he caught passes out of the backfield.
“One of the best things about our offense is John L. turning a one-yard loss into a three-yard gain and a first down,” Anderson said back then. “He kept the chains moving.”
The best example of that in a critical game came in front of 94,016 fans in Neyland Stadium on October 13, 1984. It was a classic Florida-Tennessee game that saw the lead bounce back and forth until John L. closed the Vols out with a determined 47-yard touchdown run with 54 seconds remaining. The final score was 43-30.
Williams carried 13 times for 101 yards that day and added four receptions for 96 yards. No other receivers caught more than one pass and the Gators completed only nine.
When Tennessee cut the margin to 16-13 late in the second quarter, John L. kept a drive alive with a pair of third-down runs and then went 18 yards to set up an eight-yard TD reverse by Ricky Nattiel with 49 seconds left in the half.
In the third quarter his 21-yard reception of a Bell aerial set up a Bobby Raymond field goal to make the score 26-16. When Tennessee moved to within six at 29-23 in the fourth quarter it was a 59-yard Bell-to-Williams pass that set up Bell's 13-yard scoring pass to Ray McDonald.
Tennessee scored with 7:23 remaining in the game to reduce Florida's lead to 36-30 and the momentum had moved to the Vol side of the field. It was time for someone to step forward, and it was John L. who put it away in a contest which led to Florida's first-place SEC finish that season.
With Tennessee defenders trying to force a fumble, Williams bounced off several Vols, kept his balance and ran 47 yards for a touchdown to steal the tide of momentum and seal the victory.
Florida had a great football team in 1984, arguably the finest in UF history in terms of talent. There were first-round draft choices all over the field – Anderson, Hampton, Nattiel, Lomas Brown and John L. Williams, who ironically didn't even earn first-team All-SEC honors during his Gator career.
Now he can chuckle about that all the way to the bank after a star career in the with the Pittsburgh Steelers, doing just what he did for the Gators - a key block here, a pass reception there and enough yardage on his runs to keep drives alive.
