Jimmy DuBose remains one of the greatest running backs in UF history. (Graphic: Kelly Streeter/UAA Communications)
Jimmy Dubose is FSU "Mr. Two Bits"
Tuesday, November 21, 2017 | Football, Chris Harry
DuBose rushed for 204 yards against Florida State in his 1975 SEC Player of the Year season.
Back in 1975, though, there was a different chant that easily trumped the whimsical "Two Bits, Four Bits, Six Bits" one made famous by George Edmondson, and it went like this:
"Du-Du-Du-Du-Du!"
As in Jimmy DuBose.
He was one of the greatest players in UF history; in Southeastern Conference history, actually. The 5-foot-11, 217-pound fullback rushed for a then-school-record 1,307 yards as a senior, falling just five yards shy of the league record for most yards in a season.
Along the way to helping pace the Gators to just the fourth nine-win season in program history, DuBose had four straight games where he gained at least 100 yards, one of which stands out above the others more than four decades later.
"Yeah, I had a pretty decent game, I guess," DuBose said.
Um, yeah, he did. On Oct. 18, 1975, DuBose carried 22 times for 205 yards and two touchdowns, as No. 14 Florida did a pile-drive job on Florida State on the way to a 34-8 victory at home. At the time, DuBose's performance against the Seminoles ranked as the second-most in a UF game, and even 42 years later sits at No. 5 in the UF history books.
And it's still the greatest rushing performance ever against the rival Seminoles.
It seems appropriate that DuBose, now 63 and an assistant principal at Wesley Chapel (Fla.) Wiregrass Ranch High School, will get the honorary "Mr. Two Bits" call when UF (4-6) takes on FSU (4-6) in Saturday's noon Sunshine Showdown at "The Swamp."
"I was pretty shocked when they asked, but also very appreciative," DuBose said. "I'm hoping I can pull it off. I think the crowd pretty much knows what to expect. I'm certainly not going to do anything wild and crazy."
As far as wild and crazy, after that terrific senior season, DuBose was taken in the second round of the NFL draft five months later by — get this — the 1976 expansion Tampa Bay Buccaneers. That team, of course, had Steve Spurrier at quarterback, went 0-14 and posted what is considered the worst season in league history.
But DuBose also was in Tampa three years later when the Bucs reversed fortune, coining the phrase "Worst to First," by winning the NFC Central Division and advancing to the 1979 conference title game before falling to the Los Angeles Rams.
His glory days, however, were with the Gators.
Time to bask in them.
One more time, folks: "Du-Du-Du-Du-Du!"
"Those were a wonderful four years. Like the saying goes, it's great to be a Florida Gator," DuBose said. "Pressure will be on Saturday. I'll try not to fumble the ball."
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