Ben Hill Griffin Stadium has not hosted a major non-Gators game since 1994. (Photo: Florida Times-Union archives)
Carter's Corner: Odd Games at The Swamp
Monday, May 18, 2020 | Football, Scott Carter
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By: Scott Carter, Senior Writer
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- In between his regular updates on the state's different phases to reopen amidst the coronavirus pandemic, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis made headlines on the sports pages recently when he mentioned on national TV that he had spoken to University of Florida officials about Ben Hill Griffin Stadium's availability to potentially host an NFL game.
Of course, that was news people found interesting.
Shortly thereafter, UF Athletic Director Scott Stricklin released a statement of his own addressing DeSantis' remark.
Statement from Florida athletic director @ScottStricklin on his conversation with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis about the possibility of a displaced pro team playing at The Swamp or in some other UF facility. pic.twitter.com/GlVdJBlJIt
Should anything come to fruition -- hey, if we're taking votes, bring the Cowboys-Chargers preseason game scheduled Aug. 15 in Los Angeles across country. Those Dan Mullen-Dak Prescott storylines leading up to the game could be fun. If nothing else, DeSantis steered the conversation toward sports at a time when everyone was already a little on edge knowing the final episodes of "The Last Dance" on ESPN were on tap this past weekend.
Stranger things have certainly happened than an NFL game at the Swamp, but as for an actual NFL game at the Swamp, if there has been one it's hiding somewhere. In checking with UF historian Norm Carlson and former Tampa Tribune writer Joey Johnston -- both blessed with encyclopedic memories and longtime ties to the state -- they don't recall one.
They both referenced a couple of oddball games in the Swamp's history, though.
First, the 1973 Tangerine Bowl between the Gators and a Miami of Ohio team that featured an up-and-coming sophomore named Ron Zook. Yep, that Zooker.
"The Tangerine Bowl had no lights and it was a night game,'' Carlson wrote.
Well, that does present a problem.
Story on the 1973 Tangerine Bowl between Florida and Miami (Ohio) in the Orlando Sentinel.
The game is one Gators fans would soon forget. Miami, ranked 15th and with the nation's top-rated defense, beat the Gators 16-7 to cap a perfect 11-0 season. Not only did the Gators lose, but for the 37,234 fans who turned out for the game, they froze.
The temperature at kickoff was 35 degrees and news reports say by the time the game ended the thermometer read in the mid-20s. That's not very Florida-like. Oh, and if that's not enough, due to the Tangerine Bowl's contract with the Mid-American Conference at the time, Miami was the home team.
By now, if you're desperate for sliver of good news, Gators standout Nat Moore did rush for 101 yards on 16 carries. Still, then-Redskins coach Bill Mallory got the final word.
"I'm tired of people belittling us. We kicked their butt," Mallory told reporters. "I hope that people will give the Mid-American Conference a little recognition in the future as far as bowls go."
Twenty-one years later, the 1994 Gator Bowl was played at the Swamp as the city of Jacksonville prepared for the opening of a new stadium for its NFL expansion franchise. Tennessee, led by freshman quarterback Peyton Manning in his eighth career start, dispatched of Virginia Tech 45-23 in front of more than 62,000 fans. Manning completed 12 of 19 passes for 189 yards and a touchdown.
A story from Tennessee's win over Virginia Tech in the 1994 Gator Bowl at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium from the Tampa Tribune.
Manning's first trip to the Swamp would be his only win in Gainesville. A postgame quote from Manning stands out.
"We'll be back here in the third game of the year next season and a game like this will give us an awful lot of confidence,'' Manning said in the Tampa Tribune. "I thought it was pretty loud out here tonight, but the guys told me, 'Peyton, you just don't know what it's like here against the Gators.' I guess I'll find out for myself next year."
He did. Final score: Florida 62, Tennessee 37, in what remains one of the wildest, wettest games in the history of the stadium.
Other than for various high school state championship games, the Tennessee-Virginia Tech Gator Bowl appears to be the last football game not involving the Gators to be played on Florida Field.
Here's a postscript worth noting. When I first heard about DeSantis' comment, my first thought was that the Bucs probably played a preseason game in Gainesville at some point. Not so.
The Gators played at least one game in Tampa every season from 1969-74, and in 1976, the first year Tampa Bay had an NFL team, Florida opened the season at Tampa Stadium against North Carolina (a 24-21 loss) the day before the Bucs played their first regular-season game in franchise history at Houston. In fact, after playing their first two exhibition games on the road, losses to the Rams at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and to the Packers at Milwaukee's County Stadium, the Bucs played their first game in their home state in North Florida.
It happened Aug. 14, 1976, in Jacksonville at the Gator Bowl, a 17-3 victory over Atlanta that marked the first win in franchise history.
"Oh my, another dynasty,'' Bucs coach John McKay quipped afterward.
Not many showed up to watch as the announced attendance was just 11,342 in the 70,000 stadium.
The Tampa Bay quarterback was the man whose name now adorns the Gators' home stadium: Steve Spurrier finished 11 of 19 for 147 yards and scored a touchdown on a 1-yard plunge.
He didn't win again with the Bucs, but Spurrier was just getting started in Jacksonville.
