1989 Florida Gators football team

1989 Florida Gators football
1989 Florida Gators football
Freedom Bowl, L 7–34 v. Washington
Conference	Southeastern Conference
Record	7–5 (4–3 SEC)
Head coach	Galen Hall (6th season season; first 5 games); Gary Darnell (interim; final 7 games);
Offensive coordinator	Whitey Jordan (1st season)
Defensive coordinator	Gary Darnell (2nd season)
Home stadium	Ben Hill Griffin Stadium
	Seasons ← 1988 1990 →

The 1989 Florida Gators football team represented the University of Florida during the 1989 NCAA Division I-A football season. The season was Galen Hall's sixth and final season as the head coach of the Florida Gators football team; Hall was replaced as the Gators head coach after five games by his defensive coordinator, Gary Darnell. Hall and Darnell's 1989 Florida Gators posted an overall record of 7–5 and a Southeastern Conference (SEC) record of 4–3, tying for fourth place in the ten-team SEC.^[1]

1989 Southeastern Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 5 Tennessee +	6	–	1	–	0	11	–	1	–	0
No. 9 Alabama +	6	–	1	–	0	10	–	2	–	0
No. 6 Auburn +	6	–	1	–	0	10	–	2	–	0
Florida	4	–	3	–	0	7	–	5	–	0
Ole Miss	4	–	3	–	0	8	–	4	–	0
Georgia	4	–	3	–	0	6	–	6	–	0
Kentucky	2	–	5	–	0	6	–	5	–	0
LSU	2	–	5	–	0	4	–	7	–	0
Mississippi State	1	–	6	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Vanderbilt	0	–	7	–	0	1	–	10	–	0

+ – Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 9	12:30 pm	Ole Miss		Ben Hill Griffin Stadium Gainesville, FL	TBS	L 19–24	70,014	^[2]
September 16		Louisiana Tech*		Ben Hill Griffin Stadium Gainesville, FL		W 34–7	65,109	^[3]
September 23		at Memphis State*		Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium Memphis, TN		W 38–13	25,163	^[4]
September 30		vs. Mississippi State		Tampa Stadium Tampa, FL		W 21–0	68,109	^[5]
October 7	8:00 pm	at LSU		Tiger Stadium Baton Rouge, LA (rivalry)	PPV	W 16–13	74,527	^[6]
October 14		Vanderbilt	No. 25	Ben Hill Griffin Stadium Gainesville, FL		W 34–11	69,121	^[7]
October 21		New Mexico*	No. 20	Ben Hill Griffin Stadium Gainesville, FL		W 27–21	72,578	^[8]
November 4		at No. 12 Auburn	No. 19	Jordan-Hare Stadium Auburn, AL (rivalry)	ESPN	L 7–10	85,214	^[9]
November 11	12:30 pm	vs. Georgia	No. 20	Gator Bowl Stadium Jacksonville, FL (rivalry)	TBS	L 10–17	81,577	^[10]
November 18		Kentucky		Ben Hill Griffin Stadium Gainesville, FL (rivalry)		W 38–28	71,432	^[11]
December 2	7:30 pm	No. 6 Florida State*		Ben Hill Griffin Stadium Gainesville, FL (rivalry)	ESPN	L 17–24	75,124	^[12]
December 30	2:00 pm	vs. Washington*		Anaheim Stadium Anaheim, CA (Freedom Bowl)	NBC	L 7–34	33,858	^[13]^[14]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

^[1]

Personnel

1989 Florida Gators football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
WR	`3`	Terence Barber	Jr
OL	`52`	Chris Bromley	Jr
OL		Brian Fisher	Fr
OL	`59`	Cal Dixon	So
QB		Donald Douglas	Fr
OL	`72`	John Durden	Sr
OL	`76`	Brad Hatcher	Sr
OL		Hesham Ismail	So
WR	`8`	Tony Jones	Sr
TE		Greg Keller
TE	`88`	Kirk Kirkpatrick	Jr
WR	`20`	Tony Lomack	Sr
RB	`5`	Willie McClendon	So
RB	`21`	Dexter McNabb	So
WR	`14`	Ernie Mills	Jr
QB	`1`	Kyle Morris	So
RB	`34`	Darryl Perry	Sr
RB		Errict Rhett
WR	`25`	Stacey Simmons	Sr
RB	`39`	Cedric Smith	Sr
RB	`22`	Emmitt Smith	Jr
QB	`12`	Lex Smith	Fr
OL		Richard Starowesky
WR		Alonzo Sullivan
TE		Harvey Thomas

Defense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
DB	`44`	Ephesians Bartley	So
DL	`94`	Mike Brandon	So
DL	`50`	Brad Culpepper	So
DB	`28`	Richard Fain	Jr
LB		Monty Grow	Fr
DL	`71`	Tony McCoy	Jr
LB	`45`	Pat Moorer	Sr
DL		Mark Murray
DB	`98`	Godfrey Myles	Jr
DL		Glenn Neely
LB	`57`	Jerry Odom	Jr
LB	`99`	Tim Paulk	So
LB	`90`	Huey Richardson	Jr
DB	`6`	Jimmy Spencer	Jr
DB		Kerry Watkins
DB		Will White

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class
K		John David Francis

Head coach

Galen Hall

Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible

Injured
Redshirt

Game summaries

Ole Miss

Ole Miss Rebels (1–0) at Florida Gators (0–0)

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Ole Miss	7	0	14	3	24
Florida	3	3	0	13	19

at Florida Field, Gainesville, Florida

Date: September 9, 1989
Game attendance: 70,014
Gainesville Sun, 1989 Sep 10.

Game information

First quarter

FLA – John David Francis 36-yard field goal. Florida 3–0. Drive:
MISS – Randy Baldwin 9-yard pass from John Darnell (Greg Hogue kick). Ole Miss 7–3. Drive:

Second quarter

FLA – John David Francis 34-yard field goal. Ole Miss 7–6. Drive:

Third quarter

MISS – Randy Baldwin 1-yard run (Greg Hogue kick). Ole Miss 14–6. Drive:
MISS – Chauncey Godwin 58-yard interception return (Greg Hogue kick). Ole Miss 21–6.

Fourth quarter

FLA – Emmitt Smith 5-yard run (pass failed). Ole Miss 21–12. Drive:
MISS – Brian Lee 40-yard field goal. Ole Miss 24–12. Drive:
FLA – Emmitt Smith 2-yard run (John David Francis kick). Ole Miss 24–19. Drive:

Top passers

MISS – John Darnell – 6/14, 48 yards, TD, INT
FLA – Kyle Morris – 18/35, 216 yards, 2 INT

Top rushers

MISS – Randy Baldwin – 13 rushes, 35 yards, TD
FLA – Emmitt Smith – 29 rushes, 117 yards, 2 TD

Top receivers

MISS – Reid Hines – 2 receptions, 26 yards
FLA – Kirk Kirkpatrick – 6 receptions, 83 yards

Louisiana Tech

	1	2	3	4	Total
Louisiana Tech	0	7	0	0	7
Florida	10	0	21	3	34

At Memphis State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Florida	10	14	7	7	38
Memphis State	7	3	3	0	13

Mississippi State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Mississippi State	0	0	0	0	0
Florida	0	14	0	7	21

at Tampa, Florida

At LSU

	1	2	3	4	Total
Florida	3	0	3	10	16
LSU	0	10	0	3	13

Vanderbilt

	1	2	3	4	Total
Vanderbilt	0	3	0	8	11
Florida	10	17	7	0	34

New Mexico

	1	2	3	4	Total
New Mexico	0	0	7	14	21
Florida	7	7	10	3	27

At Auburn

#19 Florida Gators (6–1) at #12 Auburn Tigers (5–2)

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Florida	7	0	0	0	7
Auburn	0	0	3	7	10

at Jordan–Hare Stadium, Auburn, Alabama

Date: November 4
Game attendance: 85,214
TV: ESPN
^[15]

Game information

First quarter

FLA – Emmitt Smith 5-yard run (John David Francis kick), 4:09. Florida 7–0.

Second quarter

No scoring

Third quarter

AUB – Win Lyle 47-yard field goal, 2:18. Florida 7–3.

Fourth quarter

AUB – Shayne Wasden 25-yard pass from Reggie Slack (Win Lyle kick), 0:26. Auburn 10–7.

Top passers

FLA – Donald Douglas – 1/5, 6 yards
AUB – Reggie Slack – 12/19, 143 yards, TD

Top rushers

FLA – Emmitt Smith – 27 rushes, 86 yards, TD
AUB – James Joseph – 26 rushes, 55 yards

Top receivers

FLA – Kirk Kirkpatrick – 1 reception, 6 yards
AUB – James Joseph – 3 receptions, 47 yards

Vs. Georgia

	1	2	3	4	Total
Florida	0	7	0	3	10
Georgia	0	3	14	0	17

at Jacksonville, Florida

Kentucky

	1	2	3	4	Total
Kentucky	7	0	7	14	28
Florida	10	14	7	7	38

Florida State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Florida State	7	3	7	7	24
Florida	3	7	0	7	17

Freedom Bowl (vs. Washington)

	1	2	3	4	Total
Florida	7	0	0	0	7
Washington	17	10	0	7	34

at Anaheim, California

References

^ ^a ^b 2015 Florida Gators Football Media Guide Archived 2015-12-08 at the Wayback Machine, University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida, p. 107 (2015). Retrieved August 16, 2015.
^ "Rebels turn back Gators; fans rebel against Morris". South Florida Sun Sentinel. September 10, 1989. Retrieved November 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "34–7 whipping of La. Tech soothes troubles Gators". The Miami Herald. September 17, 1989. Retrieved July 7, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Gators, Smith subdue Tigers". The Commercial Appeal. September 24, 1989. Retrieved November 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Morris lifts Gators to 21–0 win". St. Petersburg Times. October 1, 1989. Retrieved November 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "LSU loses as time runs out". Daily World. October 8, 1989. Retrieved November 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Gators defy distractions". Fort Myers News-Press. October 15, 1989. Retrieved November 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Gators foil Lobos' bid". Albuquerque Journal. October 22, 1989. Retrieved November 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Auburn derails Florida". The Miami Herald. November 5, 1989. Retrieved November 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Dawgs have their day, again". St. Petersburg Times. November 12, 1989. Retrieved November 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "UF wears ddown Kentucky, 38–28". The Tampa Tribune. November 19, 1989. Retrieved November 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "FSU air attack down Gators 24–17". Press Journal. December 3, 1989. Retrieved November 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Huskies roll past Florida in 34-7 win". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. December 31, 1989. p. 1D.
^ "Huskies hammer Florida, 34-7". The Bulletin. (Bend, Oregon). wire services. December 31, 1989. p. F4.
^ Gainesville Sun, 1989 Nov 05. Retrieved 2022-Oct-30.

[ufmediaguide-1] 2015 Florida Gators Football Media Guide Archived 2015-12-08 at the Wayback Machine, University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida, p. 107 (2015). Retrieved August 16, 2015.

[2] "Rebels turn back Gators; fans rebel against Morris". South Florida Sun Sentinel. September 10, 1989. Retrieved November 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.

[3] "34–7 whipping of La. Tech soothes troubles Gators". The Miami Herald. September 17, 1989. Retrieved July 7, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.

[4] "Gators, Smith subdue Tigers". The Commercial Appeal. September 24, 1989. Retrieved November 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.

[5] "Morris lifts Gators to 21–0 win". St. Petersburg Times. October 1, 1989. Retrieved November 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.

[6] "LSU loses as time runs out". Daily World. October 8, 1989. Retrieved November 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.

[7] "Gators defy distractions". Fort Myers News-Press. October 15, 1989. Retrieved November 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.

[8] "Gators foil Lobos' bid". Albuquerque Journal. October 22, 1989. Retrieved November 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.

[9] "Auburn derails Florida". The Miami Herald. November 5, 1989. Retrieved November 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.

[10] "Dawgs have their day, again". St. Petersburg Times. November 12, 1989. Retrieved November 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.

[11] "UF wears ddown Kentucky, 38–28". The Tampa Tribune. November 19, 1989. Retrieved November 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.

[12] "FSU air attack down Gators 24–17". Press Journal. December 3, 1989. Retrieved November 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.

[hrpfl-13] "Huskies roll past Florida in 34-7 win". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. December 31, 1989. p. 1D.

[hhfltfsv-14] "Huskies hammer Florida, 34-7". The Bulletin. (Bend, Oregon). wire services. December 31, 1989. p. F4.

[15] Gainesville Sun, 1989 Nov 05. Retrieved 2022-Oct-30.

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