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GAINESVILLE, Fla. — They say records are meant to be broken.
At Florida, however, there are certain records that look untouchable. Considering the most iconic dual-threat quarterback and NFL all-time leading rusher have both suited up in orange and blue, some stats are simply out of reach for future Gators and future Florida teams.
These five records can be considered safe in the UF record books:
1. Tim Tebow’s 4,181 yards of total offense in 2007
While it wasn’t the best year for the team (the Gators went 9-4), Tebow’s 2007 season was one for the record books. The Heisman Trophy winner logged 4,181 yards of total offense, topping QB Rex Grossman’s 3,904 yards in 2001.
This record will only be set or broken by quarterbacks. Even an extremely talented pass-catcher and ball-carrier would be unlikely to top 2,500 yards of total offense. Grossman’s 3,904 yards came largely from playing in Steve Spurrier’s Fun ‘N’ Gun, something college football has gotten away from. It’s hard to see any future Gators quarterback throwing for as many yards as Grossman under Spurrier.
Tebow notched 4,181 total yards as one of the best dual-threat quarterbacks of all time. Sure, the Gators could go back to a spread offense, but guys like Tebow are once in a lifetime talents.
2. Chris Leak’s 11,213 career passing yards from 2003-2006
Leak hit this mark by starting at quarterback all four seasons of his Florida career. It’s unlikely the Gators will have a four-year starter again any time soon, and that’s a difficult mark to top in three seasons.
Many coaches, including Jim McElwain, are recruiting for long-term depth at the quarterback position. That means there’s less of a rush to start a true freshman, especially in September as Leak did in 2003.
If a player red-shirts, that means he’s NFL Draft eligible after his sophomore season. Recent Heisman winners Jameis Winston and Johnny Manziel both moved onto the NFL after completing their redshirt sophomore seasons. If the Gators have a redshirt sophomore throwing for more than 2,500 yards in a future season, he’ll be a likely candidate to leave for the pros.
3. Terry Dean (1994) and Doug Johnson’s (1997) 7 TD passes in regulation
While overtime certainly makes this a possibility, it’s unlikely to happen in four quarters as Dean and Johnson did in their respective games.
Shootouts with each team cracking the 50-point mark simply aren’t common in non-overtime SEC games, so eight passing touchdowns by one quarterback would likely be running up the score. Even against cupcake opponents, McElwain and any future Florida coaches would likely have the backup in or have gone to the run game long before touchdown pass No. 7.
The seven-touchdown record belongs to quarterbacks who played for a pass-first coach known to put 70, or even 80, points up on the scoreboard, and it should stay that way.
4. Emmitt Smith’s 316 rushing yards in a game
It’s only happened five times: a running back from an SEC team gains more than 300 yards on the ground. Smith’s epic performance against New Mexico on Oct. 21, 1989 put him in that exclusive club.
Smith’s total is a Gators record and ranks third in SEC history.
At a school where all three Heisman winners are quarterbacks, it’s not surprising that 1,000-yard season rushers are relatively rare. The Gators haven’t had a running back go for 200 yards in a game since Ciatrick Fason rushed for 204 yards against Kentucky in 2004.
With that in mind, Smith’s 316-yard mark seems untouchable unless Florida goes through a radical change in football culture.
5. 62 consecutive games with a touchdown pass (Oct. 1, 1992-Oct. 4, 1997)
This impressive NCAA record that belongs to the Gators is Exhibit A for how Steve Spurrier, Danny Wuerffel (below) and the Fun ‘N’ Gun revolutionized college football.
Sixty-two consecutive games with a passing touchdown is almost impossible to imagine in today’s SEC with so many talented secondaries anchoring dominant defenses.
Even if the Gators have a truly elite quarterback in the future who can play three or four seasons, and manages to throw a touchdown every game, his successor would still have to keep the streak alive.
As great as Tebow was, for instance, the Gators failed to throw a touchdown pass twice during the 2009 season alone. Tebow started an 11-game game streak that ended in 2010, and the Gators haven’t thrown a TD pass in more than seven consecutive games since.
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.
