So, you think you know Florida’s bowl history?
Let’s find out. You have to be pretty much bleeding orange and blue to get all the questions right below. So get started, and no Googling or peeking in the media guide:
1. How many times have the Gators played in their namesake Gator Bowl?
A. 5
B. 7
C. 9
D. 10
Answer: B. Florida’s first four trips to a bowl game, spread out over 1953-62, were all to the Gator Bowl. Though the bowl game is currently called the TaxSlayer Bowl, the folks in Jacksonville are always happy to welcome the Gators when they’re available. Jim McElwain, however, should probably hope that he keeps to it one trip to Jacksonville per year.
2. We all know Steve Spurrier liked to throw the ball. In one bowl game, the Gators threw the ball 58 games. Which game was it?
A. Fiesta Bowl vs. Nebraska (January 1996)
B. Sugar Bowl vs. Florida State (January 1995)
C. Sugar Bowl vs. Florida State (January 1997)
D. Sugar Bowl vs. Notre Dame (January 1992)
Answer: D. The architect of the Fun ‘N’ Gun got particularly trigger happy in his first trip to the Sugar Bowl as coach of the Gators. Despite all the passing, Lou Holtz and the Irish won 39-28.
3. The most touchdowns thrown by a UF quarterback in a bowl game is four. Which former Gator did it?
A. Rex Grossman
B. Tim Tebow
C. Danny Wuerffel
D. Chris Leak
Answer: A. Even more impressive, Grossman did this in the January 2002 Orange Bowl when he was benched by Spurrier for the first quarter over a missed curfew. He came off the bench and set a record, leading Florida to a blowout 56-23 win over Maryland.
4. Which Florida kicker has made the longest field goal in a bowl game?
A. Caleb Sturgis
B. Jeff Chandler
C. Austin Hardin
D. Judd Davis
Answer: B. Chandler hit a 51-yard field goal in the Sugar Bowl against Miami (January 2001). With Eddy Pineiro taking a part in this year’s game, the record could fall. Pineiro has hit a pair of 54-yard field goals this season.
5. The Gators have held two bowl opponents to six points. One was Penn State in the Citrus Bowl (1997 season). Who was the other team?
A. Michigan State
B. Iowa
C. Syracuse
D. Illinois
Answer: B. When Florida and Iowa met in the Gator Bowl following the 1983 season, the Gators left with a 14-6 victory. Holding the Hawkeyes to single digits on Jan.2 might be the only chance UF has of winning the Outback Bowl.
6. Which two coaches combined for Florida’s longest bowl winning streak of 4 games?
A. Steve Spurrier and Ron Zook
B. Ron Zook and Urban Meyer
C. Urban Meyer and Will Muschamp
Answer: C. In Meyer’s six-year tenure, the Gators went 5-1 in bowl games. That one loss came in the middle, the Capital One Bowl that followed Tim Tebow’s 2007 Heisman. In his final three seasons, Meyer won all three bowl games (BCS Championship, Sugar Bowl and Outback Bowl). In his first season, Muschamp coached Florida to the Gator Bowl, where the Gators topped Ohio State 24-17. Meyer took over as Ohio State’s coach following that bowl game.
7. Steve Spurrier is the only Florida Heisman winner do which of the following in a bowl game?
A. Win back-to-back MVPs
B. Never win bowl MVP
C. Win the MVP in a Florida loss
Answer: C. Spurrier’s one time as bowl MVP came a season before the won the Heisman Trophy. After the 1965 season, Florida played Missouri in the Sugar Bowl. The Gators lost 20-18, but Spurrier was named the game’s MVP. In 1966, he won the Heisman Trophy.
8. What is Florida’s longest streak of appearing in bowl games?
A. 27 years
B. 22 years
C. 19 years
D. 24 years
Answer: B. Spurrier’s 1990 team wasn’t postseason eligible, but in 1991, the Gators earned a spot in the Sugar Bowl. The streak continued for the rest of Spurrier’s time at Florida, all of the Urban Meyer years and into Will Muschamp’s tenure. The 22-year streak was snapped when Florida went 4-8 in 2013.
8. Who was the most recent Gator to win a bowl game MVP?
A. Vernon Hargreaves III
B. Dante Fowler Jr.
C. Adam Lane
D. Jeff Driskel
Answer: C. Lane’s career never amounted to much as he transferred just before the start of the 2015 season, but under interim coach D.J. Durkin, the short-and-stocky ball-carrier was given his chance to shine. Driskel led the offense after Treon Harris left the game due to injury, and Hargreaves made a game-saving interception, but it was Lane’s 16 carries for 109 yards and a touchdown that earned MVP in the 2014 Birmingham Bowl win over East Carolina.
10. Which bowl game has never hosted the Gators?
A. The Sun Bowl
B. The Rose Bowl
C. The Aloha Bowl
Answer: B. Despite being a regular contender during the BCS era, the Gators have never were Nos. 1 or 2 in the year that the Rose Bowl was on rotation for the host championship venue.
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.
