How did recent Florida coaches perform in their first road games?

Everything Florida coach Jim McElwain does will be compared to Gators legend Steve Spurrier and the coaches who followed him.

That comes with the job of coaching in Gainesville.

In his first season, McElwain is 2-0 with wins over New Mexico State and East Carolina at home in The Swamp. This Saturday, UF travels to Lexington, Ky., to take on the Kentucky Wildcats, the first road game under the new coach.

McElwain’s four most recent predecessors won their first road games as Gators coaches, including two against Kentucky. But a win against the Wildcats doesn’t necessarily bode well for McElwain’s team in upcoming games at Missouri, LSU and South Carolina. None of the previous four coaches finished with road records better than 2-2 (not counting Florida-Georgia in Jacksonville) in their first seasons.

Here’s a look back at the first road game, what it meant and how the season went for McElwain’s predecessors:

Steve Spurrier (1990-2001)

• Game: Florida vs. Alabama; Sept. 15, 1990
• Result: Sophomore QB Shane Matthews rallied the No. 24 Gators to overcome a 10-point deficit in a 17-13 victory over the Crimson Tide.
• Immediate impact: The tone was set for a successful season and the start of the Spurrier-Matthews era in Florida football. UF moved up to No. 19 in the Associated Press Top 25.
• Season road record: 2-2 – The Gators’ first loss of the season came in a 45-3 thumping by No. 5 Tennessee in Knoxville, Tenn. Florida recovered to win the next four games, including a 47-15 victory over Kentucky in Lexington. Two weeks later, Florida State beat Florida, 45-30, the first of five losses to the Seminoles for Spurrier at Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee, Fla.
• Overall season record: 9-2

Ron Zook (2002-2004)

• Game: Florida vs. Tennessee; Sept. 22, 2002
• Result: No. 10 Florida upset No. 4 Tennessee in Neyland Stadium, 30-13, behind three touchdown passes from Rex Grossman.
• Immediate impact: This was a big win for the Zooker. Two weeks earlier, No. 1 Miami dominated the Gators 41-16 in The Swamp. The victory over UT proved UF could still win big games in the post-Spurrier era. Florida moved up to No. 7 and appeared to be the team to beat in the SEC East.
• Season road record: 2-2 – The rest of UF’s road slate included games at Ole Miss, Vanderbilt and Florida State. Zook finished perfect in the state of Tennessee with a 21-17 Gators victory over the Commodores, but dropped games against the Rebels (17-14) and Seminoles (31-14).
• Overall season record: 8-5

Urban Meyer (2005-2010)

• Game: Florida vs. Kentucky; Sept. 24, 2005
• Result: Florida topped Kentucky, 49-28, a season high for the offense. Junior QB Chris Leak threw four touchdown passes as part of seven consecutive scoring drives.
• Immediate impact: No. 5 UF improved to 4-0 and the offense looked flawless. Any confidence built from this performance, however, lasted about a week.
• Season road record: 1-3 – In the game following the win over Kentucky, Florida got embarrassed in a 31-3 whooping by Alabama in Tuscaloosa. Two weeks later, Meyer infamously cried at his postgame press conference when Florida lost 21-17 to LSU in Baton Rouge, La. The Head Ball Coach got the best of the new kid on the block when the South Carolina Gamecocks eliminated UF from SEC East contention in a 30-22 USC win at Williams-Brice Stadium.
• Overall season record: 9-3

Will Muschamp (2011-2014)

• Game: Florida vs. Kentucky; Sept. 24, 2011
• Result: No. 15 Florida rushed for more than 400 yards in a 48-10 thumping of the Wildcats.
• Immediate impact: Will Muschamp looked like a genius for hiring Charlie Weis as his offensive coordinator. The Gators offense was effective with QB John Brantley passing in a pro-style system and a stable of running backs carrying the ball. Similar to 2005, it didn’t last.
• Season road record: 1-3 – Brantley and backup QB Jeff Driskel were both injured in a 38-10 home loss to Alabama. Freshman QB Jacoby Brissett struggled in back-to-back road starts at LSU and Auburn. Brantley and Brissett both played in UF’s 17-12 loss at South Carolina.
• Overall season record: 7-6

Andrew Olson

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.