1983 Florida Gators football team

1983 Florida Gators football
Gator Bowl, W 14–6 vs. Iowa
ConferenceSoutheastern Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 6
APNo. 6
Record9–2–1 (4–2 SEC)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorMike Shanahan (4th season)
Defensive coordinatorJoe Kines (3rd season)
Home stadiumFlorida Field
Seasons
← 1982
1984 →
1983 Southeastern Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 3 Auburn $ 6 – 0 – 0 11 – 1 – 0
No. 4 Georgia 5 – 1 – 0 10 – 1 – 1
No. 6 Florida 4 – 2 – 0 9 – 2 – 1
Tennessee 4 – 2 – 0 9 – 3 – 0
No. 15 Alabama 4 – 2 – 0 8 – 4 – 0
Ole Miss 4 – 2 – 0 6 – 6 – 0
Kentucky 2 – 4 – 0 6 – 5 – 1
Mississippi State 1 – 5 – 0 3 – 8 – 0
LSU 0 – 6 – 0 4 – 7 – 0
Vanderbilt 0 – 6 – 0 2 – 9 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1983 Florida Gators football team represented the University of Florida during the 1983 NCAA Division I-A football season. The season was Charley Pell's fifth as the head coach of the Florida Gators football team. Pell's Gators posted a 9–2–1 overall record and a Southeastern Conference (SEC) record of 4–2, placing third among ten SEC teams.[1] Behind a stout defense and a rushing attack led by future pros Neal Anderson, John L. Williams, and Lorenzo Hampton the 1983 Gators were the first squad in program history to be ranked among the top ten teams in the final Associated Press (AP) poll. It was also the second time that the Gators were ranked in every weekly AP Poll throughout the season, (1975 being the first).

Schedule

DateOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendanceSource
September 3Miami (FL)*
W 28–373,907[2]
September 10at No. 9 USC*No. 18
T 19–1953,948[3]
September 17Indiana State*No. 15
  • Florida Field
  • Gainesville, FL
W 17–1368,191[4]
September 24at Mississippi StateNo. 15
W 35–1231,875[5]
October 1at No. 16 LSUNo. 12
W 31–1778,616[6]
October 8VanderbiltNo. 9
  • Florida Field
  • Gainesville, FL
W 29–1073,764[7]
October 22East Carolina*daggerNo. 6
  • Florida Field
  • Gainesville, FL
W 24–1773,943[8]
October 29at No. 4 AuburnNo. 5
CBSL 21–2875,700[9]
November 5vs. No. 4 GeorgiaNo. 9
CBSL 9–1082,166[10]
November 12KentuckyNo. 14
  • Florida Field
  • Gainesville, FL (rivalry)
W 24–773,192[11]
December 3Florida State*No. 12
  • Florida Field
  • Gainesville, FL (rivalry)
CBSW 53–1474,113[12]
December 30vs. No. 10 Iowa*No. 11
ABCW 14–681,293[13]
  • *Non-conference game
  • daggerHomecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

[1]

Roster

1983 Florida Gators football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos. # Name Class
RB 27 Neal Anderson So
WR 89 Ricky Nattiel Fr
QB 15 Wayne Peace Sr
FB 22 John L. Williams So
Defense
Pos. # Name Class
S 18 Tony Lilly Sr
LB 88 Wilber Marshall Sr
Special teams
Pos. # Name Class
K Bobby Raymond Jr
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured Injured
  • Redshirt Redshirt

Team players in the 1984 NFL Draft

Main article: 1984 NFL draft
Player Position Round Pick NFL club
Wilber Marshall Linebacker 1 11 Chicago Bears
Tony Lilly Safety 3 78 Denver Broncos
Randy Clark Defensive back 8 202 Kansas City Chiefs
John Hunt Guard 9 232 Dallas Cowboys

[14]

References

  1. ^ 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.
  2. ^ "For Gators, a Peace-full victory". St. Petersburg Times. September 4, 1983. Retrieved November 4, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "USC rallies to tie Florida, then flubs extra-point try". The Fresno Bee. September 11, 1983. Retrieved November 4, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "Sycamore upset bid just misses". The Indianapolis Star. September 18, 1983. Retrieved November 4, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "Bulldogs lose in fourth quarter". The Sun. September 25, 1983. Retrieved November 4, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "LSU just Gator bait for Florida". Daily World. October 2, 1983. Retrieved November 3, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "Undefeated Gators break out cigars". The Orlando Sentinel. October 9, 1983. Retrieved November 3, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "Florida overcomes 6 turnovers, East Carolina". The Palm Beach Post. October 23, 1983. Retrieved November 4, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "Auburn wins 28–21 thriller, but Florida disputes it". The Atlanta Journal & Constitution. October 30, 1983. Retrieved November 4, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "'Dogs 'hang in there, 'nip Gators, 10–9". The Pensacola News-Journal. November 6, 1983. Retrieved November 4, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "Gators bounce back, rip 'Cats". The Pensacola News-Journal. November 13, 1983. Retrieved November 4, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "Unexpected rout, Florida rips rival Florida State, 53–14". Florida Today. December 4, 1983. Retrieved November 4, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ "Gators put bite on Hawkeyes, 14–6". The Des Moines Register. December 31, 1983. Retrieved November 4, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ "1984 NFL Draft". pro-football-reference.com. Archived from the original on December 21, 2007. Retrieved August 10, 2019.