1989 Florida Gators football team

American college football season

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 →

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

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]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 9	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	at LSU		Tiger Stadium Baton Rouge, LA (rivalry)		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	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	No. 6 Florida State*		Ben Hill Griffin Stadium Gainesville, FL (rivalry)	ESPN	L 17–24	75,124	^[12]
December 30	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

^[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
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

Gary Darnell (DC)
Whitey Jordan (OC)

Legend

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

Injured
Redshirt

Game summaries

Ole Miss

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

Period	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)

Period	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.

v t e Florida Gators football
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