I was only 14 and in San Diego at tge time so I really didn’t get to appreciate those teams. I did get to watch Wes in his prime though catching passes from Fouts.
I watched that with a few gator friends on the beach in pcola. Damn I thought it was going to go diff. Bettis was a beast.
Yeah, I thought we had them and then Bettis scored 3 TD's in less than 3-minutes...I have disliked him ever since...LOL.
For me, it's 1984. Screw sanctions for things everyone else did. Charley was the architect of Florida's dominant modern era. The Gators were so solidly built that Galen never had a losing season in the teeth of sanctions just shy of the Death Penalty...
As Gators, we're fortunate indeed, we've had many good memories. Gators gymnastics three years in a row- The two back to back national Basketball championships, for sure. Natty in Baseball and Golf. 1996 Football was huge. Especially after being in the mix the year before and getting spanked by Nebraska. That 1995 championship was fugly. Before we were any good as a team, we always had top players, and those stick out to me as well: Nat More, Wilbur Marshal, Emmit, Shane, Youngblood, Neal Anderson, Jesse, Caldwell, Nattiel, Rexy. Then came Tebow, Pouncies, and the list goes on. Trask!! For me the Gator experience has been the driving force that keeps me engaged. I've bumped into people at airports wearing Gator gear, ran up Gator chomp them , hugged ladies with their families, the dad would say..it happens all the time. As usual I got long winded, but we've suffered and we've felt the glory. And I wouldn't give up being a Gator for anything. Because, it's great to-be a Florida Gator! I'm excited for this years team in this new era, and we're not done yet. Lagway and the boyz. We'll see... Go Gators
1996 because I went to every home game, and we won them all... before we beat the Noles for the Natty.
I went to the only game we didn't lose... with Chris Colinsworth playing in the Orange and Blue. We tied Georgi Tech... and I was there.
Nah...we were down to a walk-on LB in the Second half of that game. Tackling a future HOF Bus was asking a lot. We left a lot of points on the field in the first half that could have made a difference in the result, though.
Agree on your last sentence. Willie was killing ND with the short passes from Shane, but I think OBC got impatient and wanted to throw bombs to our small receivers. Few incompletions later and the rest is history. Anyway, that's how I remembered it.
Rhett was ripping ND too....they adjusted in the 2nd half to limit that too. I agree that Spurrier was too impatient in that game.
He went into his "we're throwing no matter what" mode, Shane had 58 attempts, ND just sat back and let it happen because in the RZ we ended up kicking 5 freaking field goals.
1996 Football team is beyond compare, IMO. Honorable mention for football: 1984 - My sophomore year. What a rebound from losing the first and the tie in the 2nd game to become by far the best team in teh country by the end of the year. 2005-6 and 2006-7 Basketball teams were probably the most fun to watch of any teams of any sport in UF history. Honorable mention for basketball: 1994 "Find a Way" team that made our first Final Four! Other Gator sports teams that were special to me personally: 1998 Soccer. That championship match in Greensboro is still in my top 5 attended sporting events ever. Tarheel fans were so arrogant. So much fun leaving that stadium with our heads held high! 1986 Gymnastics: Hosted the national championship meet. Came in a disappointing 8th, but what a fun team to watch. Melissa Miller, Elfi Schlegal, Gina Stallone (the spinner). I just wish Maria Anz had returned and not gone to be in American Anthem. It's so funny looking back. Utah won it with a 186.95, LOL. 2015 Softball: Repeat NCAA champions with an other-worldly year by Lauren Haeger. Very fun team to watch.
