December 4, 2015 FFFFacts SEC Championship

The day before game day... the SEC Championship edition 

(Florida v Alabama)

Happy Friday and here are your FFFFacts:

1. The South Eastern Conference Championship Game has been played since 1992.  

The higher ranked team is 17-6 in SEC Championship Game history. However, Florida and Alabama have combined for four of the six wins in the underdog role.

The team with most championships is Florida 

(7 wins). 

The current champion is Alabama (5 wins).

2. Ten SEC teams have played in the Championship game but only six have won.

3. Florida has played Alabama 7 times in in the SEC Championship game, Florida leads the series 4-3.  

This year, Florida and Alabama are the only two FBS teams ranked  5th or higher in total defense, scoring defense and sacks.

4. prior to this year, Florida has appeared in the SEC Championship game 10 times, more than any other team (7-3 overall). 

Alabama has played 9 times (5-4)

5.  McElwain, no stranger to SEC Championship Games, will be coaching in his third one, as he Alabama’s offensive coordinator for its 2008 squad that reached the league title contest, and its 2009 staff  that won it.

#GoGators 

November 27, 2015 FFFFacts about Florida v FSU

The day before game day... the Sunshine Showdown edition 

(Florida v Florida State)

1.Florida improved to 10-1 on the season making McElwain the FIRST head coach in Florida Football History to get 10 wins in his first season!

2.The series record is Florida 34-23-2

(Florida at Home leads the series 20-10-1) Longest winning streak: Florida 9 years (1968-1976)

Largest Margin of Victory: 49-0, Florida, 1973

3.Both schools have 3 National Championships and 3 Heisman winners… but Florida has had 49 First Round NFL Draft picks and sent 324 players to the NFL compared to FSU’s 42 First Rounders and only 256 players drafted to the NFL

4. Saturday's game marks the 16th time in the regular season that both teams have met and been ranked in the top 15, but it's only the third since 2001. Florida has a 4-3-1 edge when it has been the higher-ranked squad.

Notable Games

5. 1997: "Greatest game ever played in the Swamp"

Florida State entered the game ranked No. 1 (11-0) and a double-digit favorite over No. 10 Florida. 

Doug Johnson & Noah Brindise rotated at QB, the Gators were trailing 17-6 when Travis McGriff caught a key touchdown from Johnson, and Fred Taylor scored from the 4 yard line to take the lead going into 1/2 time.

To end the game and seal the Gator victory Jacquez Green caught a 62 yard pass setting up Taylor to complete the drive for a touchdown and final score of 32-29 -> this win spoiled FSU's chance to play for the national championship

November 20, 2015 FFFFacts about Florida v FAU

The Day before Game Day Florida v FAU edition

1. McElwain is the FIRST Florida head coach to win 7 SEC games in his first season.

He's tied for most overall wins (9) in his first season with Meyer/Spurrier/Hall/Graves

2. Last week's game marked the Gators 700th win in history! 

The all-time record is 700-401-40

3. The Gators are 2-0 against the Florida Atlantic Owls.

Largest margin of victory, 2007: 59-20

4. FAU is located in Boca Raton, their mascot is Owlsy the burrowing owl.

President Lyndon B Johnson "made notice" of the presence of owls at FAUs dedication ceremony and a few years later the National Audubon Society declared FAU land as an official owl sanctuary. 

Notable games:

5. In the 2007 Florida v FAU game, senior receiver Andre Caldwell had a career-high 13 receptions for 164 yards and surpassed Carlos Alvarez’s school record (172) to become the all-time leader in receptions. 

Caldwell still holds the school record w 185 receptions.

Thanks and #GoGators

November 13, 2015 FFFFacts about Florida v South Carolina

The Day before Game Day - Florida v South Carolina edition

1. Shawn Elliott is the Gamecock's interim head coach after the Ole Ball Coach resigned in October, he is 1-1.

Previously Elliot was the co-OC/OL coach and before that he coached the running game & OL. 

2. The Florida Gators v South Carolina  overall record is:

24-8-3

the largest margin of Gator victory was in 1995 of 63-7

The GCocks are 4-1 for the last five years

Bc Spurrier is and always will be a Gator

3. As a QB Spurrier beat SC in 1964 the one time they met, 37-0

As a coach (FL), he beat SC all 10 times they played.

At SC he was 5-5 vs the Gators.

4. Spurrier compiled more wins than any other coach in the history of the Florida Gator and South Carolina Gamecock football programs. 

Notable game(s)

5.  Spurrier's first game back in the Swamp: The game of blocked kicks... 

three crucial kicks were blocked in the 2006 game against South Carolina. 

After that game Spurrier forshadowed: "This could be the year of the Gators," 

Block 1. Ray McDonald blocked a 47 yd FG attempt

Block 2. Jarvis Moss blocked an extra point kick in the 4th q 

Block 3. With only 0:08 seconds left in the game Moss blocked a 48 yard FG attempt allowing the Gators to win 17-16

Setting records: Leak finished the contest 19-of-21 passing for 254 yards and a touchdown, and added 19 rushing yards to the Florida cause. His 273 total yards moved him past former UF great Danny Wuerffel into first in the school’s 5,000-yard club (passing, receiving and rushing yards) with a total of 10,553 career yards. His 254 yards through the air also tied him with Wuerffel for Florida’s all-time lead in 200-yard passing games, with 31.

Bonus fact bc it's our last SEC game of the regular season:

This past week, McElwain referenced tomorrow's game as our last stop on the "journey to the top" 

Last time McElwain was in Columbia he was coaching Alabama, who went into the game as No 1.

The Gamecocks ended their 19 game winning streak and Spurrier holds the game in his top two favorite games of his career at USC

November 6, 2015 FFFFacts about Florida v Vandy (Homecoming)

The Day before Game Day - Florida v Vandy, Homecoming Edition

1. The first Florida Homecoming was in 1916, and in 1923 the first "Dad's Day" was celebrated. 

Dad's Day was a pep rally precursor to Gator Growl, beginning in 1932

2. The Florida Gators v Vanderbilt Commodores record is: 36-10-2 

the largest margin of victory was on Homecoming in 2001:

Gators 71 - 13 Vandy

Other Notable Homecoming Games:

3. 1995 Homecoming

Gators v Northern Illinois

Backup QB Eric Kresser sets the record for the most passing yards in a single game at Florida Field (458)

4. 1966 Homecoming 

undefeated Florida v Auburn

Two games away from their first SEC title, the Gators (and QB Steve Spurrier) find themselves tied 27-27 w Auburn in the 4th... with 2:12 left in the game Spurrier enters (himself) into the game as kicker and kicks the 40 yd game winning field goal to win the game 30-27

5. In 2007, UF's win over VANDY (also Homecoming) was the Gator's 19th straight win over the Commodores.

In this game, Percy Harvin carried the ball 11 times for 113 yards and two touchdowns and also caught 9 passes for 110 yards receiving, becoming the first player in school history to have over 100 yards rushing and receiving in the same game. 

This weeks FFFFacts were featured on the Gator Nation Football Podcast!

To hear a preview of each week's FFFFacts please tune in!

Hosts James DiVirgilio and & Allen Williams deliver a great analysis and discussion of Florida Gator Football on a week to week basis with guests from the opposing team and the Gator Nation:

Check out this great Podcast: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/gator-nation-football-podcast/id1035206093?mt=2

October 30, 2015 FFFFacts about Florida v Georgia

The Day Before Game Day - Florida v Georgia edition! 

1. There is a dispute between the athletic departments regarding how many times the teams have met.  

Florida maintains 92 meetings, Georgia claims 93.  In 1904 (two years before UF had their first football team) the Bulldogs played the Florida Agriculture College from Lake City and won 52-0.

2. The REAL overall series record is 49-41-2, Georgia, with the teams tying for the longest streak of 7 straight victories (Florida 1990-1996, Georgia 1941-1948)

3. We have played every single year since 1926 except for one, in 1943 when Florida didnt field a team bc of WWII. 

During this time Florida has enjoyed 41 Glorious weeks at AP No. 1 and countless other weeks ranked above Georgia.

4. This will be the 5th time the contest falls on Halloween

5. In 1995 (while Jacksonville Municipal Stadium was under construction) Steve Spurrier broke a record as the first opponent to hang “half a hundred” on the Bulldogs in their own stadium... The Gators won 52-17 and still hold the record for the most points scored against Georgia at home.

Thanks and #GoGators

October 16, 2015 FFFFacts about Florida v LSU

The Day before Game Day - Florida v LSU edition

1. (So far this season) Florida has now given up just five touchdown in 15 red-zone trips by opponents (fewest in the SEC).

2. All time series: Florida leads 31-27-3

Largest Victory: Florida 58-3 (1993)

Longest streak Florida, 9 (1988-1996)

3. The Gators are the only team in the country who have played at least two road games without allowing a touchdown.

4. McElwain is Florida's first Head Coach to start his UF career 6-0 since Galen Hall in 1984... (Gators first 6-0 since 2012).

5. Tim Tebow's first career passing touchdown was against LSU in 2006. It was a jump pass. Gators won 23-10.

October 9, 2015 FFFFacts about Florida v Missouri

The Day before Game Day - Florida v Missouri edition

1. According to Wikipedia, Missouri is a Midwest state... that fits in neither category of South, nor Eastern

2. Missouri's mascot is Truman the Tiger, named after US President Harry Truman, who was from Missouri

3. Last week Freshman QB Drew Lock replaced starter Maty Mauk, Junior, who was suspended for "disciplinary reasons" 

and Drew Lock will start this week after his win over South Carolina 

4. The Gators are the only undefeated team left in the SEC East

5. Last weeks win was the Gators first win over a team ranked in the top three since a victory over Cincinnati in the 2010 Sugar Bowl.

October 2, 2015 FFFFacts about Florida V. Ole Miss

The Day before Game Day - Florida v Ole Miss edition

1. The series is tied 4-4 in my lifetime  (1982-present)

2. Largest margin of victory was when the Gators won 49-3 in 1981

3. The Gators rank 6th in overall first round draft picks with 49; Ole Miss is ranked 38th with only 18.

4. University of Mississippi was originally known as the Mississippi Flood, and renamed in 1936

5. Florida ranks 19th in overall all -time record winning 0.63 games in school history.

Ole Miss comes in at 51st with 0.562

September 26, 2015 FFFFacts about Florida v. Tennessee

The Day before Game Day - Florida v. Tennessee edition

1. Gators lead the all-time series, 25-19

2. Longest winning streak is 10

3. It's happened twice: Tennessee 1916-1953 & THE Florida Gators 2005-present

4. Star QB Steve Spurrier went to Science Hill High School in Johnson City, Tennessee but never considered UT for college bc "he was an excellent passer" and the Vols ran a single-wing offense (for a running QB)

and number 5.... What you've all been waiting for:

Peyton Manning, Super Bowl XLI MVP, 14 time Pro-Bowler, 7 time first team AllPro, 2 time Offensive Player of the year, 4 time NFL passing touchdown leader, 3 time NFL passing yards leader, NFL 2000s All Decade team, SI's Sportsman of the year... NEVER beat the Florida Gators

#itsGreatUF

#GoGators