2000 Florida Gators football
SEC champion
SEC Eastern Division champion
Sugar Bowl, L 20–37 vs. Miami (FL)
ConferenceSoutheastern Conference
DivisionEastern Division
Ranking
CoachesNo. 11
APNo. 10
Record10–3 (7–1 SEC)
Head coach
Offensive schemeFun and gun
Defensive coordinatorJon Hoke (2nd season)
Base defense4–3
CaptainAlex Brown
Derrick Chambers
Jesse Palmer
Gerard Warren
Alex Willis
Home stadiumBen Hill Griffin Stadium
(Capacity: 83,000)[1]
Seasons
← 1999
2001 →
2000 Southeastern Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
Eastern Division
No. 10 Florida x$   7 – 1     10 – 3  
No. 19 South Carolina   5 – 3     8 – 4  
No. 20 Georgia   5 – 3     8 – 4  
Tennessee   5 – 3     8 – 4  
Vanderbilt   1 – 7     3 – 8  
Kentucky   0 – 8     2 – 9  
Western Division
No. 18 Auburn x   6 – 2     9 – 4  
No. 22 LSU   5 – 3     8 – 4  
Ole Miss   4 – 4     7 – 5  
No. 24 Mississippi State   4 – 4     8 – 4  
Arkansas   3 – 5     6 – 6  
Alabama   3 – 5     3 – 8  
Championship: Florida 28, Auburn 6
  • $ – BCS representative as conference champion
  • x – Division champion/co-champions
Rankings from AP Poll

The 2000 Florida Gators football team represented the University of Florida in the sport of American football during the 2000 NCAA Division I-A football season. The Gators competed in Division I-A of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC), and played their home games at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on the university's Gainesville, Florida campus. They were coached by Steve Spurrier, who led the Gators to their sixth SEC championship, a Sugar Bowl berth, and an overall win–loss record of 10–3 (.769). The season was the team's eleventh of twelve under Spurrier.

Schedule

DateOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendance
September 2Ball State*No. 9
PPVW 40–1985,095
September 9Middle Tennessee*No. 8
  • Ben Hill Griffin Stadium
  • Gainesville, FL
PPVW 55–084,311
September 16at No. 11 TennesseeNo. 6
CBSW 27–23108,768
September 23KentuckyNo. 3
  • Ben Hill Griffin Stadium
  • Gainesville, FL (rivalry)
CBSW 59–3185,319
September 30at Mississippi StateNo. 3
CBSL 35–4743,816
October 7LSUNo. 12
  • Ben Hill Griffin Stadium
  • Gainesville, FL (rivalry)
JPSW 41–985,365
October 14No. 19 AuburnNo. 10
  • Ben Hill Griffin Stadium
  • Gainesville, FL (rivalry)
CBSW 38–785,710
October 28vs. No. 13 GeorgiaNo. 8
CBSW 34–2384,404
November 4at VanderbiltNo. 6
JPSW 43–2132,714
November 11No. 21 South CarolinadaggerNo. 5
  • Ben Hill Griffin Stadium
  • Gainesville, FL
CBSW 41–2185,718
November 18at No. 3 Florida State*No. 4
ABCL 7–3083,042
December 2vs. No. 18 AuburnNo. 7
ABCW 28–673,427
January 2, 2001vs. No. 2 Miami (FL)*No. 7
ABCL 20–3764,407
  • *Non-conference game
  • daggerHomecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

[2][3]

Game summaries

Ball State

1 234Total
Ball St 7 390 19
• No. 9 Florida 12 1477 40
Scoring summary
Q113:50FLAKirk Wells 8 yard pass from Jesse Palmer (kick failed)FLA 6–0
Q19:57FLARobert Gillespie 13 yard run (two-point conversion failed)FLA 12–0
Q16:35BALLCornelius Bowick recovered fumble in end zone (Mike Langford kick)FLA 12–7
Q214:25FLARobert Gillespie 1 yard run (Jeff Chandler kick)FLA 19–7
Q213:33FLAAlex Willis 9 yard pass from Jesse Palmer (Jeff Chandler kick)FLA 26–7
Q27:09BALLMike Langford 32 yard field goalFLA 26–10
Q312:56FLAJesse Palmer 1 yard run (Jeff Chandler kick)FLA 33–10
Q38:08BALLSafety, Robert Gillespie tackled by Evan Triggs in end zoneFLA 33–12
Q3:59BALLCorey Pachman 49 yard pass from Talmadge Hill (Mike Langford kick)FLA 33–19
Q411:00FLABo Carroll 75 yard pass from Jesse Palmer (Jeff Chandler kick)FLA 40–19

[4]

Middle Tennessee St.

1 2 3 4 Total
Middle Tennessee State 0 0 0 0 0
No. 8 Florida 21 17 10 7 55

Tennessee

1 2 3 4 Total
No. 6 Florida 0 7 10 10 27
No. 11 Tennessee 3 9 8 3 23

Kentucky

1 2 3 4 Total
Kentucky 3 14 7 7 31
No. 3 Florida 10 28 14 7 59

Mississippi State

1 2 3 4 Total
No. 3 Florida 0 10 13 12 35
Mississippi State 5 11 8 23 47

September 30, 2000

The Florida Gators came into Davis Wade Stadium in Starkville, Mississippi ranked third in the nation. The unranked Mississippi State Bulldogs ran for 351 yards, 172 yards and a touchdown for Dicenzo Miller, and 156 yards and a touchdown for Dontae Walker. Bulldogs quarterback Wayne Madkin also ran for two touchdowns. The Bulldogs compiled 517 total yards of offense.

A frustrated Steve Spurrier rotated three quarterbacks including Rex Grossman. Grossman went 13 for 16 with 231 yards and two touchdowns. All together, the Gators had 494 yards and four touchdowns through the air.

Mississippi State won the game 47–35, breaking Florida's 72-game winning streak against unranked teams in front of a crowd of 43,816. After the game, the Mississippi State fans stormed the field and tore down the goal posts, parts of which ended up all over campus.

Florida Mississippi State
First downs 26 25
Rushed–yards 22-M78 57–351
Passing yards 494 166
Sacked–yards lost 3–23 6–58
Return yards 73 54
Passes 34–57–1 14–27–2
Punts 1–45.0 7–42.0
Fumbles–lost 2–2 2–1
Penalties–yards 7–46 10–85
Time of possession 25:16 34:44

LSU

1 2 3 4 Total
LSU 0 3 0 6 9
No. 12 Florida 7 10 10 14 41

Auburn

1 2 3 4 Total
No. 19 Auburn 0 7 0 0 7
No. 10 Florida 14 21 0 3 38

Georgia

See also: 2000 Georgia Bulldogs football team and Florida–Georgia football rivalry
#8 Florida Gators (6–1) vs. #13 Georgia Bulldogs (6–1)
Period 1 2 34Total
No. 8 Florida 9 8 10734
No. 13 Georgia 3 14 0623

at Alltel Stadium • Jacksonville, Florida

  • Date: October 28
  • Game time: 3:30 p.m. EDT
  • Game weather: Sunny • 84 °F (29 °C) • Wind N 3 miles per hour (4.8 km/h; 2.6 kn)
  • Game attendance: 84,404
  • Referee: Rogers Redding
  • TV: CBS
  • Automated ScoreBook
Game information

Vanderbilt

1 2 3 4 Total
No. 6 Florida 10 7 19 7 43
Vanderbilt 7 6 0 7 20

South Carolina

1 2 3 4 Total
No. 21 South Carolina 21 0 0 0 21
No. 5 Florida 3 28 10 0 41

Florida State

1 2 3 4 Total
No. 4 Florida 7 0 0 0 7
No. 3 Florida State 14 0 13 3 30

SEC Championship Game

SEC Championship Game
#18 Auburn vs. #7 Florida
1 234Total
No. 18 Auburn 0 330 6
• No. 7 Florida 14 770 28
Scoring summary
1FLACaldwell 10 yard pass from Grossman (Chandler kick)FLA 7-0
1FLACaldwell 66 yard pass from Grossman (Chandler kick)FLA 14-0
2FLAGaffney 27 yard pass from Grossman (Chandler kick)FLA 21-0
2AUBDuval 44 yard field goalFLA 21-3
3AUBDuval 21 yard field goalFLA 21-6
3FLAHaugabrook 12 yard pass from Grossman (Chandler kick)FLA 28-6

Miami (Sugar Bowl)

1 2 3 4 Total
No. 2 Miami 10 3 14 10 37
No. 7 Florida 7 3 7 3 20

Rankings

See also: 2000 NCAA Division I-A football rankings
Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
( ) = First-place votes
Week
PollPre123456789101112131415Final
AP998733 (1)12108865477710
Coaches Poll775433997754498711
BCSNot released6655777Not released

Notable players

References

  1. ^ University of Florida Sports Information Department. "Florida 2000 Media Guide" (PDF). floridagators.com. University Athletic Association, Inc. Retrieved March 15, 2018.
  2. ^ 2015 Florida Gators Football Media Guide Archived 2015-12-08 at the Wayback Machine, University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida, p. 112 (2015). Retrieved August 14, 2015.
  3. ^ GatorZone.com, Football, History, Florida Football 2000 Archived September 24, 2015, at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved August 14, 2015.
  4. ^ USA Today

Bibliography

Categories