Английская Википедия:2001 Florida Gators football team

Шаблон:Short description Шаблон:Use mdy dates Шаблон:Infobox NCAA team season Шаблон:2001 SEC football standings The 2001 Florida Gators football team represented the University of Florida in the sport of American football during the 2001 college 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), playing their home games at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on the university's Gainesville, Florida campus.

They were coached by Steve Spurrier, who posted an overall win–loss record of 10–2 (.833) for his twelfth and final season before departing to the National Football League (NFL). Spurrier led the Gators to a 56–23 Orange Bowl victory over the Maryland Terrapins in his final game.

Sophomore quarterback Rex Grossman threw for over 4,000 yards and was Heisman Trophy runner-up. Grossman, wide receiver Jabar Gaffney and defensive end Alex Brown were consensus All-Americans. Brown's 33 sacks is still a school record for a career.^[1]

Before the season

The Gators were ranked preseason No. 1.^[2]

Schedule

Шаблон:CFB schedule

Sources: 2012 Florida Football Media Guide,^[1] and GatorZone.com.^[3]

September 11 impact The annual rivalry game with Tennessee scheduled for September 15, was rescheduled to the final week of the regular season as a result of the September 11 attacks.

Season summary

Файл:Alex-Brown-2008.jpg

Alex Brown while on the Bears.

Marshall

Rex Grossman had a career-high in passing yards by halftime, including a 64-yard touchdown reception by Taylor Jacobs.^[5]

The defense also played well as Alex Brown and linebacker Andra Davis had two sacks each.^[5]

Louisiana–Monroe

Grossman fumbled the game's first exchange from center, and Louisiana-Monroe capitalized on the opportunity when it scored the game's first touchdown.^[7] "It was just an awkward start." said Grossman.^[7]

As usual, the Gators and Tennessee Volunteers were slated to meet on the 3rd Saturday of September. However, the SEC canceled all games on the weekend following the September 11 attacks, and all contests were rescheduled for December 1, 2001, requiring the SEC Championship Game to be pushed back a week as well.

Файл:RexGrossmanRedskins.jpg

Rex Grossman with the Redskins.

Kentucky

The Gators struggled early and led just 16–3 at the half, but eventually thrashed the Wildcats with four touchdowns in the second half.^[10]

After Kentucky made a touchdown, Earnest Graham sprung lose for a 50-yard touchdown run in the third period to go up 30–10.^[10]

Mississippi State

Grossman passed for 393 yards and five touchdowns in total,^[13] becoming the first Florida quarterback to throw for 300 yards in four straight games.^[14]

Andra Davis, who missed last year's game, excelled on the defensive side of the ball from his linebacker position with eight tackles and a fumble recovery.^[14]

LSU

Florida finished with 632 yards of total offense.^[16] LSU quarterback Rohan Davey left the game with a hyperextended knee.^[16]

"I thought he was a serious candidate for the Heisman Trophy before we played them", said LSU coach Nick Saban, "Now I'm convinced of it."^[16] "I think he is a tremendous quarterback" echoed LSU safety Ryan Clark.^[16]

Auburn

Gators quarterback Rex Grossman completed twenty-five of forty-two passes for 364 yards and two touchdowns, but also threw four interceptions.^[18] The Gators dominated statistically, but the Tigers' bend-but-don't-break defense held the Gators rushing game to negative yardage.^[17]

Tigers back-up quarterback Daniel Cobb was not so flashy, but played mistake-free football, and the game was tied at 20 late in the fourth quarter.^[17] With 10 seconds left, Tigers placekicker Damon Duval nailed a 44-yard field goal and the Tigers upset the Gators.^[17]^[19]

Georgia

Шаблон:AFB game box start Шаблон:AFB Game Box Scoring Entry Шаблон:AFB Game Box Scoring Entry Шаблон:AFB Game Box Scoring Entry Шаблон:AFB Game Box Scoring Entry Шаблон:AFB Game Box Scoring Entry Шаблон:AFB Game Box Scoring Entry Шаблон:AFB game box end Florida defeated Georgia 24–10 in the annual rivalry game,^[20] overcoming four turnovers and twelve penalties.^[21] Grossman passed for 407 yards.^[21] Earnest Graham rushed for 131 yards.^[21]

The Bulldogs missed a field goal and failed to convert three fourth downs in the second half.^[21] The lone score of the second half was a 30-yard touchdown pass to Reche Caldwell. Florida moved into a first-place tie with Tennessee.^[21]

Vanderbilt

Playing just in the first half, Grossman threw for 306 yards and three touchdowns.^[23] Backup quarterback Brock Berlin threw three more in the second.^[24]

South Carolina

Grossman had his ninth-consecutive 300-yard passing game,^[28] and exceeded 5,000 yards passing for his career.^[26]

Florida State

Graham and coach Spurrier accused Darnell Dockett of deliberately twisting Graham's knee, as well as stomping on Grossman's hand.^[31]^[32] Graham even considered a lawsuit.^[33] Dockett denied these charges.^[34]^[35]

Tennessee

Шаблон:AFB game box start Шаблон:AFB game box end As the season progressed, the postponed game with Tennessee took on greater and greater importance. Each squad suffered only one close loss and entered the contest with Tennessee ranked No. 6 and Florida ranked No. 2. The winner was to represent the SEC East and face LSU in the SEC Championship. With a win in that game, the Gators or Vols were likely to receive an invitation to the Rose Bowl to face the undefeated Miami Hurricanes with a national title on the line.^[36] Despite the teams' identical records and much to the chagrin of the Vols, the Gators were 17-and-a-half point favorites at kickoff.^[37] Шаблон:External media The Volunteers went on to dash the Gators' national title hopes with a 34–32 upset, ending a 30-year winless drought against Florida in Gainesville.^[38]^[39] The star of the game was Volunteer running back Travis Stephens, who rushed for 226 yards and two touchdowns on 19 carries to lead the Vols' attack. Without Graham, Florida managed only 36 total yards on the ground. Gator quarterback Rex Grossman threw 51 times for 362 yards and two touchdowns, but his pass on a potentially game-tying two-point conversion attempt with just over a minute left in the 4th quarter fell incomplete.Шаблон:Refn

Orange Bowl (vs. Maryland)

Шаблон:Main Шаблон:See also Шаблон:Americanfootballbox Florida was invited to the Orange Bowl, where they beat Maryland 56–23.^[40]^[41]

Taylor Jacobs - MVP

Awards and honors

Grossman was the Heisman Trophy runner-up to Nebraska quarterback Eric Crouch,^[42] in one of the trophy's closest ballots.^[43]^[44] Many feel Grossman should have won.^[45]

Both Crouch and Grossman made AP All-American.^[46]

Spurrier's resignation

In early January, Steve Spurrier said that he was resigning as Florida's head coach after 12 seasons.^[47]

Personnel

Шаблон:American football roster/Header Шаблон:American football roster/Footer

Statistics

QB Rex Grossman: 279/423 (66.0%) for 4,144 yards (9.80 YPA) with 38 TD vs. 12 INT (2.84%)
QB Brock Berlin: 47/79 (59.5%) for 679 yards (8.59 YPA) with 10 TD vs. 3 INT (3.80%)
RB Earnest Graham: 141 carries for 799 yards (5.67 YPC) with 11 TD. 12 catches for 129 yards (10.75 YPC) with 0 TD.
RB Robert Gillespie: 98 carries for 458 yards (4.67 YPC) with 2 TD. 45 catches for 474 yards (10.53 YPC) with 2 TD.
WR Jabar Gaffney: 74 catches for 1,309 yards (17.69 YPC) with 15 TD.
WR Reche Caldwell: 69 catches for 1,106 yards (16.03 YPC) with 10 TD.
WR Taylor Jacobs: 48 catches for 882 yards (18.38 YPC) with 9 TD.
K Jeff Chandler: 19 FGM and 54 XPM.

Notes

Шаблон:Reflist

References