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Flashback: Smith-led Gators Triumphed in Last Bowl Trip to Birmingham
Friday December 26, 2014 | By Chris Harry
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- The last time the Florida Gators played in Birmingham was the absolutely best time.
But this story isn't about that time.
That date was Dec. 4, 1993 and one week earlier No. 1 Florida State had come to town and ended UF's 23-game home winning streak -- the longest in the nation at the time -- when Charlie Ward dumped that 79-yard fourth-quarter touchdown pass to Warrick Dunn that forever will live in UF infamy.
But the Gators still had plenty to play for.
Everything, really.
Birmingham Bowl program It was just the second year of the Southeastern Conference Championship Game, with the split-division/title-game format the first of its kind in Division I. UF had a date with defending national champion Alabama at historic Legion Field in a rematch of the inaugural SEC Championship Game, as well as the last one staged in Birmingham.
Florida used a big second half to overcome an early deficit and behind quarterback Terry Dean defeated the Crimson Tide 27-13 to win just the second SEC title in school history and starting a run of four straight conference crowns that has not been repeated since.
For the Gators, Birmingham has never been more beautiful.
Now, this Birmingham trek profiled below -- on Dec. 28, 1988 -- was nowhere near as sexy or high-stakes as that last one; and far less memorable. A case can even be made that it was the least enticing of the program's six visits to the so-called "Magic City." Heck, the case was made 26 years as some UF players privately groused about the site being their postseason reward.
Some perspective: Florida played in the Aloha Bowl the year before.
The Gators, though, made the best of their date in the 1988 All-American Bowl (program cover above). Two of the most decorated players in school history -- one of them UF's all-time greatest NFL product -- were spectacular there, even if the game wasn't much to write about.
Or, frankly, to watch.
Nonetheless, to the time machine we go.
FOR HISTORICAL CONTEXT
(Elsewhere on Dec. 28, 1988)
Pan Am 103* In London, a bomb that apparently exploded in the luggage compartment caused the mid-air disintegration of a Pan American jumbo jet over Scotland the week before when about 270 persons were killed, British investigators concluded. The announcement, from the Department of Transport's Air Accidents Investigations Branch, laid to rest speculation that the crash of Pan Am Flight 103 might have been caused by structural failure of the Boeing 747.
Oliver North* President Reagan and President-elect Bush were subpoenaed Friday as defense witnesses in the trial of retired Marine Lt. Col. Oliver North (right) in the Iran-Contra affair. A statement released by the White House press office in Palm Springs, Calif., where Reagan was on vacation, stated, "The justice department has received a subpoena seeking the President's testimony at the criminal trial of Oliver North." The subpoena also seeks the discovery of certain personal records of the President. The subpoena was not an unanticipated development.
* Boston Red Sox All-Star third baseman Wade Boggs was cut in the neck after an incident outside a Gainesville bar in which a man held Boggs at knifepoint, threatening to cut his ear off and kill him, according to police reports. The 1-inch cut was not serious enough to warrant medical attention. Three people were arrested in the incident. Boggs, in town for a fishing tournament in Hawthorne, said he did not know the men who approached him in the parking lot at Dub's Steer room.
Dwayne * The UF basketball team was in New York for the ECAS Holiday Festival consolation game against Fordham. The Gators were dumped to the loser's side after turning the ball over 25 times in a 93-68 blowout loss to Ohio State. The Gators, led by 7-foot-2 center Dwayne Schintzius (right) and forward Livingston Chatman, fell to 4-6.
* West Virginia and Miami were in Tempe, Ariz., readying for their showdown in the Fiesta Bowl national championship game. Fighting Irish coach Lou Holtz spent the three weeks leading up to the game saying his unbeaten team was not that good and should be underdogs to a West Virginia team that snuck into the NC picture only after the Irish defeated Miami in a controversial 31-30 in October. Said Mountaineers coach Don Nehlen upon his team's arrival in the desert: "Lou Holtz is probably the greatest con man in America. Half the people in this country don't think we should even be here and Lou thinks we've got the greatest team in the history of football."
Rain Man * At the movies, Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman (right) starred in "Rain Man," Harrison Ford and Melanie Griffith in "Working Girl" and Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito in "Twins."
* On television, NBC was in the prime of its domination of Thursday night must-see TV with "The Cosby Show," "Cheers" and "LA Law" mega-hits.
* Headlining Billboard's Top 100 songs of that year were "Faith" by George Michael, "Need You Tonight" by INXS and "Got My My Mind Set on You" by George Harrison, while a couple rock albums "Appetite for Destruction," the debut of Guns N' Roses, and "Rattle and Hum," by U2, were red hot.
THE SETUP
The Gators, under Coach Galen Hall, started the season 5-0, but some of that was fool's gold. The opener was a 69-0 blowout of Montana State. After going on the road and beating Ole Miss, UF came home and destroyed Indiana State 58-0. That one was followed by a 17-0 home defeat of Mississippi State, a third shutout in four games. That moved Florida into the Top 25. Then came a big 19-6 win over No. 14 LSU.
On Oct. 8, the Gators were unbeaten and ranked 14th when they faced non-conference foe Memphis for a fifth home date in the first six games.
UF lost 17-11.
And lost after that (at Vanderbilt), and after that (at Auburn), and after that (vs. Georgia).
Four straight defeats before a win at Kentucky, followed by a trip to Florida State and a 52-17 pounding at the hands of the fifth-ranked Seminoles.
Kyle Morris Five losses over the final six games, however, proved good enough for the Gators (6-5) to earn an invite to face Illinois (6-4-1) in the All-American Bowl. The Illini were actually in the hunt for the Big Ten title and Rose Bowl berth before a loss at Michigan in the second-to-last game of the season.
Illinois was coached by John Mackovic and led by quarterback Jeff George, making for the second straight year UF would face a quarterback destined to be the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL draft in a bowl. In 1987, it was UCLA's Troy Aikman.
UF's 6-5 record was the worst of any team playing a bowl that postseason. The offensively challenged Gators at one point went 37 straight quarters without throwing a touchdown pass and starting quarterback Kyle Morris -- benched midseason, then returned to his spot -- completed just 50.3 percent of his passes for 1,217 yards, three touchdowns and three interceptions.
"I need something positive to happen to carry over to the spring," Morris said. "I have to do something good that people can remember, that the coaches can remember. This game can give me an edge over the other guys."
It didn't work out that way for Morris, but it worked out OK for the Gators.
THE GAME
Sophomore tailback Emmitt Smith rushed 18 times for 159 yards and scored both of UF's touchdowns, including the go-ahead TD with less than five minutes to play that helped ice a 14-10 defeat of the Illini in front of just over 48,000 on a cold night when temperatures dipped into the 30s at Legion Field.
Smith, who at the same venue a year earlier rushed for a career-best 224 yards as a freshman in an upset of Alabama, had a 55-yard run on his first carry of the game and a the key 2-yard score with 4:28 remaining.
The game-changing play came when safety Owen Bartruff intercepted George and returned the play to the Illinois 25-yard line. Two plays later, Smith scored to push the Gators in front.
Huey The Illini had a shot in the final minutes when George, who completed 20 of 37 passes for 194 yards and was intercepted twice, moved his team to the UF 28. On fourth and two, Illinois tailback Lynn McClellan was smothered by sophomore outside linebacker Huey Richardson for a seven-yard loss.
UF won despite another miserable outing from an offense that finished with only 256 yards, 12 first downs and turned it over three times. Morris went 6-for-12 for 59 yards and two interceptions. Kicker John David Francis missed three field goals.
Thank goodness for Smith and that defense. Richardson had nine tackles and three sacks, while nose guard Jeff Roth had seven tackles, a sack, a pass break-up and a forced fumble. Illinois finished with just 249 yards and only 55 on the ground.
THE QUOTES
> "Illinois is a very tough team. We had to earn the win; they didn't give it to us. They played outstanding defense all night. They just gave up a couple of big plays at the wrong moments." -- Hall
> "We need to move all our home games here." -- Smith, who averaged 191.5 rushing yards in his two Birmingham appearances during his career.
> "We knew Florida had a great defense. We also knew we had to control their penetration. Obviously, we didn't do that very well. Jeff was under the gun all night." -- Mackovic
George > "It seemed like every time I was climbing up, No. 90 was climbing off me." -- George (left) on Richardson.
> "I'm as happy right now as I have been since I came to Florida. When I first came here, I was depressed and sick of the adversity. Maybe I can be like those other great linebackers, like Clifford Charlton or Wilber Marshall." -- Richardson
> "What happened? Huey was incredible, that's what happened. He chased guys down and hit guys all night. He did it all." -- Bartruff
> "Huey was scary tonight. I'm glad I wasn't Jeff George. He hasn't seen that kind of pressure in his career ... and may not again." -- Morris.
> "Our defense had a good game, but Huey had a great one." -- Roth
EPILOGUE
GalenThe outcome marked the Gators' first bowl victory outside the state of Florida and gave UF an 8-9 all-time mark in bowl games. It would be another five years before the program's next bowl victory -- a defeat of North Carolina State in the 1992 Gator Bowl -- as the NCAA probe eventually led to the firing of Hall (right) midway through the '89 season and the gutting of the football program. The fallout, of course, was the hiring of Steve Spurrier on New Year's Eve 1989.
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