What was your favorite football season?

[Renard904]

I was born in 1985. The 96 team was the beginning of my love for UF. I'll always remember that team. Second was the 2000 team with Rex. Watching him throw to Gaffney and Caldwell was awesome.

Honorable mention: 2008- That team was loaded. That season gave us the "speech." I was so proud to be a Gator that year. We were dominant! We were kicking a$$es and taking names.

 

[TheDouglas78]

This is kinda hard question due to the different reasons a season is special:

1984: first season I was able to go to all the games with my Dad. It was before my brother was old enough to be part of the equation, so it was just me and him and the boosters we would get our tickets from (drinking buddies). Kerwin Bell and the energy. First SEC Championship and should have been playing for the National Title

1990: Spurrier's first season was a change of feeling in Gainesville, if I couldn't attend a game in the stands I worked it in the concessions. Third SEC Championship that we pretended we didn't earn.

1996: Freshman year... 1st National Title.

2001: Last year living in the Gainesville area.... strange season, Grossman and that offense. Last game I was at before moving away, with GatorJ and our buddy Axel.

2006/2008 were special, but not the same as the other season, probably because when you are in G-vile it's different than when you are not.

 

[gatorfan81]

Kent bit through his tongue and from multiple reports, still talks like Daffy Duck.

 

[GatorBart]

96 for me.
Spent 10 years in G'Ville (87-97) - College, the best 10 years of my life!
The last two years I lived within a mile of campus and went to all the games, for many sports. We had a big party for every home football game and invited our friends to park at our house for free - had a giant smoker (not surprised? ) and smoked oysters, hams, ribs, butts, briskets, you name it, on a regular basis. The best of times.
Anyway, has to be 96 for me as I moved away from Florida in the Spring of 97, so it was nice to go out on top, beating the 's in NO for the championship and being on Bourbon Street and shaking Lawton Chiles' hand afterwards.

 

[5-Star Finger]

1996. Don't get me wrong, I love the Tebow era - but I'm not sure that anything can ever be as sweet finishing the season by avenging the loss to the cheap shot artist clowns, while costing them a National Title, while winning our own, while the whole football world is focused on that game - and doing it by RUTS.

 

[Swamp Donkey]

RUTS.

jeez. running up the score. remember when that was the biggest complaint most teams had against us? because Spurrier wasn't happy unless he scored 50 or 70?

Now we ROTC.

RUN OUT THE CLOCK

 

[SeabeeGator]

I said 2006 earlier but didn’t elaborate. Long story short: I was in school at UF during that year and it was completely unexpected. So much broke our way that the whole thing felt surreal. Definitely not our best team or favorite cast of characters but the season as a whole provided a sublime experience.

 

[JDW]

ROTC...Rarely obtaining the cruits

Really owning the cupcakes

rarely outplaying the commodores

relying on taking chances

 

[soflagator]

I said 2006 earlier but didn’t elaborate. Long story short: I was in school at UF during that year and it was completely unexpected. So much broke our way that the whole thing felt surreal. Definitely not our best team or favorite cast of characters but the season as a whole provided a sublime experience.

It's to me, by far, the oddest of the championship years. Looking at the roster, it seemed like every player was very average, but had been here for 5 years. Aside from Caldwell, RFN, and maybe RayMac, I don't remember any other starters having much of a professional career. Who would imagine that a team with guys like Reggie Lewis, Brian Crum, and transfer from Utah, etc. thrust in to starting roles, a QB that didn't fit the system at all, and a couple of situational freshmen, could win the NC.

Considering we were down in virtually every game, I just remember constantly thinking "Oh well, we're going to lose, but I wasn't expecting a title this year anyway." Likely due to the Zook years. It just never felt like we were a NC team the way '96 and '08 did. We were probably a fumble away from being undefeated. And also 2-3 plays from being an 8 win team and watching the SECCG from home.

 

[SeabeeGator]

It's to me, by far, the oddest of the championship years. Looking at the roster, it seemed like every player was very average, but had been here for 5 years. Aside from Caldwell, RFN, and maybe RayMac, I don't remember any other starters having much of a professional career. Who would imagine that a team with guys like Reggie Lewis, Brian Crum, and transfer from Utah, etc. thrust in to starting roles, a QB that didn't fit the system at all, and a couple of situational freshmen, could win the NC.

Considering we were down in virtually every game, I just remember constantly thinking "Oh well, we're going to lose, but I wasn't expecting a title this year anyway." Likely due to the Zook years. It just never felt like we were a NC team the way '96 and '08 did. We were probably a fumble away from being undefeated. And also 2-3 plays from being an 8 win team and watching the SECCG from home.

That’s precisely why it was my favorite. I enjoyed every game because I did not expect anything. 08 was so stressful when we weren’t blowing the other team out. Winning was a relief. 09 was like 08 but worse.

 

[Gator by the Sea]

2006/2008 were special, but not the same as the other season, probably because when you are in G-vile it's different than when you are not.

1996. Don't get me wrong, I love the Tebow era - but I'm not sure that anything can ever be as sweet finishing the season by avenging the loss to the cheap shot artist clowns, while costing them a National Title, while winning our own, while the whole football world is focused on that game - and doing it by RUTS.

I agree with both of these comments. The Tebow years were great. Most of the games were a lot of fun to watch, both on TV and in the Swamp. But nothing compares to the seasons when you're in Gainesville, especially when you're a student. I was enrolled at UF or working post-grad in Gainesville for almost the entire Spurrier era (all but '90) and it was glorious. And nothing can compare to the way the '96 season played out...as Spurrier said, "God smiled on the Gators."

 

[Gatordiddy]

And nothing can compare to the way the '96 season played out

one of my UF buddies and I were at the Gator/semenhole game that season where we lost due to the nulls 'playing to the echo of the whistle' and all that shyt. that was a long walk back to my house after that game down Pensacola Street. asswipe nulls were throwing so much stuff at us from their cars we had to duck into a Wendy's to get out of the barrage. To me, avenging that loss by such a large margin in such a huge game on a national stage made the '96 season the best. plus.. it was SOS at the helm and not a hired gun (not that I don't appreciate what Urban did for us... it just felt more like family with The HBC leading the way).

'84 is my second favorite when we won* our first SEC championship.

*yes I said it - won

 

[Swamp Donkey]

It's to me, by far, the oddest of the championship years. Looking at the roster, it seemed like every player was very average, .

SOS would have blown out almost every team with that roster.

Imagine if we had figured out the forward pass was a thing prior to the OSU game.

Hell, 2005 might have been a championship if we didn't waste 20 games trying to run the option with a Chris Leak and six pretty good receivers.

 

[RiverRat]

Got to be 96, somehow we ended sitting by a couple of Noles at the NCG that were wearing Garnet and gold "Cat in the hat" hats.
I remember them stomping off after our last score bitching about Spurrier running up the score.
Like LYGator said "52-20 will live forever."

 

[Theologator]

We were a passumble away from being undefeated. And also 2-3 plays from being an 8 win team and watching the SECCG from home.

FIFY

And I agree.

 

[soflagator]

FIFY

And I agree.

Agree. I was just frustrated that our Sr QB allowed the game to be placed in the officials of an Aub home game. That, unfortunately, was never going to be called correctly.

And I recently watched the 15:00 version of that game in YouTube. My goodness was it an ugly performance. As law said, if you watched any ‘05-‘06 game outside of Glendale, in a vacuum, you’d swear we were going 8-4.

Mullen’s adaptation to Trask this past year shows he’s come a long way from that time.

 

[Swamp Donkey]

Mullen’s adaptation to Trask this past year shows he’s come a long way from that time.

You think us running options half the time, and running slow (4 seconds to.pass bc we fake an option first) screen passes the rest of the time is adapting to a pocket passer?


ok

 

[CGgater]

You think us running options half the time, and running slow (4 seconds to.pass bc we fake an option first) screen passes the rest of the time is adapting to a pocket passer?


ok

Wow, you just can’t help yourself, can you? DM might not be managing Trask perfectly, but:

1. The passing game had visibly changed the moment KT entered the ky game.

2. The play calling changes when EJ is on the field.

If you can’t see or admit that, then I’ve been overestimating your intellect, which has been an extremely LOW estimate... for years.

 

[Swamp Donkey]

Wow, you just can’t help yourself, can you? DM might not be managing Trask perfectly, but:

1. The passing game had visibly changed the moment KT entered the ky game.

2. The play calling changes when EJ is on the field.

If you can’t see or admit that, then I’ve been overestimating your intellect, which has been an extremely LOW estimate... for years.

You're not too bright, so Im going to type this r e a l s l o w.

That isn't changing the playbook, that is changing the play calls from the same playbook. Changing the playbook is what Creyer made him do with Chris Leak, which was stop running the option garbage altogether and run a conventional offense, eventually adding a FB Latsko too.

Calling option run plays (or fake option screen passes) with Trash is insane and ineffective. It will be just as ineffective this fall too bc no one gives a shyt about Trash potentially keeping the ball so the DE will just keep crashing and hitting our RBs in the backfield. (Or crash on the fake option passes.)

 

[CGgater]

You're not too bright, so Im going to type this r e a l s l o w.

That isn't changing the playbook, that is changing the play calls from the same playbook. Changing the playbook is what Creyer made him do with Chris Leak, which was stop running the option garbage altogether and run a conventional offense, eventually adding a FB Latsko too.

Calling option run plays (or fake option screen passes) with Trash is insane and ineffective. It will be just as ineffective this fall too bc no one gives a shyt about Trash potentially keeping the ball so the DE will just keep crashing and hitting our RBs in the backfield. (Or crash on the fake option passes.)

Okay, Mr. Lawyer.

Sofla mentioned “adaptation” and I mentioned “play calling.” Nobody mentioned “changing the playbook.” So who exactly are you arguing with? The voices in your head???