24 years since that glorious night - 1/2/1997; where were you?

GatorJB

Founding Member
Senior Member
Lifetime Member
Jun 12, 2014
3,449
6,124
Founding Member
I was 11 so I was at home. I don't remember any details about that night, but I do remember rubbing it in a little bit with a few friends when I got back to school.
 

Bait'n Gator

Go away..... bait'n
Lifetime Member
Mar 14, 2015
3,366
14,179
I was in 7th grade and probably just as shyt faced as the rest of you :lol:. Best night of my life, still can't believe I didn't get my ass kicked the next day at school for all the shyt I talked to all these jawja cock suckers. Made my mom order me every Florida national championship t shirt we could find and wore one every day the rest of that school year.

I talked so much shyt that the following year the school principle called me out by name and ridiculed me during the morning announcements in front of the whole school the Monday after Robert Edwards ran all over our ass in Jacksonville.
 

jdh5484

Founding Member
Just Beat UGa
Lifetime Member
Jun 30, 2014
9,271
30,802
Founding Member
I watched it alone. I thought it was anyone's game after the first half.

Then we opened up the can of whoop-ass. I was inebriated by the end.

This is the play I remember the most:



Still makes my knee hurt when I watch it.
 
Last edited:

YLGator

Well-Known Member
Lifetime Member
Jan 14, 2016
1,430
3,719
With the OC gator club in a bar in Costs Mesa. Will never forget Terry Jackson breaking through the line and running untouched to the endzone. Place went wild as we all realized we had finally won it all. It was glorious.
 

78

Founding Member
Dazed and Confused
Lifetime Member
Jun 9, 2014
19,745
27,635
Founding Member
We owe a debt of gratitude to Texas for beating Nebraska in the B12 Championship. We were out of it before then based on the loss in Tallahassee.
 

jaywalker72

Founding Member
Current Status: Dumper
Lifetime Member
Jun 13, 2014
845
2,080
Founding Member
We owe a debt of gratitude to Texas for beating Nebraska in the B12 Championship. We were out of it before then based on the loss in Tallahassee.
James Brown and the huge Fourth Down!
 

jaywalker72

Founding Member
Current Status: Dumper
Lifetime Member
Jun 13, 2014
845
2,080
Founding Member
We owe a debt of gratitude to Texas for beating Nebraska in the B12 Championship. We were out of it before then based on the loss in Tallahassee.
And to......gasp.....Ohio State for knocking off Jake the Snake, as I recall.
 

GBHOR

Its Not Awful
Lifetime Member
Oct 21, 2014
1,745
1,894
Brunswick Maine, sitting with a POS noles fan and his ugly wife.
Shiitfaced and eased into the game, and when it was apparent it was our night, went full short bus, flavored window licking retard, talking shiit.
 

AlexDaGator

Founding Member
The Hammer of Thor
Lifetime Member
Jun 19, 2014
12,698
31,627
Founding Member
I’ve been blessed to have attended all of our National Championship victories in person.

I partied like a rock star before and during the game but I was one of the victims of the bad oysters.

Fortunately, the effects didn’t hit me until AFTER the game ended but when they hit, they hit like Lawrence Wright on Joey Kent.

It made for a nightmare of a drive back to Gainesville the next day. I was curled up in a fetal position in the back seat of my own car moaning the entire drive.

Spurrier autographed my ticket. I also got Meyer to autograph the ‘06 and ‘08 tickets.

I remember watching tOSU (Orlando Pace team) beat undefeated Arizona State (Jake Plummer team) in a bar the night before. That’s when we knew our game was for all the marbles.

FSU fans were talking a lot on Bourbon street before the game. Gator fans were strangely quiet but confident.

It was glorious. Winning our first championship by blowing out our bitterest in-state rival. It was storybook. 52-20. Then the celebration in the Swamp on January 11th. Had no idea EVERYBODY wanted to be there. It was full of raw emotion. Over a week after the game and the emotion was unbelievable. Spurrier brought the fans to tears when he invited everybody to chant “we’re number one” loud enough for all the Gators in heaven to hear us. Everybody was bawling.

Alex.
 

78

Founding Member
Dazed and Confused
Lifetime Member
Jun 9, 2014
19,745
27,635
Founding Member
Also of note was Spurrier’s decision to move Wuerffel from under center to the gun after the late-hit fiasco at Doak. He’d been resisting that move for years.
 

gator1946

Founding Member
Senior Member
Lifetime Member
Jun 10, 2014
4,183
6,310
Founding Member
Almost as dramatic was the lead up that got us into the championship. Texas takes out Nebraska. We take out Bama, Ohio State takes out Arizona State. I'm listening to most of this in disbelief. Oh my God did I just see and hear all this correctly. We're going to the Championship. I don't remember exactly where I was when this dawned on me. But the yell I let out had my wife running into the room to ask if I was alright.

Prior to that game my wife was a fake Gator fan. She went to Florida. She went to the games, She'd high five me when we scored and groan when the bad guys scored. But she did all that because she knew how much I was into the Gators. That night she was screaming her head off. It was the night she finally became a real genuine Gator.
 
Last edited:

Himey

Founding Member
Super Important Member
Lifetime Member
Jun 12, 2014
1,044
1,324
Founding Member
It was my first year in college at UF. Certainly set the bar high for me.
 

Spurffelbow833

Well-Known Member
Supporting Member
Jun 23, 2020
1,472
2,513
I was working the night shift at AGH. I couldn't leave my department, so I brought my own TV in and managed to get decent reception on Channel 20 with the rabbit ears. I remember Ike's stop and pop, Terry Jackson's dive into the endzone with nobody near him, and Danny's 23 yard scamper for a late, in-your-face TD. It was one of those rare times you felt like justice willed out in the end. And I'll always be glad that Keith Jackson, Mr. College Football himself, called that game.
 

oxrageous

Founding Member
It's Good to be King
Administrator
Jun 5, 2014
36,935
97,629
Founding Member
And I'll always be glad that Keith Jackson, Mr. College Football himself, called that game.
Jackson hated the Gators. Spurrier blew him off once and that old fart never forgot it. He openly rooted against UF every time he was doing broadcast for us.
 

Spurffelbow833

Well-Known Member
Supporting Member
Jun 23, 2020
1,472
2,513
Jackson hated the Gators. Spurrier blew him off once and that old fart never forgot it. He openly rooted against UF every time he was doing broadcast for us.
I know he wasn't rooting for us when we beat Oooooooooooooooooooklahoma.
 

oxrageous

Founding Member
It's Good to be King
Administrator
Jun 5, 2014
36,935
97,629
Founding Member
I know he wasn't rooting for us when we beat Oooooooooooooooooooklahoma.
And whenever we played Alabama, the guy nearly busted a nut every time they scored. He absolutely adored Alabama football.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Help Users

You haven't joined any rooms.