1958 Florida Gators football team

Schedule

|{{CFB schedule entry | w/l = w |{{CFB schedule entry | w/l = l |{{CFB schedule entry | w/l = w |{{CFB schedule entry | w/l = t |{{CFB schedule entry | w/l = l |{{CFB schedule entry | w/l = l |{{CFB schedule entry | w/l = w |{{CFB schedule entry | w/l = w |{{CFB schedule entry | w/l = w |{{CFB schedule entry | w/l = w |{{CFB schedule entry | w/l = l

Before the season

The prospects for the 1958 season were devastated by Bernie Parrish deciding to play baseball with the Cincinnati Reds. The Gators were led by quarterback Jimmy Dunn, defensive back Don Fleming, halfback and punter Bobby Joe Green and All-American tackle Vel Heckman.

Game summaries

Tulane

The season opened with a 34–14 a conference win over the Tulane Green Wave

Mississippi State

The first disappointment of the season came in the second week, when the Gators lost, 14–7, to the 11-ranked Mississippi State Bulldogs.

UCLA

In the third week of play, Florida had an intersectional victory over the UCLA Bruins team, 21–14, on the road in Los Angeles.

Vanderbilt

Florida tied Vanderbilt, 6–6.

LSU

Baton Rouge, Louisiana

• Source: The Gators lost to the eventual consensus national champion LSU Tigers at the latter's homecoming. The Tigers snapped a three-game losing streak to the Gators with a 10–7 defensive struggle that came down to the last three minutes of play. The game featured one of the strongest rushing teams in the nation against one of the league's best run defenses. The Tigers, led by halfbacks Billy Cannon and Johnny Robinson, averaged 220 yards rushing per game. The Gators had held their previous opponents to an average of 65 yards rushing per game. LSU was favored by two touchdowns.

Auburn

In a 5–6 loss to fourth-ranked Auburn, an injury to a Florida tackles led Woodruff to employ the unorthodox strategy of shifting Heckman between right and left tackle. Bill Kastelz, the sports editor of the Jacksonville Times-Union, wrote: "Big, fast and tough, he outshone all of Auburn's great linemen." According to Auburn coach Shug Jordan, "There should be a law to prevent things like that. We were supposed to run plays where Heckman wasn't, and he's there now."

Coach Bob Woodruff's Gators and coach Shug Jordan's Tigers played nine games against each other between 1951 and 1959, only three of which were decided by more than ten points. However, none was closer than the game between the unranked Gators and the defending national champions and fourth-ranked Tigers in 1958, a game in which neither team scored more than six points. Late in the fourth quarter, with the Tigers leading 6–3 on the strength of a single touchdown and a missed extra point, the stingy Gators defense pinned the Tigers offense behind their own three-yard-line. Rather than risk a turnover, Jordan ordered Tigers quarterback Johnny Kern to kneel in their own end zone, intentionally scoring a safety for the Gators, but earning a free punt for the Tigers.

Georgia

The Gators beat the rival Georgia Bulldogs, 7–6.

Arkansas State

Florida beat Arkansas State, 51–7.

Florida State

The Gators had a 21–7 victory in their meeting wit the new in-state rival Florida State Seminoles.

Miami (FL)

The season included a 12–9 upset of the Miami Hurricanes.

Ole Miss—Gator Bowl

The Gators capped the year with a season-ending 3–7 loss to the 11th-ranked Ole Miss Rebels in a defensive struggle in the December 1958 Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Florida.

Roster

• QB Jimmy Dunn, Sr.

References

Additional sources

References

1. ''[http://web.gatorzone.com/football/media/2015/media_guide.pdf 2015 Florida Gators Football Media Guide] {{webarchive. link. (2015-12-08 '', University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida, p. 107 (2015). Retrieved August 16, 2015.)
2. (September 21, 1958). "Gators romp over toothless Tulane, 34–14". The Orlando Sentinel.
3. (September 28, 1958). "Stacey sparks Maroon rally to beat Gators". The Palm Beach Post-Times.
4. (October 11, 1958). "Florida bowls over UCLA by 21 to 14". The Sacramento Bee.
5. (October 19, 1958). "Gators tie Vandy, 6–6, on last-second pass". The Orlando Sentinel.
6. (October 26, 1958). "LSU trips Gators, 10–7". The Orlando Sentinel.
7. (November 2, 1958). "3rd string quarterback Richard Wood is hero as Auburn edges Florida 6–5". Chattanooga Sunday Times.
8. (November 9, 1958). "Florida Gators nip Georgis Bulldogs, 7–6". The Bradenton Herald.
9. (November 16, 1958). "Gators slaughter Arkansas State, 51–7". The Orlando Sentinel.
10. (November 23, 1958). "Just as good but didn't prove it, Ulmer says". St. Petersburg Times.
11. (November 30, 1958). "Florida edges Miami 12–9 to get bowl bid". The Decatur Daily.
12. (December 28, 1958). "Reb defense saves Gator victory, 7–3". The Clarion-Ledger.
13. "University of Florida 1959 Football Brochure". University Athletic Association, Inc..
14. Golenbock, ''Go Gators!'', p. 109
15. (October 25, 1958). "Eyes of SEC Focused on Tonight's Tigertown Tilt". [[The Times-Picayune]].
16. (October 26, 1958). "LSU 10-7 Winners – Davis' Boot is Difference". [[The Times-Picayune]].
17. "2001 LSU Football Media Guide". LSU Publications Office.
18. (November 7, 1958). "Florida Tackle Heckman Among All-America Candidates". St. Petersburg Times.
19. (November 3, 1958). "Heckman Lauded for Great Play". Daytona Beach Morning Journal.
20. (November 25, 1958). "Heckman Best Florida Lineman Since Barrow". The Miami News.
21. ''[http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/aub/sports/m-footbl/auto_pdf/2011-12/misc_non_event/2011-fbguide.pdf 2011 Auburn Tigers Football Media Guide] {{Webarchive. link. (2012-11-11 '', Auburn Athletics Department, Auburn, Alabama, pp. 178−189, 191 (2011). Retrieved August 16, 2011.)
22. Tom McEwen, ''The Gators: A Story of Florida Football'', The Strode Publishers, Huntsville, Alabama (1974).
23. The Tigers kicked it away, and their defense held on to win 6–5.Norris Anderson, "[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=NLYyAAAAIBAJ&sjid=JOwFAAAAIBAJ&pg=2668,519879&dq=auburn+florida+football&hl=en Auburn Holds Desperately, Turns Back Florida 6 To 5]", ''The Miami News'', pp. 1C & 5C (November 2, 1958). Retrieved August 17, 2011.
24. [http://nolefan.org/summary/f1958.html#1958_11_22 NoleFan.org]
25. "FSU Played Well But Gators Played Better Says Nugent." ''Ocala Star-Banner''. 1958 Nov 23.