1977 Florida Gators football team

1977 Florida Gators football
Conference	Southeastern Conference
Record	6–4–1 (3–3 SEC)
Head coach	Doug Dickey (8th season)
Offensive coordinator	8th
Offensive scheme	Wishbone
Defensive coordinator	Doug Knotts (8th season)
Captain	Wes Chandler Scott Hutchinson Charlie Williams
Home stadium	Florida Field
Seasons ← 1976 1978 →

1977 Southeastern Conference football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 2 Alabama $	7	–	0	–	0			11	–	1	–	0
No. 6 Kentucky	6	–	0	–	0			10	–	1	–	0
Auburn	5	–	1	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
LSU	4	–	2	–	0			8	–	4	–	0
Florida	3	–	3	–	0			6	–	4	–	1
Georgia	2	–	4	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Mississippi State	2	–	4	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Ole Miss	3	–	4	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
Tennessee	1	–	5	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Vanderbilt	0	–	6	–	0			2	–	9	–	0
$ – Conference champion Kentucky ineligible for SEC championship due to NCAA probation. Mississippi State later forfeited all 1977 wins due to NCAA violations. Rankings from AP Poll

The 1977 Florida Gators football team represented the University of Florida during the 1977 NCAA Division I football season. The season was Doug Dickey's eighth as the head coach of the Florida Gators football team. Dickey's 1977 Florida Gators finished with a 6–4–1 overall record and a 3–3 Southeastern Conference (SEC) record, placing fifth among ten SEC teams.^[1]

Florida had several quarterbacks, with Terry LeCount starting.^[2]

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 17	at Rice*	No. 19	Rice Stadium Houston, TX		W 48–3	24,000	[3]
September 24	at No. 12 Mississippi State	No. 13	Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium Jackson, MS	ABC	W 24–22	36,000	[4]
October 1	at LSU	No. 9	Tiger Stadium Baton Rouge, LA (rivalry)		L 14–36	68,029	[5]
October 8	No. 15 Pittsburgh*	No. 20	Florida Field Gainesville, FL		T 17–17	62,724	[6]
October 22	Tennessee	No. 19	Florida Field Gainesville, FL (rivalry)		W 27–17	62,711	[7]
October 29	at Auburn	No. 18	Jordan-Hare Stadium Auburn, AL (rivalry)		L 14–29	57,000	[8]
November 5	vs. Georgia		Gator Bowl Stadium Jacksonville, FL (rivalry)	ABC	W 22–17	68,538	[9]
November 12	No. 7 Kentucky		Florida Field Gainesville, FL (rivalry)		L 7–14	58,125	[10]
November 19	Utah*		Florida Field Gainesville, FL		W 38–29	56,055	[11]
November 26	at Miami (FL)*		Miami Orange Bowl Miami, FL (rivalry)		W 31–14	30,662	[12]
December 3	No. 19 Florida State*		Florida Field Gainesville, FL (rivalry)	ABC	L 9–37	63,563	[13]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

^[1][14]

1977 Florida Gators football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class QB John Brantley RB 30 Earl Carr Sr WR 89 Wes Chandler Sr TE Juan Collins QB 21 Cris Collinsworth Fr TE 40 Lewis Gilbert Sr RB 33 Tony Green Sr WR 23 Derrick Gaffney Sr OT 67 Ed Jacobsen Sr QB 7 Terry LeCount Sr RB Willie Wilder	Defense Pos. # Name Class LB Scot Brantley DE Richard Brewton DE Mike DuPree DB 25 Chuck Hatch Jr DT 66 Scott Hutchinson Sr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class PK Berj Yepremian Jr	Head coach Doug Dickey Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

• Other: Tim Aydp

1 2 Total Rice 3 0 3 • Florida 21 27 48 Date: September 17 Location: Florida Field

Florida opened the season in Houston with a non-conference game against Rice. Former all-conference safety Terry LeCount started at quarterback in the Gators' wishbone offense, but the most notable play at the position came in the 4th quarter, when third-string freshman Cris Collinsworth tossed an NCAA record 99-yard touchdown pass to Derrick Gaffney on his first collegiate attempt.^[1][15]

In the second week of play, Florida edged Mississippi State 24–22.yepremian junior kicker comes through again keeping Florids hopes alive

Louisiana State beat Florida 36–14. Wes Chandler had 146 yards receiving, including an 85-yard reception from Terry LeCount.^[1]

1 2 3 4 Total Pittsburgh 0 7 7 3 17 Florida 0 7 0 10 17 Date: October 8 Location: Florida Field

Scoring summary Q2 FLA Brewton recovered fumble in end zone (Yepremian kick) FLA 7–0 Q2 4:11 PITT Cavanaugh 3 yard run (Schubert kick) Tie 7–7 Q3 3:55 PITT Taylor 34 yard pass from Heath (Schubert kick) PITT 14–7 Q4 FLA Hatch recovered blocked punt in end zone (Yepremian kick) Tie 14–14 Q4 5:56 PITT Schubert 27 yard field goal PITT 17–14 Q4 1:28 FLA Yepremian 28 yard field goal Tie 17–17

^[16]

Florida and Pitt tied 17–17.

1 2 3 4 Total Tennessee 0 3 14 0 17 • Florida 7 10 0 10 27 Date: October 22 Location: Florida Field Game attendance: 62,711

Scoring summary Q1 FLA Chandler 1 yard run (Yepremian kick) FLA 7–0 Q2 TENN Gaylor 45 yard field goal FLA 7–3 Q2 FLA Johnson 10 yard run (Yepremian kick) FLA 14–3 Q2 FLA Yepremian 48 yard field goal FLA 17–3 Q3 TENN Harper 18 yard pass from Streater (Gaylor kick) FLA 17–10 Q3 TENN Finch 99 yard run (Gaylor kick) Tie 17–17 Q4 1:32 FLA Yepremian 28 yard field goal FLA 20–17 Q4 0:02 FLA Green 6 yard run (Yepremian kick) FLA 27–17

^[17]

The Gators called a timeout in the final seconds of a 27–17 win over the Tennessee Volunteers. Tennessee coach Johnny Majors was furious, and the post-game handshake ritual became a shoving match between coaching staffs.^[18]

The Auburn Tigers upset Florida 29–14.^[19]

1 2 3 4 Total Georgia 7 10 0 0 17 • Florida 0 10 6 6 22 Date: November 5 Location: Gator Bowl, Jacksonville, Florida Game attendance: 68,538 Television network: ABC

Scoring summary 1 UGA Willie McClendon 2-yard run (Rex Robinson kick) UGA 7-0 2 FLA Wes Chandler 12-yard pass from Terry LeCount (Berj Yepremian kick) Tied 7-7 2 10:41 UGA Willie McClendon 74-yard run (Rex Robinson kick) UGA 14-7 2 FLA Berj Yepremian 33-yard field goal UGA 14-10 2 0:11 UGA Rex Robinson 29-yard field goal UGA 17-10 3 6:15 FLA Wes Chandler 18-yard run (run failed) UGA 17-16 4 6:32 FLA Wes Chandler 1-yard run (run failed) FLA 22-17

The Gators beat rival Georgia 22–17.^[20]

The seventh-ranked Kentucky Wildcats defeated Florida 14–7.

1 2 3 4 Total Utah 3 14 3 9 29 • Florida 7 3 0 28 38 Date: November 19 Location: Florida Field, Gainesville, Florida Game attendance: 56,055

Scoring summary Q1 13:46 FLA LeCount 74-yard run (Yepremian kick) FLA 7–0 Q1 :33 UTAH McNamara 37-yard field goal FLA 7–3 Q2 9:30 UTAH Wilson 9-yard pass from Gomez (McNamara kick) UTAH 10–7 Q2 2:03 UTAH Gomez 9-yard run (McNamara kick) UTAH 17–7 Q2 :00 FLA Yepremian 54-yard field goal UTAH 17–10 Q3 2:07 UTAH McNamara 26-yard field goal UTAH 20–10 Q4 13:47 FLA Wilder 11-yard run (Yepremian kick) UTAH 20–17 Q4 12:35 UT McNamara 27-yard field goal UTAH 23–17 Q4 9:48 FLA Chandler 31-yard run (Yepremian kick) FLA 24–23 Q4 4:07 FLA Gaffney 11-yard pass from Brantley (Yepremian kick) FLA 31–23 Q4 2:24 UTAH Parker 9-yard pass from Gomez (pass failed) FLA 31–29 Q4 1:43 FLA Chandler 34-yard run (Yepremian kick) FLA 38–29

The Gators ran over the Utah Utes for 531 yards and won 38–29.^[21]

1 2 3 4 Total • Florida 3 7 7 14 31 Miami (FL) 0 7 0 7 14 Date: November 26 Location: Orange Bowl, Miami

Scoring summary 1 FLA Yepremian 50-yard field goal FLA 3-0 2 MIA Hobbs 11-yard run (Dennis kick) MIA 7-3 2 FLA Stephens 16-yard pass from LeCount (Yepremian kick) FLA 10-7 3 FLA Green 8-yard run (Yepremian kick) FLA 17-7 4 FLA Dupree 64-yard blocked field goal return (Yepremian kick) FLA 24-7 4 FLA Carr 2-yard run (Yepremian kick) FLA 31-7 4 MIA Alves 17-yard pass from Myers (Dennis kick) FLA 31-14

Florida defeated the Miami Hurricanes 31–14.^[22]

1 2 3 4 Total • FSU 10 7 7 13 37 Florida 3 6 0 0 9 Date: December 3 Location: Florida Field, Gainesville, Florida Game attendance: 63,563

Scoring summary 1 FSU Unglaub 38-yard pass from Woodham (? kick) FSU 7-0 1 FSU ? 5-yard field goal FSU 10-0 1 FLA Yepremian 15-yard field goal FSU 10-3 2 FSU Overby 4-yard pass from Jordan FSU 17-3 2 FLA Yepremian ? yard field goal FSU 17-6 2 FLA Yepremian ? yard field goal FSU 17-9 3 FSU Overby 30-yard pass from Jordan FSU 24-9 4 FSU ? FSU 31-9 4 FSU ? FSU 37-9

Bobby Bowden got his first win over the Gators, as Florida State beat Florida 37–9.^[23]

Four Gators made All-SEC.^[24]

• Florida State game