GIVE ‘EM HELL, PELL – PART V – A season of progress ends with a bowl win
Gators finish 8-4 to cap off one of the most incredible turnarounds in college football history

[Editor’s Note: This is the fifth part of an ongoing series covering Charley Pell’s career as the head coach of the Florida Gators. You can start back at the beginning or check out Part IV in case you missed it.]

November 15, 1980
Commonwealth Stadium (Lexington, KY)

In a familiar Florida-Kentucky script, the Gators didn’t bring their best stuff but still found a way to win in ugly fashion just one week after having their hearts ripped out. Leading up to the game, Kentucky’s conservative head coach, Fran Curci, referred to Florida offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan as “a kid,” saying, “He’s only about 27. He doesn’t understand how important his job is, or the consequences.”

On an early 3rd & 3 from their own 30-yard line, Wildcats quarterback Larry McCrimmon hit wide receiver Greg Wimberly, and the Miami native took it to the Florida 24-yard line before being knocked out by safety Tim Groves.

Three plays later, another Miami native, wide receiver Allan Watson, caught a pass to set Kentucky up with 1st & Goal from the 9-yard line. The Wildcats ran for no gain on first down, overthrew tight end Jim Campbell in the end zone on second, and on 3^rd & Goal, halfback Charles Jackson was stopped just inside the 3-yard line to force a field goal that put Kentucky up 3-0.

Florida pieced together an 11-play, 79-yard scoring drive in response. Fullback James Jones raced for 11 yards up the middle to get the Gators off to a fast start. A few plays later, Cris Collinsworth fumbled at the end of an 18-yard reception. Kentucky recovered the ball 20 yards downfield, but officials ruled that he was down and the Gators maintained possession after catching a break.

Running back Doug Kellom converted a 4th & 1 as Florida’s march continued. On 3rd & 5 from the Florida 30-yard line, Tyrone Young caught a 26-yard pass over the middle from quarterback Wayne Peace. Jones did the rest and put the Gators up 7-3.

A shank by punter Mark Dickert led to a 7-yard punt in the second quarter. Kentucky put together a strong drive, but once again they had to settle for a field goal by kicker Tom Griggs. Florida 7, Kentucky 6.

Peace led the charge on the next scoring drive for the Gators, completing passes of 17, 20, 10, and 28 yards. On the 28-yard completion, Peace connected with Young on the Kentucky 12-yard line, who slipped past a Kentucky defender and scored to increase Florida’s lead to 14-6. Kentucky then was forced to punt after driving as far as the Florida 21-yard line before the half.

On the first snap of the second half, Kentucky’s McCrimmon made a 46-yard completion to Wimberly, but UF defensive end Tim Golden sacked McCrimmon for an 8-yard loss on second down, and the Wildcats were forced to settle for a 40-yard field goal, allow Griggs to tie a Kentucky school record for three in one game. Florida 14, Kentucky 9.

On a later drive, Kentucky was threatening at the UF 31-yard line, but linebacker David Little tipped a pass that was picked off by defensive back Kyle Knight to end the drive. Florida went three-and-out, and Kentucky once again drove deep into Florida territory thanks to a fake punt that led to a 16-yard run by defensive lineman Jeff Dennis. Instead of opting for another field goal, head coach Fran Curci decided to go for it on fourth down from the Florida 24-yard line, but Little broke it up and the Gators defense held up.

The Wildcats were persistent, and later in the fourth quarter, they were back in Florida territory. Kentucky was set up with a 1st & 10 from the Florida 15-yard line when McCrimmon dropped back and threw an interception straight into Kyle Knight’s arms to give the UF defensive back his second interception of the day as the Gators held onto their slim 14-9 lead.

Florida took over inside their own 5-yard line, but Jones fumbled on a run up the middle, and Kentucky nose guard Chuck Jones jumped on the ball at the 6-yard line.

On the following play, Jackson scored from 6 yards out on a pitch play to the left. The two-point conversion valued, but Kentucky led 15-14 about halfway through the final quarter.

Both offenses stalled out, but the Gators got the ball back for one last opportunity.

Peace took over on the Florida 31-yard line with 34 seconds left. The freshman connected with his two best playmakers out wide: a 25-yard completion to Young and a 21-yard pass to Collinsworth along the sideline, which Kentucky insisted was out of bounds. The clutch drive set kicker Brian Clark up for a 34-yard field goal attempt with six seconds left in the game.

The Wildcats had lost in the last minute of their two previous games, which likely added to the fact that head coach Fran Curci was furious when Collinsworth’s catch was ruled in bounds. Curci ran up to the back judge and flopped down onto the ground in protest.

After the game, Collinsworth joked, “A pretty good call by a kid, huh?”

Kentucky called a timeout to freeze the kicker, and Clark trotted over to the sideline. He had missed a 31-yard attempt earlier in the fourth quarter, and Pell wanted to get his kicker’s mind right. As Clark later recalled, “This is really incredible and nobody will understand it, but he asked me about my golf game. Well, I told him I wasn’t hitting my drives the way I like to and my irons weren’t so hot, and, well, he told me to kick the ball just like I hit a ball out of the sand trap. Smooth swing. Head down. Stay under the ball.”

Clark came through in the final seconds, and Florida stole a win in Lexington, 17-15.

“Coach Pell really helped me out,” Clark said. “He kept me from thinking too much about the kick.”

Florida’s record improved to 7-2 (4-2 for SEC play) as the team headed into the final two games of its season against in-state rivals: Miami and Florida State.

November 29, 1980
Florida Field (Gainesville, FL)

“We were expecting a hospitable crowd, not this,” said Miami head coach Howard Schnellenberger after the Hurricanes endured a flurry of tangerines, oranges, ice and beer bottles from some of the 56,435 in attendance. “I had to tell our players to keep their helmets on and look to the front.”

On this day, the frustration led to anger, and the anger led to a dominant Miami running up the score late on the Gators. One can understand Schnellberger’s rage after taking a look at this live shot from the game:

Perhaps, Gator fan, Mrs. Doubtfire’s “run-by-fruiting” is what triggered the Miami Hurricanes program to set the standard for class throughout college football throughout the rest of the 1980s. #mrsdoubtfireinventedswagger

The Gators didn’t waste a lot of time getting started. Quarterback Wayne Peace hit wide receiver Tyrone Young on a 34-yard pass for the second play of their first drive. On the 10th play of the drive, Peace found Young again for a 15-yard touchdown to put Florida up 7-0.

Miami quarterback Jim Kelly responded with a 10-play, 80-yard touchdown drive of his own and the Hurricanes evened things up at 7-7.

Peace connected with wide receiver Cris Collinsworth on a 42-yard bomb to put the Gators in scoring position, but the drive ended when Canes linebacker Scott Nicolas intercepted the ball at Miami’s 10-yard line.

Big plays from Hurricanes wide receiver Larry Brodsky and running back Smokey Roan drove Miami down the field, but Kelly and the offense were forced to settle for a field goal from Danny Miller to put UM up 10-7.

Collinsworth had beaten the secondary deep, but Peace didn’t get enough on the ball, and Miami safety Fred Marion came down with the interception.

Miami’s next 10-play, 70-yard drive was capped off by running back Mark Rush plunging over the top into the end zone. A low snap caused the extra point to be missed, and the Hurricanes led 16-7.

Florida continued to struggle on offense, and as the game neared halftime, UF punter Mark Dickert shanked a 23-yard punt out of bounds, giving Miami a great field position. The Canes completed a 45-yard touchdown drive with a completion from Kelly to wide receiver Pat Walker, who outjumped Florida defensive back Ivory Curry for a 16-yard touchdown.

Miami’s two-point attempt failed, but the Canes led 22-7 going into the half.

Florida had a couple of scoring chances in the third quarter, but none worked out. The Gators drove down to the Miami 2-yard line after the Canes fumbled a punt that gave Florida the ball on the Hurricanes’ 23-yard line. On 4th & 1, Florida ran an option, but Peace was forced to pitch early, and the defense blew fullback James Jones back to the 5-yard line for a goal line stand.

Miami couldn’t get anything going on offense and was forced to punt from their own end zone. A personal foul on the Canes during the punt meant that the Gators would be set up on their next possession from the UM 32-yard line. However, Miami’s defense stood strong and forced Florida to settle for a 55-yard field goal attempt, which kicker Brian Clark missed after the ball hit the upper end of the left upright.

The action dried up until the last 15 seconds of the game. Miami scored on a 1-yard run by running back Mark Rush to put the Hurricanes up 28-7, and on the ensuing possession, Peace fumbled and UM defensive tackle Leon Evans recovered with one second left in the game.

Then Schnellenberger had enough of Mrs. Doubtfire and looked to send the Gators’ faithful a message by sending Miller out for a 35-yard field goal attempt as time expired. “That’s a strange call,” said ABC commentator and former Arkansas head coach Frank Broyles as the kicker trotted out onto the field. “I wouldn’t do that even if my kicker was going for some kind of record.” But, despite some initial confusion surrounding the call, the field goal was good, and Miami locked up a 31-7 blowout.

“I didn’t call for that field goal for any record or any other reason, but one,” Schnellenberger said angrily after the game. “I did it because fans in back of us were hitting us with oranges and tangerines and ice and water and cups and goodness knows what else. After three hours of that, I decided we might need a little field goal practice.”

Pell was having none of it. When a reporter asked if he had a message for Schnellenberger afterward, he simply said, “Good game.”

Later, Pell expanded, saying, “We’ll react to that 365 days from now.”

In his postgame remarks, Schnellenberger boasted about winning the state title after his Canes finished 1980 on a four-game winning streak to go 8-3 on the year. It was the highest win total for the Miami program since 1966. He said, “We’ve won the state championship by beating Florida State, Florida A&M and Florida.”

Florida A&M? No disrespect to the 1978 Division I-AA national champion FAMU Rattlers, but why would Schnellenberger, with Miami on their way to the Peach Bowl, include the Rattlers in on his “state champs” claim?

Schnellenberger used the final seconds of the 1980 victory in Gainesville to tack on a field goal, so I’ll use the last sentence of this Miami section to remind the reader that Florida A&M beat Miami 16-13 in 1979.

December 6, 1980
Doak Campbell Stadium (Tallahassee, FL)

In a scheduling oddity, Florida State was set to host the Gators in Tallahassee after a four-week layoff since their last game against Virginia Tech on November 8.

As with the 1979 season, Pell and the Gators had agreed to move the date of the Florida State game so that it could be nationally televised. The original date was scheduled for November 22, but the schools agreed to push back until December 6. “We’d rather end the season against Florida State,” Pell said. “It would be a more meaningful game for both of us due to the rivalry we have.”

Florida entered the game with a shot to finish its remarkable turnaround season with an 8-3 record, but the team was close to being a two-touchdown underdog on this day. No. 3 Florida State entered the game with a 9-1 record and an outside shot at a national title.

The Seminoles were in the midst of setting the tone for the Bobby Bowden era after program-building wins against No. 3 Nebraska in Lincoln and No. 4 Pittsburgh led by “Danny Marino,” as Al Michaels would say, at home the following week. Their only loss had been at the end of September at Miami in the Orange Bowl after FSU failed to convert a two-point conversion for the win in the final moments of the game. The score was 10-9.

Florida faced FSU’s ferocious, top-rated defense, which had surrendered only 203 yards and 7.2 points per game. UF opened with a false-start penalty, and running back Doug Kellom made up for it on the next play with a 20-yard run, but the Gators would punt on their opening possession.

FSU took their first drive down the field but stalled out inside the UF 30-yard line, and kicker Bill Capece tacked on his 22nd field goal of the season, just two shy of the NCAA season record at the time, to give the Noles a 3-0 advantage.

UF fullback James Jones fumbled around midfield on a twisting run that ended up in Florida State’s hands, but the Gators’ defense pushed back and forced FSU to punt. Florida State would struggle for the rest of the day on offense after star running back Sam Platt left the game with a bad shoulder.

Florida started its next drive at their own 12-yard line and made it to the 47-yard line. Peace missed on a deep shot to Collinsworth on second down, but on 3rd & 7, Shanahan dialed up another long ball. The freshman dropped back and hit a streaking Tyrone Young, who had beaten the coverage down the right sideline and outraced another defender en route to the end zone, giving the Gators a 7-3 lead near the end of the first quarter.

On the following Florida possession, Peace tossed back to Young on 3rd & 6 from inside the UF 25-yard line. Young stopped, wound up and aimed for Collinsworth down the left sideline but overthrew him, and the ball landed in the arms of FSU defensive back Bobby Butler.

On the ensuing FSU possession, quarterback Rick Stockstill dropped back in the face of tremendous pressure up the middle from Gators nose guard Robin Fisher and quickly passed to tight end Sam Childers over the middle. The pass was high; Childers could only get a hand on it, and UF linebacker David Little came up with the interception to set Florida up in excellent field position at the FSU 36-yard line.

UF running back Doug Kellom picked up a first down on 3rd & Short, and the Gators opened up with a new set of downs on the FSU 23-yard line. FSU linebacker Paul Piurowski, who had played in a game just 10 days after an appendectomy earlier in the season, shot through the gap and stuffed James Jones in the backfield for a loss. A sweep to Young on third down did not yield enough yardage to move the sticks, and Florida settled for a 38-yard field goal from Brian Clark.

Midway through the second quarter, FSU punter Rhon Stark bombed a 62-yard kick close to the UF 10-yard line, but the Gators managed to return it to their own 23-yard line. After throwing nine passes in the first quarter, Peace had yet to throw one in the second quarter as the Gators went to work on the ground, slowly churning up yardage until they faced a 3rd & 12 from the UF 44-yard line. Peace rolled left, stopped and threw a strike to Young along the right hashmark for 18 yards and a first down.

Florida went back to the ground with under four and a half minutes left in the half, giving running back Johnnell Brown a few carries. Kellom entered the game on 3rd & 2 but only gained about a half yard to set up on 4th & Short inside the FSU 20-yard line. Pell did not hesitate and sent the field goal unit out to take the points against a stout FSU defense. Clark knocked the ball through from 36 yards out, and the Gators led the Seminoles 13-3 near the end of the first half.

Stockstill took a shot deep to wide receiver Hardis Johnson on FSU’s final drive before the half, but it was tipped and intercepted by UF defensive back Vito McKeever after being thrown into traffic. In a first half that had to gone as planned, the Gators offense racked up 226 yards in the first half while the No. 3 Seminoles failed to gain 100 yards. The Gators looked nothing like they did the week before against Miami and took a 13-3 advantage into the locker room.

Florida State came out swinging in the third quarter. FSU backup running back Ricky Williams stepped up to fill in for the injured Platt and quickly led the Noles out past midfield. Stockstill found Hardis Johnson for a 13-yard pass to take it down to the UF 30-yard line, connected with Johnson again for 11 yards down to the UF 19-yard line and, three plays later, hooked up with Johnson in the end zone over the middle for the Seminoles’ first touchdown of the day. The extra point was good to cut the Florida lead to 13-10 with 10:12 left in the third quarter.

The second half was a different story for the Florida offense. The Gators would only gained 31 yards in the half. Their only first down for the remainder of the third quarter would be by way of a pass interference call, but punter Mark Dickert did his job and ensured FSU stayed on their side of the field. Dickert’s string of great punts was highlighted by an ugly 55-yarder thanks to a bounce that caused the ball to travel nearly an extra 30 yards.

Both teams traded punts for most of the third quarter, and with 2:47 left in the period, FSU nearly fumbled a punt after Florida punted out of its own end zone. The Noles recovered on their own 45-yard line.

UF defensive lineman Ron Coleman sacked Stockstill to open the drive, and after a running play, FSU faced a 3rd & 16 from their own 40-yard line when Johnson came through with a spectacular diving reception to give the Seminoles a first down in Gator territory.

FSU was in business at the UF 32-yard line and started the fourth quarter at 3rd & 2 from the UF 24-yard line. Williams took a pitch to the right and bullied his way down to the UF 20-yard line. Stockstill ran a play-action pass on first down and hit a wide-open Harris up the middle to score with 14:24 to go in the fourth quarter. Florida State 14, Florida 13.

Imagine watching this Garnet and Gold celebration scene unfold just weeks after watching the Gators lose in brutal fashion in Jacksonville. The overall importance of the 1980 season in the history of Florida football centers around the bounce-back narrative, but the Gator Nation suffered through some heartbreak in Charley Pell’s second season.

Peace wound up on the next possession and fired a pass to his left, but it ended up in the hands of FSU defensive back Keith Jones, who broke on the ball for the well-time interception around the UF 30-yard line.

The second half had officially turned into a beating, which shouldn’t have come as a huge surprise considering that FSU had now outscored its opponents 96-0 in the combined fourth quarters of the 1980 season. After a couple runs yielded nothing, Stockstill took a shot to the end zone, but the pass was broken up. Capece missed a 49-yard field goal attempt to the left, and the Gators dodged a bullet.

UF finally had some hope on the next drive. Peace hit Brown on a long curl route to bring the Gators inside of FSU territory. Two plays later, he hit Young over the middle to take it down to the FSU 26-yard line, where he was stopped by FSU defensive back Monk Bonasorte.

Despite being dormant all half, the Gators offense was finally in business, down 14-13. Two Jones carries led to a 3rd & 5 from just outside the FSU 20-yard line. That’s when disaster struck. Peace executed what may be the deepest drop back on a single pass in college football history, and FSU defensive lineman whipped his man to bring down the freshman in a video-game-like sack for a nearly 15-yard loss at the FSU 35-yard line. You honestly need to see it for yourself:

I’ll allow for the fact that the drop back was prolonged by Peace’s unsuccessful attempt to avoid the pressure, but I’m not sure what Shanahan was thinking on that call. Was that deep of a drop necessary in that part of the field? [Writer’s note: I’m sitting around questioning playcalls from 40 years ago at 5:21 AM on a Sunday. May need to re-evaluate my life.]

Clark attempted a wildly unsuccessful 52-yard field goal on the following play to keep Florida State ahead 17-13 with a little over eight minutes left in the game.

Florida forced a punt on FSU’s next drive, and the Gators took over at their own 35-yard line. Cris Collinsworth, who had a quiet day up to this point, drew a pass interference on 3rd & 10 to move the Gators up the UF 45-yard line with less than six minutes to go. Two plays later, tight end Chris Faulkner made a hell of a catch to bring Florida across midfield.

An offsides penalty pushed the Gators back 5 yards, but Peace connected with Collinsworth on third down to move the offense down to the FSU 40-yard line. Then, once again, disaster struck. On first down, Peace pump-faked and went deep for Collinsworth on an ill-advised and poorly executed attempt. FSU defensive back Bonasorte attempted to bat the ball down inside the 10-yard line, but instead, defensive back Keith Jones made another athletic interception and FSU took over.

However, FSU running back Michael Whiting fumbled to open the drive, and Florida recovered the ball! As Gators defenders began to celebrate their clutch play, the officiating crew made a terrible call and said Whiting was down. You be the judge:

To me, it appears that Whiting lost the ball before going down. Here’s another angle:

Instead, the ball remained with the Seminoles with three minutes left on the clock. FSU decided to melt the clock to just over a minute remaining before punting the ball back to Florida. Curry returned an average punt to the UF 44-yard line.

With no timeouts left and 1:29 left in the game, Peace and the Gators took the field down 17-13 as Al Michaels set the scene for the television audience: “Florida trying to pull off a major upset. To do it, they’ll have to go the full 56 yards. A field goal does them no good.”

On first down, Peace avoided a shot from his blind side and nearly connected with Collinsworth along the sideline, about 10 yards down the field, but the pass was incomplete. Young was the intended target up the middle on second down, but the pass was too high. An incompletion on third down led to 4th & 10 with 1:10 to play. Peace dropped back but couldn’t connect with Young along the sideline. FSU took over on downs, and the crowd began to celebrate as the Noles came out to take a knee.

Florida had fought hard, but after a dominant second half, Florida State moved to 10-1 with a 17-13 victory. As Pell said in a postgame piece for the Tallahassee Democrat, “Florida State deserved to win. They came back after the half with excellent adjustments.”

Florida could walk away with its head held high for once again taking one of the top teams in 1980 down to the wire. This was the fourth straight win over Florida for Florida State and their sixth overall in the series.

Charley Pell made his way over to the FSU locker room after the game to congratulate the Seminoles’ seniors on the accomplishment. “I’ve never been so happy to see a graduation take place,” Pell said. “We should come and cheer at the FSU graduation ceremony.”

Long-time Gator writer Franz Beard painted a markedly different picture of Pell’s tone once he arrived back into the Florida locker room in an excellent  2014 piece from Gator Country:

He was barely in the Florida locker room when he told the Gators, still quiet and still smarting from a game in which they had snatched defeat from the jaws of victory, “Gentlemen, I just did the most unpleasant thing I’ve ever done in my life. I just congratulated Coach Bowden for beating us. I want you to know that as long as I’m the head football coach at the University of Florida, that opportunity will never present itself again.”

Bob Hewko remembers that like it was yesterday. Injured in the game, Hewko sat in that tiny, cramped, visitor’s locker room with his teammates waiting for what seemed an eternity for Pell to arrive and when he did, there was a look on his face that he and every other Gator knew all too well and understood.

Hewko braced himself.

“What he said wasn’t anything like we were expecting,” Hewko said on the phone from Las Vegas where he was mixing some business with pleasure. “He was mad. He was really mad and we probably deserved to get chewed out because that’s a game we knew we should have won, but if you understand one thing about Coach Pell, he used moments like this. He was a master at turning the worst thing into something good and when he told us we weren’t going to lose to them again as long as he was the coach, it was totally believable. It was like, okay, there is never even a shot that we’re going to lose to them again … ever.

“Coach Pell always said that his goal was to win the state of Florida. He said once you win the state of Florida, you’re in position to win the national championship but that’s where it all starts.”

Pell may’ve started 0-2 against Florida State, but both games were hard fought, and the outmatched Gators might have been done in by their lack of experience compared to the Seminoles’ wealth of experience:

1980 starters by class heading into the Florida-Florida State

Florida had stood strong against FSU as it regained its footing, and Pell continued to build a winner in Gainesville.

Postseason Awards

Linebacker, David Little
1st Team AP All-American
1st Team All-SEC

Wide receiver, Cris Collinsworth
2nd Team AP All-American
1st Team All-SEC

Tight End, Chris Faulkner
1st Team All-SEC

December 20, 1980
Orlando Stadium (Orlando, FL)

The 1980 Florida Gators capped their season by becoming the first team in the history of college football to go from a winless record to receiving a bowl bid in back-to-back seasons.

Florida would face ACC runner-up, Maryland, in the Tangerine Bowl on December 20 in Orlando. The Terrapins were had spent the better part of the 1970s ranked in the top 20 that included a few trips into the top 10 in the polls. Head coach Jerry Claiborne, the man that helped recruit Pell to play at Alabama as a player, took over a program in 1972 that had not seen a winner since the Terps posted a 6-4 record in 1972.

Maryland had gone bowling in six of the previous seven seasons, missing out on a bowl bid in 1979 despite going 7-4. This feat is extra impressive when you consider the lack of bowls back in this era.

In 1980, there were only 15 total bowl games, most of them the name brands we know today: Rose, Sugar, Fiesta, Orange, etc. The Tangerine Bowl was eventually rebranded as the Florida Citrus Bowl in 1983. Florida had appeared in the game once before in 1973 under unusual circumstances.

The 1973 Tangerine Bowl bids initially were set to go out to Miami (Ohio) and East Carolina, but after legal concerns slowed the renovations at the Tangerine Bowl in Orlando (a project that was set to increase the stadium’s capacity from 17,000 to 51,000 seats), ECU declined the invitation since the stadium would not be ready for the game. Bowl officials turned to the Gators for a solution.

Miami (Ohio) and Florida practiced and completed their bowl week in Orlando, but the game took place in Gainesville at Florida Field, marking the only time in history that the bowl was played outside of Orlando. Miami (Ohio) head coach Bill Mallory and the 10-0 Redskins (later changed to RedHawks) were led by a dominant defense that included future Florida head coach Ron Zook and shut out Florida on its homefield to walk away with a 16-7 victory to close out a perfect season.

Florida had met Maryland a few years earlier in the 1975 Gator Bowl and Dickey’s bunch fell to the Terps 13-0. The Gators held a 9-6 edge over the Terrapins in all-time head-to-head meetings.

Pell built up the Tangerine Bowl by saying that it would be “the greatest gathering of Florida people that’s ever been in Florida.”

That line might raise a few eyebrows in our modern fanbase, which has been spoiled with success, but ever the marketer, you can’t blame Pell for trying to pump excitement into the fanbase. He had a program to sell and was armed with a “0-10-1 to bowl game” turnaround story to use on the recruiting trail with what would become the building blocks of one of the most successful runs in school history.

Maryland kicker Dale Castro kicked the first of what would be a four-field goal night to put the Terps up 3-0 in the first quarter. The Gators offense was slow to start, but early in the second quarter, Wayne Peace found Cris Collinsworth over the top after the senior wide receiver put a move on the defensive back and ran right by him for an easy 24-yard touchdown reception.

Maryland took the following drive into the Florida red zone thanks to a pass interference penalty by Gators safety Tim Groves. The Terps drove as far as the UF 10-yard line before settling for Castro’s second field goal on the night, bringing the score to 7-6.

The Gators ended up punting on the following drive. Maryland return man Steve Trimble called for a fair catch around midfield after a week punt, but freshman tight end Wilbur Marshall must not have seen the fair catch and was flagged for lightly hitting the return man after quickly realizing his own error.

Despite the excellent field position, the Terps once again trotted Castro out for another field goal to take a 9-7 lead. Florida would answer back with a long touchdown drive that was highlighted by a 33-yard completion to Collinsworth.

With the Gators on the Maryland 35-yard line, the Terps lined up with eight men in the box. Peace took the snap under center, and the backs and tight ends stayed in for maximum protection, sending only wide receiver Tyrone Young and Collinsworth out on routes.

The pressure was in his face, but the blocking held up long enough for Peace to quickly pump to Colinsworth on the right. Maryland’s corner, playing about 10 yards off the line at the snap, slipped as Collinsworth executed a perfect stop-and-go route. Florida’s senior leader left the Terps corner on the ground, and he was streaking free toward a shoe-in touchdown, but Peace threw the ball a little too close to the right sideline, causing Collinsworth to stop and make the catch. Instead of scoring, his momentum carried him out of bounds.

On the following play, fullback James Jones punched it with his typical physicality up the middle for the Gators’ second touchdown on the night to put Florida up 14-9 with under two minutes left before halftime.

Florida momentarily avoided disaster on the opening kick of the second half. UF defensive back Roger Sibbald tried to field the kick, but it bounced off his shoulder, and the Gators finally jumped on the ball at their own 4-yard line. Pell found little relief as the drive started when Peace threw an interception to Maryland defensive back Ralph Leary and returned it to the UF 1-yard line.

Star Maryland running back Charlie Wysocki, who went on to set a Tangerine Bowl record with 159 yards on 39 attempts, helped the Terps finally find the end zone. Quarterback Mike Tice ran in the two-point attempt, and Maryland was up 17-14 early in the second half.

Maryland would tack on Castro’s fourth field goal for a 20-14 edge, but the Gators defense would put the clamps on Terrapins for the rest of the night. Shanahan let Peace air it out on the next drive. The freshman quarterback found Collinsworth on a 15-yard strike to advance the ball out to the UF 35-yard line and picked up another first down after rolling out from the left hashmark and releasing the ball under pressure a few yards away from the right sideline to find Young on a comeback route to get the Gators close to midfield.

Back-to-back first downs—a Peace and Young connection followed by running back Johnnell Brown finding daylight up the middle took the ball down to the Maryland 30-yard line. Two plays later, Peace lobbed what appeared to be a surefire interception—a throw that must’ve have terrified Shanahan and Pell—over the middle for the end zone for Collinsworth. The senior wide receiver had some room to breathe behind three Terps defenders, but he also had three Maryland defensive backs around him when he came down with a jump ball as the single orange jersey in a sea of white jerseys, and Florida was in business inside the 2-yard line.

After a 1-yard dive up the middle and a failed quarterback sneak, Peace ducked his head down and drove his legs forward for a hard-earned touchdown. UF kicker Brian Clark made the extra point to put the Gators up 21-20 with 4:43 left in the third quarter.

The Gators never looked back. UF safety Sonny Gilliam hit Wysocki, forcing a fumble that was recovered by Florida defender John Whittaker on the Maryland 23-yard line. The offense didn’t waste much time. A short run up the middle preceded a big play on second down.

When Peace took the snap from under center at the left hashmark, he immediately looked to Collinsworth, who was lined up just over the numbers on the right. As Collinsworth cut toward the middle of the field, the Maryland pressure forced Peace back in order to slip out of the pocket to buy more time. Peace, now near the 30-yard line, rolled out of his escape and fired a dart into Collinsworth’s arms in the back-left section of the end zone for the senior’s second touchdown on the night. Cheerleaders and Gators players swarmed Collinsworth in celebration, and Florida now led 28-20.

UF defensive end Tim Golden intercepted a Tice pass at the UF 49-yard line, and some great running from Brown led to another touchdown. Florida 35, Maryland 20.

The 1980 Gators completed one of the best turnaround seasons in college football history to finish 8-4 after a winless 1979 campaign. Peace finished the night 20-34 for 271 yards and two touchdowns passes to outgoing senior and Tangerine Bowl MVP Cris Collinsworth, who finished with eight receptions total for 166 yards.

“Being MVP doesn’t mean a thing to me,” said Collinsworth. “People said this team was down and on the way out after losing two of the last four. But this team had too much heart to give up now. We had a bunch of chances to quit tonight. I’m just so glad to see this team go out a winner. I’m just proud to be a Florida Gator.”

Teammates were quick to praise their leader on his way out the door. “I’m just thinking about that No. 21 and what a job he did tonight,” said fellow receiver Tyrone Young. “I’m so proud of everything he’s done for Florida football.”

“Our offensive line may have played their best game of the season. Maryland is noted for sacking the quarterback—about 35 times this year, I think. They didn’t sack our quarterback at all tonight. This was a major part of the win.”

“Going from 0-10-1 to 8-4 and winning a bowl game has got to be one of the most incredible turnarounds in college football history,” Collinsworth said. “And that was the year of the Lindsay Scott [Georgia] game, so we’re a few seconds away from making it 9-3.”

Later, in Larry Guest’s Sunday column for the Orlando Sentinel, Collinsworth said, “Things with Florida football are back to the point where I thought they would be at the start. The great thing is that the program is no longer based on a foundation of talent, but on a foundation of people with character.

“What we have now is a whole team of people I could take home to Titusville and be proud of. Only in that respect is it [leaving the program] sad to me that I won’t be able to spend four years with them.”

Collinsworth’s vision for the next four years would be prove to be spot on. The fruits of the Pell era were beginning to show. The 1980 Tangerine Bowl champions provided a hopeful sign of things to come for the Orange and Blue faithful. There would be struggles along the way, but the pieces were beginning to fall into place.