GIVE ‘EM HELL, PELL – PART IX: The Gators gain national attention
Charley Pell leads Florida football to new heights in 1982

“There are lot of don’t-dos in the coaching book written as law,” said Charley Pell in the page-long preview for his Gators in the September 1982 issue of Sports Illustrated, “and in 1982, we violate more of them than any group I’ve ever been associated with.

“You do not schedule two teams like Miami and Southern Cal back to back. You do not schedule Mississippi State and LSU back to back. You do not schedule Auburn and Georgia back to back. You do not play Kentucky in Lexington in November. And you do not have three open dates. We’ve got all those things.”

“We’ll be tested to the seams,” Pell continued. “Our concern is how quickly our freshman can help us. With our schedule, we’ll have to drive hard in the preseason, reach a peak early and then meet the challenge of maintaining that over a long period of time.”Or as Pell also put it in the preview piece, the 1982 schedule “is the Burma Road.”

Big changes were afoot. Pell’s ambition was beginning to take tangible form when the south end zone expansion project increased Florida Field’s capacity to 72,000. The artificial turf, fondly known as “Doug’s Rug” since Doug Dickey installed it in 1971, would remain, and the stadium was morphing into what we now know as The Swamp.

The shiny new project also included an athletic training center, a skybox tower and a modern press box—debuting just in time for one of the most brutal opening home slates in school history.

September 4, 1982
Florida Field (Gainesville, FL)

For just the second time in 44 collisions, and first time since No. 18 Florida played No. 6 Miami in 1956, both teams entered into a head-to-head matchup with a ranking attached to their name.

“Go for it.”

Howard Schnellenberger set a clear goal for the 1982 Hurricanes: Win the national title. The team had responded to the pipe-smoking coach’s previous mottos. In 1980 (“A bowl is the goal”), Miami was invited to the Peach Bowl for its first bowl bid since 1967. In 1981 (“Reaching higher”), Miami went 9-2, but NCAA probation kept the Canes at home for the holidays.

Senior quarterback Jim Kelly was the reason for much of the optimism heading into year four of Schnellenberger’s reign in Coral Gables. Not only did he break George Mira’s passing record set in the early 1960s, but he brought the fans flocking back in droves to the Orange Bowl as Miami averaged nearly 40,000 fans per game in 1981 (up from about 24,000 in 1980).

Preseason optimism wasn’t exclusively afforded to Miami. Charley Pell’s talented roster inspired confidence. No. 16 Florida was trending in the right direction, and the Gators would have a chance to prove themselves right off the bat hosting Schnellenberger and the No. 15 Hurricanes.

An on-field temperature of 108 degrees welcomed the record crowd of 71,864 at the newly expanded Florida Field for the highly anticipated season opener. Miami’s opening punt slipped through the hands of Florida defensive back Ivory Curry, and the Canes took over on the UF 18-yard line. It was the type of mistake that typically comes back to haunt a team, but the Gators defense forced a fumble by slapping the ball out of Miami senior running back Mark Rush’s hands as he extended toward the end zone, and linebacker Val Brown recovered at UF 1-yard line.

UF quarterback Wayne Peace drove the Gators toward midfield when his pass was deflected and intercepted by Canes linebacker Jay Brophy. Three plays later, a Kelly pass was tipped and picked off by Gators safety Tony Lilly. The mistake-prone first quarter would end with no score.

In the second quarter, Florida used big plays from tight ends Chris Faulkner (24-yard reception) and Mike Mularkey (15-yard reception) to set up a 4-yard touchdown run by Peace to cap off a 75-yard drive. The Hurricanes quickly responded with a 6-yard touchdown pass from Kelly to tight end Glenn Dennison, and the Gators took a 10-7 lead into the half with a field goal by kicker Jim Gainey.

A series of dink-and-dunk passes working underneath allowed Kelly and the UM offense to control the ball for close to half of the third quarter. Rush redeemed his first-quarter fumble by taking it into the end zone from 1 yard out to complete an 86-yard drive that put the Canes on top 14-10.

“We thought with him [Kelly] being up for the Heisman, he’d go out and try to get some yardage,” Florida cornerback Bruce Vaughan said. “But after we took a few shots at his receivers, I guess he figured there must be something underneath.”

Kelly finished the game with 18 completions, but only three of those receptions were made by wide receivers that ending up dropping four balls throughout the game.

Early in the fourth quarter, Miami was threatening in the Florida red zone, but kicker Jeff Davis missed the 31-yard attempt, and Florida kept the deficit at four points.

“Out of 20 times, I’ll make that field goal at least 18,” Davis said. “But I was so pumped up, and I pushed it to the right just about 2 inches or so.”

With a little over 12 minutes left to play, Peace and the offense took a page out of Miami’s playbook with a clock-churning drive full of third-down conversions that had the Gators set up with 4th & 2 at the UM 26-yard line with just under 5:30 left. Unfortunately for the Gators, Miami sniffed out the play, and freshman running back John L. Williams was stuffed in the backfield by a trio of Hurricanes defenders (defensive end Joe Kohlbrand, linebacker Greg Brown, and linebacker Jacinto Fernandez). After shutting down Florida’s best drive of the second half, it appeared the Hurricanes were on the verge of a fifth-straight win in the series.

It would be up to the Gators defense to get the ball back. Florida’s head coach wasn’t worried. “When we didn’t make that first down, I was very disappointed,” said Pell. “I began to think it might be the end. But when I saw the look in the eyes of our defense, well, I thought we might get another shot.”

“We felt good about ourselves,” said first-team All-SEC linebacker Wilber Marshall about the mentality of the defense heading into that drive.

Schnellenberger decided to go conservative after watching his team leave 10 points on the field earlier in the game. Kelly turned and handed it to running back Speedy Neal for a 2-yard gain on first down and missed on a pass on second down. Facing a 3rd & 8 from their own 24-yard line, the Canes opted to run the clock by handing off to running back Keith Griffin, the younger brother of two-time Heisman winner Archie Griffin, for another 2-yard gain instead of trusting their Heisman candidate at quarterback.

“That was the day’s most shocking play,” Pell said. “Miami’s passing game had been so effective, I thought they’d surely throw to keep possession and set up the clock.”

Greg LaBelle’s punt for the Hurricanes only sailed 39 yards, and Florida took possession at its own 39-yardline with 4:02 remaining. The Gators had been scoreless in the second half, but they had one last shot thanks to the defense and Miami’s mistakes.

Peace moved the chains with an 11-yard strike to wide receiver Dwayne Dixon. Two plays later, he shook off a would-be sack by Miami defensive lineman Tony Fitzpatrick and found Dixon open over the middle. Dixon made the catch and ran through two tackles to the UM 18-yard line. Then a 1-yard run by senior fullback James Jones set up one of the most memorable plays in the history of the Miami-Florida series with less than two minutes left on the clock.

On 2nd & 9, Peace lined up under center in an I-formation. The junior quarterback took the snap and rolled to his right with two Miami defensive lineman in hot pursuit. Jones had slipped out of the backfield into what was supposed to be a 7-yard route toward the right sideline and began to backpedal. As Peace neared the right sideline at the 20-yard line, he lobbed a high, wobbly pass over the head of his fullback, but Jones jumped and made a spectacular, fully extended, right-handed grab at the 2-yard line, and his momentum carried him into the pylon for the go-ahead score.

“It wasn’t a great pass,” Peace said. “It wasn’t too badly overthrown, but when I threw it, I didn’t feel like he was going to catch it. I didn’t even realize he was in the end zone. I just thought, ‘What a catch.’”

“I can’t ever remember seeing a catch like that. That was a Willie Mays deluxe,” said Pell.

Tampa Bay Times columnist Shelby Strother said it best:

The heat was on and the sun god had nothing do with it. This heat turned up when Jones made his juggler’s grab that at least in this town, rivals anything Dwight Clark or Kellen Winslow or even Willie Mays ever managed, not to mention Carlos Alvarez or Wes Chandler or Cris Collinsworth. It was glorious and melodramatic and people can’t remember the last time a Gator made such a tough catch at such a crucial part of a game.

“It was definitely my best catch,” Jones said. “I backed up, leaped up, and the ball hit flat in my right hand.”

There was no Miami miracle in 1982, and for once in the Charley Pell era, the ball bounced the Gators’ way for his first win over Schnellenberger.

“That was one of the most rewarding wins in Florida football history,” Pell said. “You can’t get respect until you get respect at home. That’s why this win was so important.”

Pell’s plan was coming together, both on the field and off the field.

“I couldn’t call as many audibles as I wanted because of the noise,” Kelly said. “My wide receivers couldn’t hear me all the time.”

The crowd of 72,000 played clearly played a factor, and Charley Pell would get to put his newly renovated stadium on display the following week when the USC Trojans made their cross-country trip for a nationally televised game.

“This was a giant step for our football team,” Pell said. “We have the makings of something good. But we aren’t there yet. Thank goodness the players know that.”

If Pell was concerned about keeping the players humble leading into another big game, Sports Illustrated did not do him any favors by making Wayne Peace the first Gator to grace the cover of the iconic magazine.

September 11, 1982
Florida Field (Gainesville, FL)

Quick note to SEC fans: The USC Trojans (not to be confused with the USC Gamecocks of the SEC) play in a conference called the Pac-12 (or the Pac-10 circa 1982). However strange it may sound, college football is played outside of the Southeast, even though it doesn’t mean more and you wouldn’t know it come playoff time.

In 1982, Florida fans in particular may not have been overly familiar with their left-coast counterparts, as the Orange and Blue had only squared off against a Pac-12 foe in seven regular-season matchups (four times against UCLA, twice against Cal and once against Utah) leading up to Southern Cal’s first trip to Gainesville.

Charley Pell was hired to win championships, but a nationally televised win against a well-respected powerhouse like USC had the potential to carry significant weight in the Florida history books.

Since 1960, the Trojans had claimed at least a share of four national titles, appeared in 11 Rose Bowls and produced four Heisman Trophy winners. Running backs Mike Garrett, O.J. Simpson, Charles White and Marcus Allen immortalized a simple sweep play called “Student Body Right” under head coaches John McKay and John Robinson.

John Robinson succeeded where so many fail by following a legend and leaving a legacy of his own. Robinson would end up leaving USC after the 1982 season to stay in town and take the Rams job. Folks in Florida knew all about Robinson’s predecessor John McKay, as the quick-witted head coach had jumped to the NFL to take over the Tampa Bay expansion franchise in 1976 after 16 years at USC. After one loss early on, a reporter asked McKay what he thought of his team’s execution that day, and McKay quipped, “I’m in favor of it.”

USC did not miss a beat when Robinson took over. In his first year, the Trojans were the 1976 Pac-8 champs (expanded to Pac-10 in 1978), and in 1978, the team engineered a split claim to the national title with Bear Bryant and the Tide. Southern Cal won over 75 percent of their games under McKay and Robinson while the Gators had won only 59 percent of their games over that same stretch.

CREDIT: Clip pulled from [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9TlvIQ3ZT0&t=902s]

Marcus Allen, the 1981 Heisman winner, was now an L.A. Raider, and USC was breaking in a new starting quarterback. Poor Sean Salisbury made his debut with Wilber Marshall on the other side of the ball.

USC took the opening drive into Florida territory and downed a David Pryor punt on the UF 2-yard line.

Gators quarterback Wayne Peace took the field against linebacker Jack Del Rio and the USC defense. Florida would end up holding the ball for 17 plays in a drive that lasted for over seven minutes, but kicker Jim Gainey pushed a powerful 39-yard kick to the right after the holder bobbled the snap.

The long drive “gave us confidence right away,” Peace said. “Maybe that took some of the air out of USC. We forgot we were playing USC and boosted our confidence a little bit.”

USC picked a first down before a Marshall pass rush on third down overwhelmed the running back in pass protection and cause Salisbury to scramble to his left. Like a predator setting a trap for his prey, Marshall’s pressure fed the young quarterback right into the arms of defensive lineman Tim Newton for a sack and a major loss to set up another Trojan punt.

CREDIT: Clip pulled from [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9TlvIQ3ZT0&t=902s]

Florida could not take advantage of the good field position and punted back to USC. A suffocating Gators defense forced another Trojan punt, but a personal foul on fourth down allowed them to maintain possession, and the USC running game breathed life into the offense. Southern California marched into Florida territory when Salisbury drilled a pass into the chest of wide receiver Jeff Simmons at the UF 15-yard line.

In today’s world of replays, the pass may have been reviewed and ruled incomplete, but the word “football move” was not in Keith Jackson’s vernacular, so officials weren’t inclined to deny a rabid Gainesville crowd the joy of senior linebacker Tom Wiegmann’s fumble recovery at the UF 13-yard line.

CREDIT: Clip pulled from [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9TlvIQ3ZT0&t=902s]

The offense did not achieve much on the next drive, and USC took over after another Florida punt. On the second play of the drive, Salisbury took the snap and turned to his left as his left guard was pulling to the right, and the ball was knocked loose. Marshall landed on the fumble with such force that the ball shot out from under him, and for a split second the ball laid still on the ground near the USC 40-yard line. Luckily, sophomore nose guard Ricky Williams was in the right place at the right time, and the first big break of the game went to the Gators.

CREDIT: Clip pulled from [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9TlvIQ3ZT0&t=902s]

Florida picked up a quick first down as Peace winged a pass to the left to wide-open wide receiver Dwayne Dixon. Two plays later, Peace took a three-step drop-back and fired a lob pass that split the zone coverage and carried a little too close to the sideline. Wide receiver Spencer Jackson, fully aware of his approach toward the sideline, slowed down and made an over-the-shoulder grab while keeping one foot inbounds to set the Gators up with a 1st & Goal at the USC 2-yard line.

CREDIT: Clip pulled from [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9TlvIQ3ZT0&t=902s]

A leaping attempt from running back Lorenzo Hampton gained a yard on first down, and another leap from Hampton appeared to make it in on second down, but officials called it about a foot shy of the goal line. Peace appeared to run into a wall on a quarterback sneak on third down, and Pell called a timeout to settle his team down.

On 4th & Goal from the 1-yard line, offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan dialed up every fan’s favorite play: a fade route in the end zone. That works about once or twice a year, right? Why not pass up the opportunity to hand the ball to senior fullback James Jones?

Coming out of the timeout, the Gators lined up under center on the right hashmark with a split-back set. Faulkner lined up as the tight end to the right, and Mularkey lined up next to left tackle Lomas Brown. USC stacked the box with six down linemen, two linebackers outside of the tight ends and two backers positioned up the middle.

Jackson was lined up wide to the left in a one-on-one matchup with a defensive back. Peace took the snap and quickly turned to lob a pass to the left side. The ball sailed toward the middle-left sideline of the end zone, but once again, Jackson made a spectacular over-the-shoulder grab for the first touchdown of the game.

Pell had invoked the name of Willie Mays when describing James Jones’ catch against Miami, but this time, Jackson added a dive to the mix, and the Gators took a 7-0 lead in the second quarter.

“The ball was coming straight over my head,” Jackson said. “I wasn’t sure whether to turn around or take it over my shoulder. That’s about the toughest catch to make. It takes total concentration on the football, and it can easily slip through fingers.”

Shanahan marveled at the catch after the game, saying, “We hit that thing 85 percent of the time in practice and in games. But this was just an unbelievable catch.”

[Side note: 85 percent? No way.]

This a pro-Wilber-Marshall production, but check out his collision with future Pro Football Hall of Famer and long-time Oiler/Titan Bruce Matthews on the next drive:

It was one of the few moments where USC got the better of Marshall that day, and the junior linebacker exacted his revenge later on that drive with two sacks to force another USC punt. On the second sack, Marshall ran right through his blocker and chased Salisbury down for a big loss.

Pryor did his job again and pinned the Gators at their own 3-yard line with two minutes left in the half. Florida opened with a conservative run up the middle to Jones, and the clock bled down to 1:30 before the next snap. The ball was just shy of the 5-yard line, and Peace fired a pass to the left. Dixon beat the corner to the inside, caught the ball in stride at the 10-yard line and broke the safety’s tackle to sprint into the clear. He was slowed just enough to be caught by a man in pursuit, but the Trojans didn’t make the tackle until 48 yards later, and Pell, who had seemed content to take the 7-0 lead into the locker room, suddenly had options.

Two plays later, Peace hit wide receiver Tyrone Young on a similar route, and the drive continued inside of the USC 30-yard line. Jones caught a short pass and took it down to the USC 22-yard line on first down, and Southern Cal called a timeout with 44 seconds left in the first half.

On the next play, Jones lined up with his hand in the ground directly behind Peace. A draw play was nearly interrupted by the right defensive tackle who had blown by the left guard, but Jones slipped out and was nearly tripped up before scampering towards daylight. The record crowd at Florida Field entered into a state of pandemonium, and the Gators secured a 14-0 lead heading into the locker room.

HALFTIME: FLORIDA 14, USC 0

A promising opening drive for Salisbury and USC didn’t yield anything other than another punt from close to the UF 40-yard line. The Gators took over on their own 14-yard line, and just as the announcers were declaring that experience at the quarterback position had been the difference in the game, Peace pump-faked and threw an interception into the hands of USC defensive back Troy West. The Gators pushed him out of bounds at the UF 19-yard line, and Salisbury led the Trojans offense onto the field.

Things were looking good for USC until the first snap of the ball, when Wilber Marshall blitzed off of the left edge unchallenged and obliterated poor Sean Salisbury with a crushing blow. On the next play, Marshall was in the backfield before Salisbury could hand it off to the running back, and he made the tackle 2 yards behind the line of scrimmage. A free-blitzing Marshall hurried Salisbury on a third-down pass, which resulted in an incomplete pass.

Three plays, -10 yards. All at the hands of Wilber Marshall.

To put the cherry on top, USC kicker Steve Jordan missed the field goal attempt with a kick that went wide right, and the Gators didn’t pay a price for what could have been a critical turnover.

This is the type of day Florida Gators Ring of Honor member Wilber Marshall had that day against USC:

Best individual performance I’ve seen in person. He was unbelievable. I should know I felt it all day. Wilbur was special player

— Sean Salisbury (@SeanUnfiltered) July 8, 2020

On the following drive, Peace put the ball back in the hands of a Southern Cal defender after throwing toward the middle of the field while rolling to the right. USC took over on the UF 33-yard line. The scoreless Trojans managed to scrap their way to one first down, but Wilber Marshall still played football for the Gators, and Jordan redeemed himself with a successful 39-yard field goal attempt to cut the Florida lead to 14-3 with less than two minutes left in the third quarter.

Pell pulled Peace on the next series and gave senior quarterback Bob Hewko a shot. The offense tried to establish the ground game and drove into USC territory behind great runs by running back John L. Williams and Jones. Hewko dumped a short pass to Mularkey to get inside the Trojans’ 30-yard line. Hampton followed great blocking up the middle behind right guard Buddy Schultheis’ dominant block of USC defensive lineman George Achica to get into the red zone. The block was extra impressive considering Achica would go on to become a consensus first-team All-American in 1982.

Florida eventually settled for a short field goal from Gainey, and the Gators led 17-3 early in the fourth quarter. Cornerback Bruce Vaughn leaped and grabbed an interception on a long third down in what doubled as a makeshift punt to give the Gators the ball back on their own 24-yard line.

Peace entered back into the game, and Pell sought to bleed the clock. The offense managed to shave a little over three minutes off, and the Trojans took over on their own 34-yard line. On the first play of the drive, it appeared fullback John Kamana fumbled while fighting for more yards, but officials overturned a Florida recovery and gave the ball back to USC.

While the fans filled Florida Field with boos, Salisbury finally made a play and connected with an open wide receiver, Jeff Simmons, for a 34-yard gain down to the UF 27-yard line. Florida sophomore cornerback Ricky Easmon bit it on a stop-and-go route but recovered to make the tackle thanks to an underthrown ball that caused Simmons to slow down for the catch. On the next snap, vintage USC struck as running back Fred Crutcher outpaced a blitzing Marshall from the backside and went untouched behind great blocking for a 27-yard touchdown run. But the touchdown was overturned thanks to a holding penalty.

The momentum could’ve swung on this play, but Charley Pell had finally caught a break in a big game. USC seemed to find some confidence in their running game, but a complete lack of urgency allowed the clock to roll as the Trojans meandered their way down the field. Salisbury dropped back on 3rd & 5, and Marshall viciously swiped at his right arm to send the bail sailing forward into the arms of USC center Tony Slaton, who rumbled forward for 3 yards.

The lucky break set the Trojans up with a 4th & 2 on the UF 19-yard line. USC lined up with three tight ends and gambled with Salisbury’s life by dialing up a play action in which the young quarterback rolled to his left. The bet paid off, and tight end Pat McCool slipped by the coverage to catch a simple lob pass for USC’s first touchdown. Robinson decided to go for two (remember: no overtime, and ties were frowned upon for a national power like USC) and dialed up an open out route, but running back Michael Harper could not hold on. Florida led 17-9 with 6:25 remaining in the game.

A sure thing was suddenly in doubt. Pell stuck with Peace and ran it three times. The Gators could not pick up first-down yardage, and punter Ray Criswell sent it back to the Trojans with 4:54 left on the clock.

The confident Trojans took over at their own 38-yard line and opened with Salisbury’s best pass of the day: a strike over the middle on a crossing route to wide receiver Timmie Ware for a 19-yard completion. A well-executed “Student Body Left” allowed Harper to sprint down to the UF 31-yard line, but an illegal-use-of-hands penalty nullified the big run.

On the next play, the Trojans went for it. Florida only rushed three as Salisbury took a deep drop. The young quarterback paused briefly when he reached the end of his drop and rolled right before heaving the ball into the end zone. A deeper throw would’ve given his receiver a shot, but an underthrown ball with defensive backs Bruce Vaughan, Tony Lilly and Ivory Curry in coverage allowed the latter to put an end to the USC comeback attempt with a massive interception at the UF 2-yard line. Florida Field erupted.

Peace led the offense onto the field with just over three minutes remaining. Hampton bullied his way ahead for a 3-yard gain on first down, and for some reason, Shanahan called for a pass on second down. The pass attempt was Peace’s first since the last interception he had thrown earlier in the half. The clock stopped at 2:43. Pell called a timeout to talk it over.

On 3rd & 7 from their own 5-yard line, Peace dropped back and tried for Dixon along the sideline, but the wide out was forced out of bounds in order to make the catch.

Undoubtedly, the conservative drive earlier in the quarter had haunted the offensive selection on this drive. Three plays and just over 30 seconds gone from the clock. Criswell trotted out to punt from near the back line of the end zone.

A 39-yard kick gave the ball back to the Trojans with 2:29 left at the UF 44-yard line. The defense would have to come through one last time, but I’ll be damned if Charley Pell’s Gators didn’t find a way to make it interesting.

Kamana took a short pass down to the UF 35-yard line, but a penalty on second down pushed the Trojans back to the UF 40-yard line. Facing 2nd & 6, Salsbury dropped back and fired toward what he believed was an open receiver along the sideline, but the Gators’ zone coverage scheme had tricked the young quarterback, and defensive back Randy Clark collected the unit’s third interception of the day to shut down the USC threat.

Just to make it interesting for Pell, Clark fumbled the ball at the end of the run, but the Gators recovered with 1:33 left to play.

Hampton bulled his way up the middle, and as the clock dropped to under a minute, Florida fans broke out in a chorus of “Na-na-na-na, hey, hey, hey, goodbye.”

Surely, Mike Shanahan and the offense wouldn’t mismanage another drive to melt the clock. Well, Mike Shanahan and the offense mismanaged another drive to melt the clock. And don’t call him Shirley.

A sweep play on second down pushed Williams toward the sideline, and a tackle carried him out of bounds to stop the clock with 35 seconds left as an electric crowd, blissfully unaware of the critical mistake, began to chant, “It’s great…to be…a Florida Gator!”

Williams cut a sweep to the right and back to the middle for a couple of yards. Then USC called a timeout with 27 seconds left as Criswell came out to punt near midfield. A max protection scheme kept the all-out punt block attempt at bay, and the high-hanging punt was caught at the USC 20-yard line with 21 seconds to play.

While color commentator Frank Broyles was singing the praises of the Florida coaching staff, Salisbury rolled left and drilled wide receiver Timmie White in stride over the middle. White bolted toward the sideline and looked like he might get the edge and race toward an improbable last-second touchdown, but Wilber Marshall’s angle of pursuit headed him just inside the UF 40-yard line, forcing White to cut inside, where a host of Gators brought him down at the UF 37-yard line. A personal foul for a late hit was tacked on at the end of the play, and USC advanced to the UF 22-yard line with 10 seconds left in the game.

An illegal procedure penalty pushed USC back 5 yards and knocked seven seconds off of the clock. The Trojans were forced to rush to get up under center since the clock would start on the whistle, but Florida jumped offsides. USC would advance forward 5 yards and have one shot at the end zone with one second left on the clock from the UF 22-yard line.

What if I told you that Wilber Marshall blitzed off the edge, wrecked fullback John Kamana’s attempt at a block and stripped Salisbury to end the game?

It was Charley Pell’s finest moment as the head coach of the Florida Gators.

“One of the greatest wins in the University of Florida Gator football history,” bellowed Keith Jackson as Pell broke into a sprint toward the south end zone with both arms raised in celebration as “The Orange and Blue” fight song blared in the background.

The sheer joy of Pell’s jaunt is the picture of what makes college football the greatest sport in America.

Pell ended up coming back onto the field and took a victory lap that day.

He earned it.

The next week, the Florida Gators would be ranked in the Top Five for the first time since 1968 (second time in school history), and on this day in 1982, one could argue that the first bricks that built the modern-day Florida football program were laid.

“I thought that was the slowest dadgum clock in America in the second half,” Pell said after the game. “I thought they’d put sand in it.”

“Number 88 [Marshall] is an All-American if there ever was one,” said USC guard Bruce Matthews. “And basically, they outplayed us. They were a little sharper. A little quicker. Their defensive pursuit is something else.

“Florida’s a damn good team. They were sending their outside linebackers and just out-executing us. Their techniques won the game. We know we can play. We’ll show people something this year. They’ll see that Florida must be a good team because they beat a good team.”

Matthews was right. USC would rip off five straight wins and end the season with three competitive losses (all to teams ranked No. 11 or higher). The Trojans did not go bowling, however, since the program was in the midst of a two-year bowl ban handed down from the NCAA in March of 1982 thanks to two main causes: ticket scalping on behalf of the players by assistant coach Marv Goux and players being given credit for classes they did not attend.

“This team is not as good as it is going to be,” Robinson said. “It was as good as it needed to be. And unfortunately, the Florida Gators were just as good as we feared they’d be.”

“The 12th man out there did their part,” Pell said of the record 73,238 in attendance. “It was a salute to the fans—the 12th man. They haven’t seen a Florida team reach that high as long as they’ve been here.

“It’s another big win,” Pell said, “Bigger than last week even, because it represented another step for our team.”

September 25, 1982
Florida Field (Gainesville, FL)

Unbeaten Mississippi State, coming off of back-to-back bowl bids and winning two of the last three games against the Gators, visited next. The Bulldogs had not won in Gainesville since 1965, and No. 5 Florida would extend that tradition for another year behind an impressive rushing attack and a ferocious defense that kept MSU out of the end zone until the fourth quarter.

It took a while for the offense to show up on this rain-soaked Saturday in September. Mississippi State got on the board first with a 37-yard field goal from kicker Dana Moore with 1:56 left in the first quarter.

The Gators struggled throughout the first half and went into the locker room facing a 3-0 deficit, having only gained 56 yards on the ground and 57 yards through the air.

Florida finally found its rhythm in an early third-quarter drive. Strong running from running back John L. Williams and fullback James Jones drove the Gators into the MSU red zone. On 3rd & 2 from the 20-yard line, quarterback Wayne Peace took off on an option to the left, broke a tackle, regained his footing and continued forward until the ball was knocked out at the MSU 13-yard line. A mad scramble for the fumble ensued, and the Bulldogs came up with the football around their own 10-yard line.

The Florida defense forced a three-and-out, and a short punt gave the Gators the ball back inside MSU territory. Shanahan wasted no time and dialed up a long ball to wide receiver Spencer Jackson that resulted in a defensive pass interference penalty.

A steady diet of Williams and Jones brought Florida down into striking distance, and with 4:56 left in the third quarter, the Gators got on the board when Williams splashed his way through the puddle-soaked artificial turf for his first career touchdown from 3 yards out.

Marshall and the defense continued to stifle State, and the Gators took a 7-3 lead into a fourth quarter that would become the Lorenzo Hampton Show.

Hampton had contributed early in his career, but many expected more from the talented sophomore running back out of Lake Wales. Heading into the season, he had been one of eight athletes accused of fraud in making long-distance telephone calls and charging them to the athletic department. Some felt he needed an extra sense of urgency, and hard-charging freshman backup running back John L. Williams couldn’t help but to oblige.

“Lorenzo runs hard in practice,” junior linebacker Wilber Marshall said. “We knew he had the talent. He just hadn’t showed it in games. Well, John L. Williams pushed him enough so that he had to show it.”

Hampton agreed: Williams “made me try harder when I got back into the game. I knew, then, I had to put all the telephone stuff out of my mind and concentrate on football.”

CREDIT: Clip pulled from [https://youtu.be/sJUQOOnMdgw]

A 44-yard bomb from Peace to wide receiver Gary Rolle, a transfer from Army, had the Gators in business at the MSU 32-yard line. Wide receiver Tyrone Young made an appearance on a reverse, and a quick pass to Williams and an 11-yard burst by Hampton moved Florida down to the MSU 3-yard line. The 12-play, 87-yard drive was capped off two plays later when Hampton soared above the line of scrimmage and into the end zone to put Florida up 14-3.

Marshall flashed on the kickoff and decked the return man shortly before disrupting a reverse attempt in the backfield, causing a fumble and then recovering it. Wilber Marshall highlights are good for the soul.

A Hampton reception followed by a Hampton sprint down toward the goal line followed by another Hampton flight—similar to his previous attempt—into the end zone from 2 yards out put the Gators up 20-3. Kicker Jim Gainey slipped when he planted and missed the extra point to the right.

Mississippi State’s dormant offense awoke on the next drive. Quarterback John Bond completed a four-play, 70-yard scoring drive with a 44-yard touchdown to wide receiver Danny Knight. All three passes on the drive went to Knight, and the perfect scoring pass was delivered just over the outstretched arm of defensive back Vito McKeever with Marshall bearing down on Bond. Check out the punishing hit unleashed by Marshall on the replay from the end zone angle:

Florida needed a play to put the game away, and Pell went back to the well by dialing up another dose of Hampton. The running back had never run over 14 yards up to this point in his career, so the next play caught Florida Field off-guard. Hampton took the handoff out of an I-formation and followed one helluva push by the left side of the offensive line and James Jones. He swung to the outside, shook off a tackle around the 40-yard line, recovered and raced down the sidelines before breaking another tackle around the UF 30-yard line on his way to a 69-yard touchdown run that put the Gators up 27-10 with a little more than seven minutes to go.

“My goal was just to get four yards and a first down,” Hampton said to Bob Fowler of the Orlando Sentinel. “But I got a good block from Dan Fike to get outside. Then I got good blocks downfield from Bee Lang and Spencer Jackson, and I was gone.”

A reporter joked to Hampton, “You weren’t known for long distance.”

Hampton laughed and said, “I feel after this game that I can forget about that telephone stuff. I think I now can concentrate on football all the time when I’m on the field.”

In another chapter of Pell not winning easily, the defense surrendered an 80-yard touchdown when Knight broke a tackle after a catch and took it to the house to cut the lead to 27-17 with two minutes remaining. UF punter Ray Criswell dropped the snap deep in Florida territory, and Mississippi State had another crack at the end zone from inside the UF 10-yard line. The defense held up, though Bond missed a couple chances to score, and the Florida offense took the field to run out the clock, securing a 27-17 victory for the Gators.

“I’m proud that the team came back in the second half,” Pell said. “It wasn’t a great game, but we won.

“We thought we could be 3-0, but we knew it would be a monumental task. Well, we’re 3-0 now. And we all know it wasn’t easy.”

October 2, 1982
Florida Field (Gainesville, FL)

The 3-0 Gators ascended to the No. 4 ranking—the highest at this point in school history—and folks in Orange and Blue were starting to believe 1982 might become the much-prophesied “Year of the Gator.”

Jerry Stovall’s Tigers marched into Florida Field with two blowout wins under their belt against Oregon State and Rice.

“Football is a simple game,” Charley Pell said after the game. “You come down to your basic tackling and blocking. LSU blocked better than we did today, tackled better than we did today, and they deserved to win.”

On the first play from scrimmage, running back Lorenzo Hampton picked up where he left off with a 27-yard run into LSU territory.

The Gators would stall out in field goal range and settle for a Jim Gainey three-pointer for an early 3-0 lead.

“Maybe that first drive was too easy,” tight end Mike Mularkey said. “Maybe we thought we could handle them after that. We didn’t. We never got it back again.”

Pell would flip between quarterbacks Wayne Peace and Bob Hewko, but the duo only managed 182 yards combined through the air. The Florida ground game eked out just over 100 yards on 31 carries—a far cry from their dominant effort against Mississippi State the week prior. “We didn’t get the blocking. The line just didn’t block,” said senior fullback James Jones.

The Florida defense showed up in the second half, but only after being battered for 24 points. LSU freshman running back Dalton Hilliard capped a seven-play scoring drive with an 11-yard run off of the right tackle to put the Tigers up 7-3 after their first drive.

Tigers kicker Juan Betanzos booted a 21-yard field goal near the end of the first quarter to extend the lead. Early in the second quarter, Pell decided to roll the dice and go for a 4th & inches at the UF 45-yard line. LSU linebacker Al Richardson blew up the play in the backfield, and Hampton was short of the first down. Pell would later concede that it was probably not the right call, but he felt the team needed a jolt, and after what he saw in the first three games, it’s hard to blame him for trusting his guys. Three plays later, Tigers quarterback Alan Risher dumped a screen off to Hilliard, who broke off a 41-yard touchdown run thanks to poor tackling.

A short time later, LSU had the ball back on its own 2-yard line when Risher fumbled the snap. The ball rolled to the back of the end zone, and Risher fell on it for a Gators safety, cutting LSU’s lead to 17-5. Peace was intercepted on the next possession by Tigers safety James Britt, and Risher led the Tigers on a six-play, 27-yard touchdown drive that culminated in a 3-yard pass to Hilliard. LSU had rolled up 241 yards against a stubborn Gators defense in the first half and would take a 24-5 lead into the locker room.

Both teams were scoreless throughout the second half until Florida added a meaningless touchdown late in the game. Peace led a 51-yard drive, and Murlarkey hauled in a 5-yard touchdown pass plus a two-pointer with 1:51 left in the game. LSU would close it out and take a 24-13 victory back to Baton Rouge.

“We knew we could beat ’em. We practiced so unreal this week that I was so tired after practice, I was asleep the second my head hit the pillow,” said LSU offensive tackle Clint Berry. “I figured they were looking ahead of us and worrying about Georgia. The way I look at it, we were ready to play. We just went and did what we were supposed to do—knock ’em off and ball.”

“We were just playing our heads off. We limited so many things they could do. We played superior defense—that’s all I can say,” Tigers defensive tackle Leonard Marshall boasted. He even went on to say that the sign in the end zone that said “This field is under Marshall Law” should represent him, not Wilber Marshall.

“I’m not proud of me today,” Pell said. “I’m not proud of our team today. I’m not proud of our staff today.”

LSU went on to an 8-3-1 record and Orange Bowl loss to Nebraska.

October 9, 1982
Florida Field (Gainesville, FL)

“It’s just a colossal win for us,” said Vanderbilt head coach George MacIntyre. “Florida is the best team we’ve played.”

“Vanderbilt played an outstanding football game,” Charley Pell said. “They deserve all the credit in the world. Particularly White Taylor. Defensively, they came up with the big plays when they really needed them.”

Both teams left the field with the same 3-2 record, but the moods in the locker rooms were worlds apart.

The 1982 Vandy team went on to finish the season 8-4 and earn a bid to the Hall of Fame Bowl. The school’s next bowl bid wouldn’t come until 2008. The 1982 victory was one of just 10 in series history, and since 1982, the Commodores have only beaten the Gators twice in 31 meetings: in 1988 and 2013.

October 16, 1982
Florida Field (Gainesville, FL)

If any team needed a “get right” game, it was the 1982 Florida Gators heading into their cakewalk homecoming game against the West Texas A&M Buffaloes. Several records were shattered in Gainesville as the Gators scored 77 points.

Mark Johnson of the St. Petersburg Times laid it out clearly:

• “The Gators’ 783 yards of offense broke a team record that had stood since 1928 when Florida gained 651 yards against Mercer.
• 380 yards passing (in 25 attempts, with 15.2 yards per attempt) beat out UF QB John Reaves’ 369-yard passing day against Auburn in 1969.
• 77 points was the most by a Florida team since a 77-0 shutout of Rollins in 1924.
• Both teams combined for 1,227 total yards, which was the highest combined offensive output between the Gators and their opponent in UF school history.
• QB Wayne Peace (JR) tossed for 289 yards in the first half to become the third quarterback in Gator football history to reach the 4,000-yard milestone for a career.
• 64 Gators played in this game. “It was good we could play so many people,” Pell said without a trace of emotion. “We haven’t been able to do that this year, and that hurt us. It really hurt our team’s ability to improve.”

Strangely enough, West Texas A&M took early leads of 7-0 and 14-7. The first quarter was 48 minutes long and featured four onside kicks, 35 total points, 357 yards of total offense and a five-minute delay to catch an elusive dog that had run onto the field.

The Gators scored on their first 10 possessions and did not punt in the game. The two possessions that did not end in scores ended with fumbles. “We don’t feel like we were letting out our frustrations,” fullback James Jones said after the game. “What we wanted to do is completely dominate the game. We’re not frustrated at all.”

“It was a win—that was the main thing,” Peace said. “I think we pleased our fans. We kind of got them back on our side. And a lot of guys got a chance to play. I don’t think there was any big thing, but a lot of little things make it an important game.”

If there ever was a six-game stretch to capture the Charley Pell era, it was the first six games of the 1982 season. Intense highs, maddening lows and everything in between. Florida bounced back in a big way, and the Gators were ready for back-to-back battles against Bo Jackson of Auburn and Herschel Walker of Georgia.