2002 Florida Gators football team

The 2002 Florida Gators football team represented the University of Florida in the sport of American football during the 2002 college football season. The Gators competed in Division I-A of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC), and played their home games at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on the university's Gainesville, Florida campus. They were led by first-year head coach Ron Zook, who coached them to a second-place finish in the SEC East, an Outback Bowl berth, and an overall record of 8–5 (.615).

2002 Florida Gators football
Outback Bowl, L 30–38 vs. Michigan
Conference	Southeastern Conference
Division	Eastern Division
Ranking
Coaches	No. 24
Record	8–5 (6–2 SEC)
Head coach	Ron Zook (1st season)
Offensive coordinator	Ed Zaunbrecher (1st season)
Offensive scheme	Spread
Defensive coordinator	John Thompson (1st season)
Base defense	Multiple
Captain	Earnest Graham Rex Grossman Byron Hardmon Taylor Jacobs Todd Johnson
Home stadium	Ben Hill Griffin Stadium (Capacity: 83,000)^[1]
Seasons ← 2001 2003 →

2002 Southeastern Conference football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
Eastern Division
No. 3 Georgia x$		7	–	1					13	–	1
Florida		6	–	2					8	–	5
Tennessee		5	–	3					8	–	5
Kentucky		3	–	5					7	–	5
South Carolina		3	–	5					5	–	7
Vanderbilt		0	–	8					2	–	10
Western Division
No. 11 Alabama		6	–	2					10	–	3
Arkansas xy		5	–	3					9	–	5
No. 14 Auburn x		5	–	3					9	–	4
LSU x		5	–	3					8	–	5
Ole Miss		3	–	5					7	–	6
Mississippi State		0	–	8					3	–	9
Championship: Georgia 30, Arkansas 3
$ – BCS representative as conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant Alabama had the best division record, but did not participate in postseason play due to NCAA probation. Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 31	7:00 p.m.	UAB*	No. 6	Ben Hill Griffin Stadium Gainesville, FL	PPV	W 51–3	85,575
September 7	5:15 p.m.	No. 1 Miami (FL)*	No. 6	Ben Hill Griffin Stadium Gainesville, FL (rivalry / College GameDay)	CBS	L 16–41	85,777
September 14	6:00 p.m.	Ohio*	No. 12	Ben Hill Griffin Stadium Gainesville, FL	PPV	W 34–6	84,002
September 21	3:30 p.m.	at No. 4 Tennessee	No. 10	Neyland Stadium Knoxville, TN (rivalry / College GameDay)	CBS	W 30–13	108,722
September 28	3:30 p.m.	Kentucky	No. 7	Ben Hill Griffin Stadium Gainesville, FL (rivalry)	CBS	W 41–34	85,333
October 5	12:00 p.m.	at Ole Miss	No. 6	Vaught–Hemingway Stadium Oxford, MS	CBS	L 14–17	61,140
October 12	7:45 p.m.	No. 18 LSU	No. 16	Ben Hill Griffin Stadium Gainesville, FL (rivalry)	ESPN	L 7–36	85,252
October 19	6:45 p.m.	Auburn		Ben Hill Griffin Stadium Gainesville, FL (rivalry)	ESPN	W 30–23 ^OT	85,135
November 2	7:45 p.m.	vs. No. 5 Georgia		Alltel Stadium Jacksonville, FL (rivalry / College GameDay)	ESPN	W 20–13	84,433
November 9	2:00 p.m.	at Vanderbilt	No. 23	Vanderbilt Stadium Nashville, TN	PPV	W 21–17	28,881
November 16	6:00 p.m.	South Carolina	No. 20	Ben Hill Griffin Stadium Gainesville, FL	ESPN	W 28–7	85,222
November 30	8:00 p.m.	at No. 23 Florida State*	No. 15	Doak Campbell Stadium Tallahassee, FL (rivalry)	ABC	L 14–31	83,938
January 1, 2003	11:00 a.m.	vs. No. 12 Michigan*	No. 15	Raymond James Stadium Tampa, FL (Outback Bowl)	ESPN	L 30–38	65,101
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

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Roster

2002 Florida Gators football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class WR 2 Kelvin Kight Jr RB 5 Earnest Graham Sr WR 6 Taylor Jacobs Sr QB 8 Rex Grossman Sr QB 10 Ingle Martin Fr WR 11 O. J. Small So OL 54 David Jorgensen Sr G 75 Shannon Snell Jr TE 82 Aaron Walker Sr	Defense Pos. # Name Class CB 1 Keiwan Ratliff Jr LB 42 Byron Hardmon Sr LB 59 Mike Nattiel Sr DE 86 Darrell Lee Jr DT 98 Tron LaFavor Sr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K Matt Leach	Head coach Ron Zook Coordinators/assistant coaches Ed Zaunbrecher- Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks John Thompson – Defensive Coordinator Mike Woodford – Defense Jerry "Red" Anderson – Defensive Joe Wickline – Offensive Line Dwayne Dixon – Wide Receivers Larry Fedora – Running Backs Jerry Odom – Inside Linebackers Tyke Tolbert – Tight Ends/Recruiting Coordinator Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible   Injured   Redshirt Roster

Game summaries

UAB

Miami (FL)

Ohio

At Tennessee

Florida Gators (2–1) at Tennessee Volunteers (1–1)

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
Florida	0	24	0	6	30
Tennessee	0	0	13	0	13

at Neyland Stadium, Knoxville, Tennessee

• Date: September 21
• Game time: 3:30 p.m. EST
• Game weather: Light rain, 71 °F (22 °C)
• Game attendance: 108,722
• Referee: Rogers Redding
• TV: CBS
• Box Score

Game information

First quarter No scoring Second quarter FLA – Earnest Graham 1-yard run (Matt Leach kick), 4:55. Florida 7–0. Drive: 9 plays, 84 yards, 3:20. FLA – Carlos Perez 28-yard pass from Rex Grossman (Matt Leach kick), 3:40. Florida 14–0. Drive: 3 plays, 24 yards, 1:12. FLA – Taylor Jacobs 7-yard pass from Rex Grossman (Matt Leach kick), 0:35. Florida 21–0. Drive: 6 plays, 62 yards, 0:52. FLA – Matt Leach 41-yard field goal, 0:00. Florida 24–0. Drive: 1 play, 0 yards, 0:02. Third quarter TENN – Derrick Tinsley 15-yard pass from Casey Clausen (Alex Walls kick), 9:51. Florida 24–7. Drive: 7 plays, 59 yards, 2:28. TENN – Jabari Davis 1-yard run (kick failed), 0:28. Florida 24–13. Drive: 14 plays, 64 yards, 6:27. Fourth quarter FLA – Taylor Jacobs 21-yard pass from Rex Grossman (kick failed), 10:49. Florida 30–13. Drive: 11 plays, 80 yards, 4:32. Top passers FLA – Rex Grossman – 20/34, 324 yards, 3 TD, 2 INT TENN – Casey Clausen – 30/44, 285 yards, TD Top rushers FLA – Ran Carthon – 9 rushes, 51 yards TENN – Troy Fleming – 9 rushes, 42 yards Top receivers FLA – Taylor Jacobs – 9 receptions, 141 yards, 2 TD TENN – Kelley Washington – 7 receptions, 102 yards

Kentucky

1 2 3 4 Total Kentucky 0 0 28 6 34 • Florida 6 13 13 9 41 Date: September 28 Location: Ben Hill Griffin Stadium Game start: 3:30 p.m. Elapsed time: 3:38 Game attendance: 85,333 Game weather: Sunny; 86 °F (30 °C); wind 9 mph (14 km/h) W Referee: Steve Shaw

Scoring summary Q1 2:08 FLA Graham 1-yard run (kick blocked) FLA 6–0 Q2 11:55 FLA Carthon 19-yard run (pass failed) FLA 12–0 Q2 2:54 FLA Carthon 6-yard run (Leach kick) FLA 19–0 Q3 11:05 UK Abney 14-yard pass from Lorenzen (Begley kick) FLA 19–7 Q3 7:21 FLA Jacobs 4-yard pass from Grossman (kick blocked) FLA 25–7 Q3 6:59 UK Abney 100-yard kickoff return (Begley kick) FLA 25–14 Q3 3:21 UK Pinner 1-yard run (Begley kick) FLA 25–21 Q3 3:03 UK Boone 39-yard pass from Lorenzen (Begley kick) UK 28–25 Q3 0:18 FLA Jacobs 35-yard pass from Grossman (Leach kick) FLA 32–28 Q4 9:25 FLA Ratliff 62-yard interception return (Leach kick) FLA 39–28 Q4 5:24 UK Abney 49-yard punt return (pass failed) FLA 39–34 Q4 5:24 FLA Ratliff PAT return FLA 41–34

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At Ole Miss

LSU

Auburn

Vs. Georgia

1 2 3 4 Total • Florida 0 12 0 8 20 Georgia 7 6 0 0 13 Date: Saturday, November 2 Location: Alltel Stadium, Jacksonville, Florida Game start: 7:45 p.m. Elapsed time: 3:25 Game attendance: 84,433 Game weather: Clear, 58 °F (14 °C) Referee: Penn Wagers Television network: ESPN

Scoring summary 1 6:59 UGA J.T. Wall 10-yard pass from David Greene (Billy Bennett kick) (3-48, 0:49) UGA 7-0 2 9:39 FLA Aaron Walker 5-yard pass from Rex Grossman (Brendt Talcott kick failed) (13-58, 5:21) UGA 7-6 2 3:56 FLA Guss Scott 47-yard interception return (pass failed) FLA 12-6 2 1:20 UGA Billy Bennett 47-yard field goal (8-48, 2:36) FLA 12-10 2 0:03 UGA Billy Bennett 25-yard field goal (4-(-2), 1:08) UGA 13-12 4 11:32 FLA Ben Troupe 10-yard pass from Rex Grossman (Grossman run) (10-89, 3:49) FLA 20-13

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At Vanderbilt

South Carolina

At Florida State

Outback Bowl (vs. Michigan)

References

1. University of Florida Sports Information Department. "Florida 2002 Media Guide" (PDF). floridagators.com. University Athletic Association, Inc. Retrieved March 15, 2018.
2. 2012 Florida Football Media Guide May 27, 2013, at the Wayback Machine, University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida, pp. 113 & 116 (2012). Retrieved September 16, 2012.
3. GatorZone.com, Football, History, Florida Football 20032 September 15, 2011, at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved November 25, 2011.
4. GatorZone.com 2015-09-24 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2015-Sep-06.
5. "Gators Upend No. 5 Georgia, 20-13". Gatorzone.com. Retrieved 02-May-2012.

Bibliography

• 2009 Southeastern Conference Football Media Guide, Florida Year-by-Year Records, Southeastern Conference, Birmingham, Alabama, p. 60 (2009).
• , University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida, pp. 107–116 (2012).
• Carlson, Norm, University of Florida Football Vault: The History of the Florida Gators, Whitman Publishing, LLC, Atlanta, Georgia (2007). ISBN 0-7948-2298-3.
• Golenbock, Peter, Go Gators! An Oral History of Florida's Pursuit of Gridiron Glory, Legends Publishing, LLC, St. Petersburg, Florida (2002). ISBN 0-9650782-1-3.
• Hairston, Jack, Tales from the Gator Swamp: A Collection of the Greatest Gator Stories Ever Told, Sports Publishing, LLC, Champaign, Illinois (2002). ISBN 1-58261-514-4.