1-2 Again: History Says It’s Not Always Disaster for Gators
Following its loss to No. 3 LSU Saturday, Florida football is 1-2 for the second season in a row. This marks the 15th time that Florida has started 1-2 since its first season in 1906.
For that matter, six out of the 14 times, the Gators have ended with a record above .500. Additionally, three of the 14 seasons concluded with bowl game wins.
After starting 1-2, and eventually 4-5, Florida’s 2024 season was defined by back-to-back upsets of ranked SEC opponents, LSU and Ole Miss, late in the year. The Gators ended the regular season 7-5 and earned their first bowl game win in five years, beating Tulane 33-8 in the Gasparilla Bowl.
Before last year, though, the last time that the Gators started 1-2 was in 1992. It was Steve Spurrier’s third season as head coach. And similar to this year, most fans didn’t expect the poor start. The season before was Florida’s first 10-win campaign in program history.
But 1992 team shifted momentum, led by quarterback Shane Matthews, winning seven games in a row before losing to Florida State in the last game of the regular season to fall to an 8-3 record. Florida also made an appearance in the inaugural SEC Championship that year, losing 28-21 to Alabama, before toppling North Carolina State 27-10 in the Gator Bowl.
Starting 1-2 is not the only commonality between the 1992 and 2025 season. Before quarterback DJ Lagway’s performance against LSU Saturday, the 1992 season marks the last time a Florida signal caller threw five interceptions in a game. Matthews, who would finish fifth-place in Heisman voting, threw five picks in the 1992 team’s second loss against Mississippi State.
The Gators hope to shift the momentum Saturday against No. 4 Miami at Hard Rock Stadium at 7:30 p.m. The last time these teams played against each other was in the 2024 season opener, with the Hurricanes beating the Gators 41-17.
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