1911 Florida Gators football team

American college football season February 2026 August 2023 1911 Florida Gators football 1911gators.jpg 285 Independent 5–0–1 2–0–1 George E. Pyle 3rd Neal Storter University Athletic Field 1910 The 1911 Florida Gators football team represented the University of Florida during the 1911 college football season. It was the sixth season of varsity football at the school and George Pyle's third as head coach of the Florida Gators football team. Pyle's squad finished 5–0–1 for the first undefeated season in program history. The six game schedule saw Florida play four opponents from South Carolina, including back to back road games against the Clemson Tigers and South Carolina Gamecocks. The Gators earned a tie with the Tigers and a win over the Gamecocks, a victory that has been called the program's first road win against a quality opponent. Besides the historically successful record, the 1911 season saw two significant milestones for the program. For one, the school officially adopted "Gators" as its mascot, initially for the football team but soon applying to all sports. Earlier Florida squads had been referred to as "the Orange and Blue" or simply "Florida". 1911 also saw the football debut of the young school's first on-campus sports facility at University Athletic Field, which consisted of low bleachers on a cleared field along University Avenue, just west of the existing campus. Florida's baseball team first played at the new facility in the spring of 1911, and the football team scheduled two home games there in the fall. Previously, the football and baseball programs had played their home games either at a municipal park in downtown Gainesville or at larger facilities out of town.Awbrey Fred Fleming Field: Gainesville's forgotten sports venue https://www.gainesville.com/opinion/20170908/fleming-field-gainesvilles-forgotten-sports-venue March 12, 2021 Gainesville Sun September 8, 2017 en Origins of the nickname thumb|left|A cartoon showing the Gators eating all of their opponents The 1911 Florida football team was the first to officially use the "Gators" nickname, though the exact timing and rationale behind the choice is unclear. The squad was captained by Neal "BoGator" Storter, and according to university lore and former UF historian Carl Van Ness, the team simply adopted his nickname.Florida: News for Alumni and Friends of the University of Florida The Cannon Incident of 1909 Carl Van Ness 2006 7 http://ufdc.ufl.edu/UF00073685/00011/7j?search=%22neal+storter%22https://books.google.com/books?id=AaVuAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA33 33. How the Gators Got Their Name Pat Dooley 100 Things Florida Fans Should Know & do Before They die 33 9781623682934 2013-09-01 However, Storter himself denied the story and stated the mascot originated when a reporter for the Macon Telegraph wrote "Macon to be invaded by a bunch of alligators" before Florida arrived in town to play the Mercer Bears in 1910.http://www.alligator.org/app/pt2/060201hundred.php Good Ol' Boys Olivia Ormos February 1, 2006 July 9, 2016 October 2, 2018 https://web.archive.org/web/20181002012244/http://www.alligator.org/app/pt2/060201hundred.php dead Alternatively, the university's official athletics website says that the nickname had originated in 1908, when a local Gainesville merchant ordered school pennants to sell at his store and thought that the reptile made a suitable mascot since "no other school had adopted it and because the alligator was native to the state".The Birth of a Nickname https://floridagators.com/sports/2015/12/10/_overview_p_name.aspx Florida Gators University of Florida Athletic Association en The choice proved popular enough that the school officially adopted the mascot a few years later, perhaps at least partially due to the football captain's similar nickname. Schedule October 7 w The Citadel University Field Gainesville, FL 15–3 October 21 t y South Carolina Davis Field Columbia, SC 6–6 October 25 4:10 p.m. w y Clemson Bowman Field Calhoun, SC 6–5 November 4 w Columbia College University Field Gainesville, FL 9–0 November 11 w y Stetson DeLand, FL 27–0 1,500 November 30 w y 1911 College of Charleston Maroons College of Charleston Jacksonville, FL 21–0 2015 Florida Gators Football Media Guide https://web.archive.org/web/20151208143532/http://web.gatorzone.com/football/media/2015/media_guide.pdf 2015-12-08 , University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida, p. 107 (2015). Retrieved August 16, 2015. Game summaries The Citadel The season opened with a 15–3 victory over The Citadel Bulldogs at the first football game played at University Athletic Field.Florida Historical Markers Programs - Marker: Alachua South Carolina Florida at South Carolina Florida S. Carolina 6 0 0 0 0 6 0 0 October 21 Davis Field • Columbia, SC Sources: In the second week of play, Florida fought the South Carolina Gamecocks to a 6–6 tie. Earle Taylor scored in the first quarter and the Gamecocks matched in the second.http://web.uflib.ufl.edu/spec/archome/1911.htm 1911 The starting lineup was Swanson (left end), Coarsey (left tackle), Lawler (left guard), Storter (center), Hancock (right guard), Bullock (right tackle), Buie (right end), Shackleford (quarterback), Davis (left halfback), Taylor (right halfback), Tenney (fullback).https://www.newspapers.com/clip/5862954/the_evening_chronicle/ 9 October 21, 1911 The Evening Chronicle July 12, 2016 Newspapers.com Florida Meets South Carolina Clemson Florida at Clemson Florida Clemson 0 0 0 6 5 0 0 0 October 25 4:10 p. m. Bowman FieldCalhoun, SC Captain Hill (Georgia Tech) Sources: Florida upset the Clemson Tigers by a single point, 6–5, in the two school's first-ever meeting. "The game as a whole, was a poor exhibition of football."The Tiger http://tigerprints.clemson.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1075&context=tiger_newspaper October 28, 1911 3 7 2 Florida-Clemson game Clemson scored in the first six minutes when Webb took it over. Towards the end of the fourth quarter, the Gators' Dummy Taylor picked up a fumble and ran 45 yards for a touchdown, and then kicked the extra point to win. Norm Carlson called it "Florida's first road win against a quality college opponent."Carlson 2007 17 On the winning extra point, the holder Sam Buie recalled "Doc Walker of Jacksonville bet Captain Hill of Georgia Tech, the referee, that Dummy would make it. They bet, and Dummy kicked it."Carlson 2007 14 "It was on the South Carolina trip that the Florida team was dubbed the ‘Alligators,’ and the battle that took place . . .between the Clemson Tigers and the Florida Alligators is one long to be remembered!" declared the Florida Pennant. The starting lineup was Bonus (left end), Bullock (left tackle), Wilson (left guard), Storter (center), Baker (right guard), Hancock (right tackle), Buie (right end), Shackleford (quarterback), Davis (left halfback), Taylor (right halfback), Tenney (fullback). Columbia College Florida beat Columbia College 9–0. Taylor kicked three field goals.https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ERssAAAAIBAJ&pg=969,6208998 Times Daily - Google News Archive SearchMcEwen 1974 46 The starting lineup was Buie (left end), Hancock (left tackle), Wilson (left guard), Storter (center), Aker (right guard), Coarsey (right tackle), Swanson (right end), Shackleford (quarterback), Gavis (left halfback), Taylor (right halfback), Tenney (fullback).https://www.newspapers.com/clip/5862944/the_charlotte_news/ 13 November 3, 1911 The Charlotte News July 12, 2016 Newspapers.com Columbia College Meets Florida U. Stetson Florida at Stetson Florida Stetson 0 9 9 8 0 0 0 0 November 11 DeLand, FL 1,500 Sources: Florida beat Stetson 26–0. The Stetson Weekly Collegiate called it "the greatest football game ever played in the state of Florida."http://digitalcollections.net.ucf.edu/cdm/ref/collection/CFM/id/84465 Stetson Weekly Collegiate, Vol. 24, No. 05, November 16, 1911 :: Central Florida Memory Taylor drop kicked a 45-yard field goal and ran for two touchdowns.Carlson 2007 12 The starting lineup was Swanson (left end), Coarsey (left tackle), Baker (left guard), Storter (center), Wilson (right guard), Bullock (right tackle), Buie (right end), Shackleford (quarterback), Tenney (left halfback), Taylor (right halfback), Pound (fullback). Charleston Florida closed the season with a 21–0 defeat of Charleston. "Florida should have made at least three more touchdowns."https://www.newspapers.com/clip/5862927/the_atlanta_constitution/ 8 December 1, 1911 Florida 21, Charleston 0 The Atlanta Constitution July 12, 2016 Newspapers.com Postseason Due to their 3–0–1 record against opponents from the state, the Gators proclaimed themselves to be "champions of South Carolina" as well as Florida.The Seminole, 1912 approx p. 86 Earle "Dummy" Taylor, the only five-letter winner in team history,http://www.sptimes.com/2006/08/27/Sports/100_things_about_100_.shtml Sports: 100 things about 100 years of Gator football dead https://web.archive.org/web/20160904141255/http://www.sptimes.com/2006/08/27/Sports/100_things_about_100_.shtml 2016-09-04 scored 49 of the season's 84 points (including a school-record eight field goals).https://jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/090106/col_4769028.shtml 10 top 10 lists The Times-Union September 1, 2006 April 17, 2015 He scored 25 points on the ground and points-after, and 24 on field goals. He also threw two touchdown passes.http://www.college-basketball-tickets.net/florida_gators/history.htm Florida Gators History dead https://web.archive.org/web/20060102133940/http://www.college-basketball-tickets.net/florida_gators/history.htm 2006-01-02 Personnel thumb|Team captain Neal "BoGator" Storter Linemen Florida Gators Player Position Gamesstarted High school Height Weight AgeA. A. BakerGuard3 175J. R. BullockTackle 3 160Sam BuieEnd 4 124 Jim Coarsey Guard 3 170Neal StorterCenter 4 5'11"17021Joe SwansonEnd 3 R. B. WilsonGuard3 Backfield Florida Gators Player Position Gamesstarted High school Height Weight AgeF. G. DavisFullback 3 Bob ShacklefordQuarterback 4 Dummy TaylorHalfback 4 16520Louis E. TenneyHalfback 4 155 Subs Florida Gators Player Position Gamesstarted High school Height Weight AgeHancockTackle3 Harvey HesterBack S. W. LawlerBack and Line J. A. MillerEnd Hoyle PoundsBack and End 1 Hubby PriceLine A. G. ShandsQuarterback and End John SuttonLine The Seminole, 1912 approx p. 84 Scoring leaders Florida Gators Player Touchdowns Extra points Field goals Safeties Points Dummy Taylor458049Sam Buie10005?600030TOTAL1158084 Coaching staff Head coach: George E. Pyle Manager: Roswell King References 30em Bibliography Carlson Norm University of Florida Football Vault: The History of the Florida Gators Whitman Publishing, LLC Atlanta, Georgia 2007 978-0-7948-2298-9 McEwen Tom The Gators: A Story of Florida Football The Strode Publishers Huntsville, Alabama 1974 0-87397-025-X Florida Category:Florida Gators football seasons Category:College football undefeated seasons Florida Gators football