1911 Florida Gators football team

File:1911Gators.png

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.{{cite journal|journal=Florida: News for Alumni and Friends of the University of Florida|title=The Cannon Incident of 1909|author=Carl Van Ness|year=2006|page=7|url=http://ufdc.ufl.edu/UF00073685/00011/7j?search=%22neal+storter%22}}{{cite journal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AaVuAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA33|title=33. How the Gators Got Their Name|author=Pat Dooley|journal=100 Things Florida Fans Should Know & do Before They die|page=33|isbn=9781623682934|date=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.{{cite web|url=http://www.alligator.org/app/pt2/060201hundred.php|title=Good Ol' Boys|author=Olivia Ormos|date=February 1, 2006}}

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".{{cite web |title=The Birth of a Nickname |url=https://floridagators.com/sports/2015/12/10/_overview_p_name.aspx |website=Florida Gators |publisher=University of Florida Athletic Association |language=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.

{{CFB schedule

|{{CFB schedule entry

| date = October 7

| time =

| w/l = w

| opponent = The Citadel

| site_stadium = University Athletic Field

| site_cityst = Gainesville, FL

| score = 15–3

| attend =

}}

|{{CFB schedule entry

| date = October 21

| time =

| w/l = t

| away = y

| opponent = South Carolina

| site_stadium = Davis Field

| site_cityst = Columbia, SC

| score = 6–6

| attend =

}}

|{{CFB schedule entry

| date = October 25

| time = 4:10 p.m.

| w/l = w

| away = y

| opponent = Clemson

| site_stadium = Bowman Field

| site_cityst = Calhoun, SC

| score = 6–5

| attend =

}}

|{{CFB schedule entry

| date = November 4

| time =

| w/l = w

| opponent = Columbia College

| site_stadium = University Athletic Field

| site_cityst = Gainesville, FL

| score = 9–0

| attend =

}}

|{{CFB schedule entry

| date = November 11

| time =

| w/l = w

| away = y

| opponent = Stetson

| site_stadium =

| site_cityst = DeLand, FL

| score = 27–0

| attend = 1,500

}}

|{{CFB schedule entry

| date = November 30

| time =

| w/l = w

| neutral = y

| opponent = {{cfb link|year=1911|team=College of Charleston Maroons|title=College of Charleston}}

| site_stadium =

| site_cityst = Jacksonville, FL

| score = 21–0

| attend =

}}

}}

[http://web.gatorzone.com/football/media/2015/media_guide.pdf 2015 Florida Gators Football Media Guide] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208143532/http://web.gatorzone.com/football/media/2015/media_guide.pdf |date=2015-12-08 }}, University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida, p. 107 (2015). Retrieved August 16, 2015.

The season opened with a 15–3 victory over The Citadel Bulldogs at the first football game played at University Athletic Field.[http://apps.flheritage.com/markers/markers.cfm?ID=alachua Florida Historical Markers Programs - Marker: Alachua ]

{{AFB game box start

|Title=Florida at South Carolina

|Visitor=Florida

|Host=S. Carolina

| V1 =6| V2 =0| V3 =0| V4 =0

| H1 =0| H2 =6| H3 =0| H4 =0

|Date=October 21

|Location=Davis Field • Columbia, SC

| Attendance =

| Referee =

}}

• Sources:

{{AFB game box end}}

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.{{cite web|url=http://web.uflib.ufl.edu/spec/archome/1911.htm|title=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).{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/5862954/the_evening_chronicle/|page=9|date=October 21, 1911|work=The Evening Chronicle|access-date=July 12, 2016|via=Newspapers.com|title=Florida Meets South Carolina}} {{Open access}}

{{AFB game box start

|Title=Florida at Clemson

|Visitor=Florida

|Host=Clemson

| V1 =0| V2 =0| V3 =0| V4 =6

| H1 =5| H2 =0| H3 =0| H4 =0

|Date=October 25

|StartTime=4:10 p. m.

|Location=Bowman Field
Calhoun, SC

| Attendance =

| Referee = Captain Hill (Georgia Tech)

}}

• Sources:

{{AFB game box end}}

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."{{cite journal|journal=The Tiger|url=http://tigerprints.clemson.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1075&context=tiger_newspaper|date=October 28, 1911|number=3|volume=7|page=2|title=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."{{Harvnb|Carlson|2007|page=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."{{Harvnb|Carlson|2007|page=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).

Florida beat Columbia College 9–0. Taylor kicked three field goals.{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ERssAAAAIBAJ&pg=969,6208998|title=Times Daily - Google News Archive Search}}{{Harvnb|McEwen|1974|page=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).{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/5862944/the_charlotte_news/|page=13|date=November 3, 1911|work=The Charlotte News|access-date=July 12, 2016|via=Newspapers.com|title=Columbia College Meets Florida U.}} {{Open access}}

{{AFB game box start

|Title=Florida at Stetson

|Visitor=Florida

|Host=Stetson

| V1 =0| V2 =9| V3 =9| V4 =8

| H1 =0| H2 =0| H3 =0| H4 =0

|Date=November 11

|Location=DeLand, FL

| Attendance =1,500

| Referee =

}}

• Sources:

{{AFB game box end}}

Florida beat Stetson 26–0. The Stetson Weekly Collegiate called it "the greatest football game ever played in the state of Florida."{{cite web|url=http://digitalcollections.net.ucf.edu/cdm/ref/collection/CFM/id/84465|title=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.{{Harvnb|Carlson|2007|page=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).

Florida closed the season with a 21–0 defeat of Charleston. "Florida should have made at least three more touchdowns."{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/5862927/the_atlanta_constitution/|page=8|date=December 1, 1911|title=Florida 21, Charleston 0|work=The Atlanta Constitution|access-date=July 12, 2016|via=Newspapers.com}} {{Open access}}

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,{{cite web|url=http://www.sptimes.com/2006/08/27/Sports/100_things_about_100_.shtml |title=Sports: 100 things about 100 years of Gator football |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160904141255/http://www.sptimes.com/2006/08/27/Sports/100_things_about_100_.shtml |archive-date=2016-09-04 }} scored 49 of the season's 84 points (including a school-record eight field goals).{{cite web|url=https://jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/090106/col_4769028.shtml |title=10 top 10 lists |author=The Times-Union |date=September 1, 2006 |access-date=April 17, 2015 }} He scored 25 points on the ground and points-after, and 24 on field goals. He also threw two touchdown passes.{{cite web|url=http://www.college-basketball-tickets.net/florida_gators/history.htm |title=Florida Gators History |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060102133940/http://www.college-basketball-tickets.net/florida_gators/history.htm |archive-date=2006-01-02 }}

File:Nealstorter.jpg

• Head coach: George E. Pyle
• Manager: Roswell King

{{reflist|30em}}

• {{cite book|last=Carlson|first=Norm|title=University of Florida Football Vault: The History of the Florida Gators|publisher=Whitman Publishing, LLC|location=Atlanta, Georgia|year=2007|isbn=978-0-7948-2298-9}}
• {{cite book|last=McEwen|first=Tom|title=The Gators: A Story of Florida Football|publisher=The Strode Publishers|location=Huntsville, Alabama|year=1974|isbn=0-87397-025-X}}

{{Florida Gators football navbox}}

Florida

Category:Florida Gators football seasons

Category:College football undefeated seasons

Florida Gators football