GATOR GRIDIRON
ROGER FRANKLIN WILLIAMS
Those amazing 1969 Gators continue to rack up extraordinary achievements. The most recent is yesterdays' announcement of the election of Gator Great Carlos Alvarez, WR #45, to the College Football Hall of Fame.
Old School Gators will remember Alvarez from the legendary and lovable 1969 Gators, a team that began the 1969 season in the Bottom 10 in the nation and finished the season with a stirring 14-13 Gator Bowl win over heavily favored 9-1 Tennessee (the SEC regular season Champion) to finish with the best record in Florida football history to that point, 9-1-1 (as well as unofficial Best Team in the SEC). Appropriately the winning points came on a third quarter Carlos Alvarez touchdown which brought Florida from behind 13-7 to 14-13. The QB, of course, was Alvarez partner in shredding Gator and SEC record books that magical season, fellow Super Soph, Gator Great John Reaves.
The season that ended in such dramatic fashion began, literally, with a bomb---a 70 yard touchdown bomb from Reaves to Alvarez on the third play of the season opener vs another heavily favored opponent, the Bill Yeoman Houston Cougars, the most explosive offensive team in college football in that era (for example, they put 100 on Tulsa in '68, over 70 on two opponents, over 50 on two others and beat Miss ST 74-0 two weeks after playing the Gators). Houston began the '69 season a consensus Top 10 team and ranked No. 1 by at least one major publication. The Gators began '69 ranked in the Bottom 10 and picked last in the SEC by Playboy magazine. Well, by halftime it was 38-6 Gators. The final was Gators 59-34. Alvarez had established a new Florida record for receiving yards; Reaves, with 342 yards passing---an unheard of number in those days---and 5 td passes, had shattered every Gator and SEC single game passing record on the books.
From there the season only got better....Alvarez and Reaves put on a passing show unlike any ever seen in the history of the SEC, SOPH TB Tommy Durrance broke the SEC record for Touchdowns. SOPH FB Mike Rich emerged as a powerful inside running threat and brutal blocker for Durrance, SOPH WR Andy Cheney developed as a key weapon in the passing game and SOPH Bill Dowdy set a record for Gator TEs with over 30 catches. On defense, SOPHs Jimmy Barr, Harvin Clark and Doug Sorenson made big plays at crucial times, such as Barr's TD interception against Houston just before half and Clark's opening game KO return for a TD at Kentucky. SOPH Robert Harrell made huge plays all season long on the D-line and SOPHs Dale Hutcherson and Jim Yancey added depth at the OG and TE postions, respectively. Oh yeah, SOPH K Richard Franco established a new record for PATs with 33. The Legend of the Super Sophs was born.
One long overlooked aspect of the '69 Gators is the fact that the team was undergirded by a core of talented, mature, veteran players, led by Co-Captains OT Mac Steen and LB Tom Abdelnour, who provided extraordinary leadership and hard-nosed, fundamental play. Other veteran SR and JR players who provided the backbone of the '69 Gators include, but is not limited to, SR C Kim Helton, SR G Skip Amelung, SR WR Paul Maliska, SR OT Wayne Griffith, SR OT Jim Kiley, SR LB David Ghesquiere, All-American SR DB Steve Tannen, SR DBs Skip Albury, Mark Ely and Ted Hager, Gator Bowl MVP JR LB Mike Kelley, JR OG Donnie Williams, SR DL Bob Coleman, JR DB Jack Burns, D-linemen Robbie Rebol, Danny Williams, Britt Skrivanek and Alan Cole, DB Larry Williamson, LBs Brad Powell, Eric Taggert and Mike Palahach and, of course future NFL and College Football Hall of Famer JR DE Jack Youngblood.
After breaking the Gator single game yardage record in his first game on varsity in the rout against Houston, 182 yards on 6 receptions, Alvarez followed up in the second game of the season by tying Richard Trapp's single game reception record of 12 catches (180 yards) in a 47-35 shootout on the road at Mississippi State. (Reaves was 24-33 for 329). In the third game, the Cuban Comet scored 2 TDs on passes from Reaves, which provided the winning margin in a hard fought 21-6 win over FSU on Florida Field. One of those TD catches, a finger tip grab in stride running full speed toward the South end zone was featured in Sports Illustrated, won numerous national awards and is now a famed example of iconic sports photography. The next week the Gators spoiled a gallant upset bid by unheraled Tulane in Tampa. The Green Wave took a 17-10 lead into the final two minutes of the game. A dramatic end of game TD drive led by Reaves closed the gap to 16-17 Tulane. The game ended with an extraordinary leaping catch (his 11th of the game) by Alvarez in the back of the end zone for an 18-17 last second Gator victory.
Are you beginning to see why they called these guys Super Sophs?
Florida continued to blow through the schedule---a 52-2 revenge win over North Carolina for Homecoming and a 41-20 shootout at home over upset-minded Vandy with Reaves throwing for an SEC record tying 5 TDs once again and Carlos snagging 11 for 112 yards. After a 2 game stumble with a road loss to Auburn and a 13-13 tie with Ga, Florida spanked Kentucky 31-6 on the road, a game that began with Harvin Clark returning the opening kick off for a Gator TD and where Coach Graves called off the dogs after a 31-0 halftime lead.
On a hot, muggy South Florida night in the Orange Bowl, Alvarez, and his fellow Super Soph's, brought the regular season to fitting end with their best night of all---the Cuban Comet caught 15 passes for 237 yards, breaking all Gator single game records for receiving and leading Florida to a spectacular 35-16 win over hated rival Miami. Touchdown Tommy Durrance scored 3 in this game with 117 yards rushing and Reaves threw for over 340 yards once again.
Carlos Alvarez finished the '69 season with an astounding 88 receptions, 1,329 receiving yards and 12 TDs and was named consensus All-American. From 1969-71, in concert with All-American QB Reaves, Alvarez put up numbers never before seen in the SEC, some of which still stand as all-time Gator records including 2,563 career receiving yards, most receptions in a game (15), most receptions in a season (88) and most consecutive games with a pass reception (25); his 1329 yards in '69 is still second all-time at Florida.
And today, in May 2011, he has added one more well deserved credential to both his resume and to the Legend of the 1969 Florida Gators; Hall of Fame.
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