ALVAREZ/ '69 GATORS MAGICAL SEASON CONTINUES TO AMAZE

GATOR GRIDIRON
ROGER FRANKLIN WILLIAMS

In the wake of last week's announcement that Gator Great Carlos Alvarez had been elected to the College Football Hall of Fame, Gator fans, old and new, are re-discovering the amazing feats of the speedy WR known as the "Cuban Comet" AND his teammates on the 1969 "Cinderella" Florida Gators.

The  unheralded '69 Gators began the eventful summer of '69 ( man's first journey to the moon, Woodstock, intense Viet Nam combat on the nightly news, etc,) as a group that was widely ridiculed by the national sports press---picked last in the SEC by Playboy magazine and rated in the Bottom 10 by another group of so-called "experts".

By the time the season ended in late December 1969 with a stirring 14-13 upset over SEC regular season Champion Tennessee in the Gator Bowl (with Alvarez scoring the winning TD on a 3rd quarter pass from fellow Super Soph John Reaves) the upstart '69 Gators had:

 established the best record in Florida Gator football history to that point, 9-1-1;

won the title of unofficial "Best Team in the SEC" by beating regular season Champion Tennessee in the Gator Bowl;

 captured only the 5th bowl victory in Gator history;

 pulled off the biggest upset in Florida history, and one of the biggest in college football history (59-34 over powerful Houston, ranked pre-season No. 1 by at least one ratings service);

and shattered literally scores of Florida and SEC offensive records (not to mention many defensive and special teams records) on the way to scoring more points than any other Gator team since the legendary 1928 Gators and leaving a tail of offensive, defensive and special teams highlights that haven't been seen before or since; in Gainesville, the SEC or college football.

 (the '69 crew also avenged the '28 Gators controversial 12-13 loss to Tennessee in Knoxville, which, according to legend, was played on a hopelessly soaked, muddy quagmire, which was kind of funny since Knoxville hadn't had rain for weeks.....and, according to legend, knocked the Gators out of a trip to the Rose Bowl that year).

In the wake of the long overdue recognition of Carlos Alvarez, Gator Gridiron will present highlights (the above mentioned don't even scratch the surface) of that magical 1969 season in the days to come.....