By Jeff Moeller, Florida Sports Wire
JACKSONVILLE – For whatever reason, I always remember watching the Gator Bowl on TV. Maybe it was because I always had an infatuation with Florida.
When I attended my first Gator Bowl game two years ago, I was generally excited. Here I was watching a game that I always seemingly watched as a kid on ABC.
Well, the Rutgers-Wake Forest matchup wasn’t the best, but at least I was there. It was the first college bowl game that I covered. Unfortunately, a few days later, I came down with a case of COVID, which I fortunately shook quickly.
The following year proved to be a proverbial barnburner of game between Notre Dame and South Carolina, in which they Fightin’ Irish prevailed in the final moments. It was one of the more entertaining college football games that I have seen.
Friday at noon, 22nd-ranked Clemson and Kentucky will kickoff the 77th version of the game – now officially known as the TaxSlayer Bowl – and it will continue to mark itself as the sixth oldest bowl game on the market.
To this day, it is still Florida pure and bred, still known as the “Gator Bowl” to the natives. It isn’t a game that hasn’t been totally tarnished by the corporate world. The game still has plenty of historical ties to the state.
And it is not always all about the teams, even though the Southern-based teams tend to bring big crowds. It has become a staple in Jacksonville, and it is about the game’s historic stance and longevity here.
Even though it is not in the national scope of games, the game can trace its roots back to Florida businessman Charles Hilty, who initially helped fund the inaugural game with three other partners who pulled together $10,000 to create what they initially referred to as the “Alligator Bowl.”
Wake Forest defeated South Carolina, 26-14, in the first game, but it drew only 7,362 fans at Fairfield Stadium. Two years later, the stadium was expanded and renamed “Gator Bowl Stadium” despite not drawing record crowds.
In 1955, the game became the first nationally televised bowl contest with Vanderbilt upsetting Auburn, 25-13 on then CBS.
Eight years later in 1963, a tragedy involving a fire during a post-game party at the Jacksonville Hotel that killed 22 people can still be recalled by legions of fans today. It still has a link to the game even though the party was determined to not have any ties to the game.
One of the games that has still transgressed across the football world was in 1978, and it involved legendary
Ohio State coach Woody Hayes. It is still one of the iconic sports highlights.
After Clemson nose guard picked off a pass from Ohio State quarterback Art Schlichter and ran out of bounds on the Ohio State sideline. Hayes hit Bauman with a foreman in the nose, and Clemson won the game, 17-15. Hayes was fired after the game.
In 2010, Florida legend Bobby Bowden was carried off the field after he coached his final game in the bowl, and his Seminoles posted a 33-21 victory over West Virginia.
Clemson will be making its 10th appearance in the game and has a 4-5 overall slate. Kentucky will be making only its third appearance with a 1-1 record.
It has the making of a good matchup, but it still should be about a legendary college bowl game in Jacksonville still flourishing today.
