Florida football is undefeated against these FBS teams
By Will Thomas
Florida football is undefeated against these Big 10 teams
Like the Big 12, the Gators don’t see a whole lot of their members outside of bowl season. In the past, however, Florida football has relished the opportunity to play the Big 10’s members in the postseason and has even gotten a National Championship out of it.
Ohio State – The Gators can feel pretty good knowing that the Buckeyes have never gotten the better of them. First, in 2007, Florida took them down to win the 2007 National Championship 41-14. The second of their two meetings came in 2012’s Gator Bowl, where Florida again bested Ohio State 24-17.
Penn State – The Gators have played Penn State three times, all in bowl games, and won them all. The first was in 1962’s Gator Bowl, where Florida won 17-7 over a top-ten Penn State team. Then in 1998, the two played in the Citrus Bowl, where the Gators knocked off the Nittany Lions by a score of 21-6. Most recently in the 2011 Outback Bowl, Florida won 37-24, rounding out their undefeated record over Penn State.
Illinois – A lower-tier program, but still one you like to have wins over is Illinois, who the Gators are 2-0 against. Their first game was played in 1967 in The Swamp, where the Gators won a barn burner, 14-0. The second matchup game in the 1988 All-American Bowl in Birmingham, where Florida took down the Fighting Illini again by a score of 14-10.
Northwestern – These two teams have only played twice, and it was a home-and-home in 1965 and 1966. The first matchup was out in Evanston, where the Gators won 24-14 on the road. The next year back in Gainesville, Florida did it again, beating the Wildcats in a much more convincing fashion, 43-7.
Rutgers – In another home-and-home, the Gators went undefeated against Rutgers, with a technicality. The first game they played was in Gainesville in 1985, where the game ended in a 28-28 tie. Not a loss, it counts. Then the next year in East Rutherford, Florida took the game 15-3, giving the Gators a 1-0-1 record against the Scarlett Knights.