The Florida Gators are set to face LIU this Saturday in what might be one of the most mismatched games Florida has taken part in during the modern era. There are high school teams with larger rosters than LIU, and if the Gators wanted to, they could be up by 40 by halftime.
How much the Gators want to step on the gas is going to impact what the final margin of victory is, but there is a good chance it could wind up as one of the biggest beatdowns in modern Florida history.
So not counting things like the 114-0 win over Florida Southern in 1913, we are going to take a look at the five biggest blowouts the Gators have had since 1990.
2003 — San Jose State — 65–3 (margin +62)
The Ron Zook Era never really went well in Gainesville, but he does have the fifth-largest win in the modern era.
Florida opened its 2003 campaign against San Jose State, and ironically, this game was close for the first quarter, tied at 3-3 after 15 minutes.
The Gators started rolling in the second quarter and the blowout was on.
Guss Scott and Tre Orr returned interceptions for a touchdown while Chris Leak made his Gator debut, going 10/14 for 111 yards while splitting time with Ingle Martin (14/23 for 196 yards).
1996 — Kentucky — 65–0 (margin +65)
Even though Kentucky went 4-7 in 1996, they weren't "that" bad in 1996 and were competitive in almost every game that year.
They even beat Georgia in 1996.
But the Wildcats came to The Swamp and ran into a complete buzzsaw. Jacquez Green returned two punts for a touchdown while Danny Wuerffel had one of his easiest days as a Gator.
Kentucky's starting QB was future No. 1 draft pick Tim Couch, and yet Florida's defense held the Wildcats to just 67 yards for the entire game.
2014 — Eastern Michigan — 65–0 (margin +65)
Perhaps ticked off that their opener against Idaho wound up getting cancelled after just one play, the Gators took out their frustrations on Eastern Michigan during week two of the season.
Jeff Driskel went 31/45 for 248 yards while Treon Harris completed two passes, both touchdowns, for 148 yards.
Six running backs for the Gators combined for 259 yards while Duke Dawson had an interception returned for a touchdown.
1994 — Kentucky — 73–7 (margin +66)
If you are a newer fan of college football, you might have the perception that Kentucky is a decent program in the sport. But in a time not too long ago, the Wildcats were one of the perennial doormats of the SEC.
Terry Dean threw for four touchdowns and Elijah Williams ran for two more.
Unlike the 1997 squad, this Kentucky team was one of the worst it had ever assembled, going 1-10. Fun fact, though, that ties everything together, Kentucky's one win was over a 6-5 Louisville squad during Howard Schnellenberger's final season with the Cardinals.
Schnellenberger was replaced by Ron Cooper, who is the current head coach of LIU.
1997 — Central Michigan — 82–6 (margin +76)
This single biggest beatdown the Gators have given in their modern era came on September 6, 1997 when Florida bounced back from a ho-hum opener against Southern Mississippi (21-6) to make Central Michigan regret ever agreeing to come to The Swamp.
Bo Carroll and Fred Taylor both took fewer than ten carries, but both still managed to top 100 yards rushing. Doug Johnson threw for seven touchdowns, and the Gators as a whole wound up with 708 yards of offense.
Notably, Jesse Palmer completed his first pass in college, as he went 4-4 for 53 yards and a touchdown.