The 1980 Florida Gators football team represented the University of Florida during the 1980 NCAA Division I-A football season. The season was the Florida Gators football team's second season under new head coach Charles B. "Charley" Pell, and marked a remarkable one-year turnaround for the Gators from their 0–10–1 record in 1979.^[1] The winless 1979 season was the worst season in Gators history, and it was Pell's first campaign as the new head coach of the Gators, after the Gators' previous head coach, Doug Dickey, was fired in the aftermath of a 4–7 season in 1978.^[1] Pell's 1980 Florida Gators posted an 8–4 overall record and a Southeastern Conference (SEC) record of 4–2, tying for fourth place in the ten-team SEC.^[2] The Gators capped their season with a 35–20 bowl victory over the Maryland Terrapins in the Tangerine Bowl, marking the first time in the history of major college football that a winless team received a bowl bid the following season.^[1] Linebacker David Little set the career record for tackles by a Gator and was consensus All-American.^[3] Receiver Cris Collinsworth was first-team All-American. The season features the famous "Run Lindsay Run" in the close loss to national champion Georgia.^[4]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 13	vs. California*		Tampa Stadium Tampa, FL		W 41–13	41,388	[5]
September 20	at Georgia Tech*		Grant Field Atlanta, GA		W 45–12	35,165	[6]
September 27	Mississippi State		Florida Field Gainesville, FL		W 21–15	56,225	[7]
October 4	LSU	No. 19	Florida Field Gainesville, FL (rivalry)		L 7–24	59,299	[8]
October 18	at Ole Miss		Hemingway Stadium Oxford, MS		W 15–3	36,012	[9]
October 25	Louisville*		Florida Field Gainesville, FL		W 13–0	62,687	[10]
November 1	Auburn		Florida Field Gainesville, FL (rivalry)		W 21–10	63,274	[11]
November 8	vs. No. 2 Georgia	No. 20	Gator Bowl Stadium Jacksonville, FL (rivalry)	ABC	L 21–26	68,528	[12]
November 15	at Kentucky	No. 20	Commonwealth Stadium Lexington, KY (rivalry)		W 17–15	51,766	[13]
November 29	Miami (FL)*	No. 18	Florida Field Gainesville, FL (rivalry)	ABC	L 7–31	56,437	[14]
December 6	at No. 3 Florida State*	No. 19	Doak Campbell Stadium Tallahassee, FL (rivalry)	ABC	L 13–17	53,772	[15]
December 20	vs. Maryland*		Orlando Stadium Orlando, FL (Tangerine Bowl)	MTN	W 35–20	52,541	[16]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

^[2]

Game summaries

California

^[17]

Vs. Georgia

^[19]

At Florida State

Personnel