Year-by-Year: 1999
November 24, 1999 10:00 AM
Game Returns to OB Stadium
Florida 31
Syracuse 10
Returning to the Classic for the first time since 1967, the Florida Gators used a 28-point first half and a stingy defense to put the finishing touches on the Orangemen 31-10.
The 65th annual FedEx Orange Bowl also made a curtain call to the stadium it called home for more than 60 years, Orange Bowl Stadium.
The Gators gave the heavily partisan Gator crowd of 67,919 a show in the first quarter, using the quick strike to score on drives that totaled 39 and 40 seconds, respectively. Florida’s quarterback duo of Johnson and Jesse Palmer finished 22-of-31 for 308 yards. Palmer finished 10-of-14 for 113 yards with one rushing and one passing touchdown, while Johnson finished 12-of-17 with 195 yards and two touchdown strikes.
Syracuse All-American quarterback McNabb was held to 14-of-30 passing for 192 yards.
GAME STATISTICS
Florida Syracuse
First Downs 18 18
Rushing Attempts 35 36
Rushing Yards 133 129
Passes Attempted 31 30
Passes Completed 22 14
Had Intercepted 0 1
Passing Yards 308 192
Total Offense 441 321
Punting/Avg. 7/36.9 5/43
Fumbles/Lost 0/0 3/3
Penalties/Yards 11/76 2/20
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Florida 14 14 0 3 31
Syracuse 0 3 0 7 10
SCORING SUMMARY
UF-Taylor 51 pass from D. Johnson (Chandler kick); UF- Taylor 26 pass from D. Johnson (Chandler kick); SU-Trout 36 FG; UF-Kinney 4 pass from Palmer (Chandler kick); UF-Palmer 2 run (Chandler kick); UF-Chandler 32 FG; SU-M. Jackson 62 pass from McNabb (Trout kick)....MVP: Travis Taylor (Florida)
Florida Head Coach Steve Spurrier
Syracuse Head Coach Paul Pasqualoni