1999
January 2, 1999 – Orange Bowl Stadium
Game Returns to OB Stadium
The 65th annual FedEx Orange Bowl made a curtain call to the stadium it called home for more than 60 years, Orange Bowl Stadium.
The Florida Gators also made a return to the Orange Bowl, playing in the game for the first time since 1967. Using a 28-point first half, the Gators easily strolled to victory over Syracuse 31-10.
Florida 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 Doug 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 Donovan McNabb was held to 14-of-30 passing for 192 yards.
|
- |
FLA |
SYR |
|
First Downs |
18 |
18 |
|
Rushing Attempts |
36 |
36 |
|
Rushing Yards |
133 |
129 |
|
Passes Attempted |
13 |
14 |
|
Passes Completed |
31 |
30 |
|
Had Intercepted |
0 |
1 |
|
Passing Yards |
308 |
192 |
|
Total Offense |
441 |
321 |
|
Punts/Avg. |
7/36.9 |
5/43.0 |
|
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
FLA: Taylor 51-yard pass from Johnson (Chandler kick); FLA: Taylor 26-yard pass from Johnson (Chandler kick); SYR: Trout 36-yard FG; FLA: Kinney 4-yard pass from Palmer (Chandler kick); FLA: Palmer 2-yard run (Chandler kick); FLA: Chandler 32-yard FG; SYR: M. Jackson 62-yard pass from McNabb (Trout kick) MOP: Travis Taylor (Florida)
Florida Head Coach: Steve Spurrier
Syracuse Head Coach: Paul Pasqualoni