1946 Florida Gators football team

The 1946 Florida Gators football team represented the University of Florida during the 1946 college football season. The season was Raymond Wolf's first of four as the head coach of the Florida Gators football team. Wolf's first Gators squad was composed mostly of college freshmen and returning World War II veterans who had not played football in several years. The winless 0–9 season was also the worst win–loss record in the history of Gators football to date, surpassing the winless 0–5 record of the overmatched 1916 Gators. Wolf's 1946 Florida Gators finished 0–5 in the Southeastern Conference (SEC), placing last of 12 SEC teams.[2] Despite the winless record, the Gators developed the seventh best passing attack in the nation, with end Broughton Williams leading the nation in receiving.[3][4] Harold Griffin led the nation in punt return average.

1946 Florida Gators football
ConferenceSoutheastern Conference
1946 record0–9 (0–5 SEC)
Head coach
Offensive schemeDouble-wing
CaptainWilliam Raborn
Home stadiumFlorida Field
(Capacity: 22,800)[1]
1946 Southeastern Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
No. 3 Georgia + 5 –0 –0  11 –0 –0
No. 7 Tennessee + 5 –0 –0  9 –2 –0
No. 8 LSU 5 –1 –0  9 –1 –1
No. 11 Georgia Tech 4 –2 –0  9 –2 –0
Mississippi State 3 –2 –0  8 –2 –0
Alabama 4 –3 –0  7 –4 –0
Vanderbilt 3 –4 –0  5 –4 –0
Kentucky 2 –3 –0  7 –3 –0
Tulane 2 –4 –0  3 –7 –0
Auburn 1 –5 –0  4 –6 –0
Ole Miss 1 –6 –0  2 –7 –0
Florida 0 –5 –0  0 –9 –0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1946 season was at the center of a school record 13-game losing streak which stretched from the last game of the 1945 campaign until the fourth contest of 1947. The players on these squads dubbed their time at Florida the "Golden Era", and members of the "Golden Era Gang" regularly held reunions and raised funds for scholarships and facilities improvements at UF for many subsequent years.[5] Players on these teams included future Florida attorney general James W. Kynes and College Football Hall of Fame coach Marcelino Huerta.

Schedule
DateTimeOpponentSiteResultAttendance
September 28vs. Ole Miss
L 7–13
October 5at Tulane
L 13–2730,000
October 12at Vanderbilt
L 0–20
October 19Miami (FL)*
L 13–20
October 262:30 p.m.at No. 10 North Carolina*
L 19–40
November 9vs. No. 5 Georgia
  • Fairfield Stadium
  • Jacksonville, FL (rivalry)
L 14–33
November 16Villanova*
  • Florida Field
  • Gainesville, FL
L 20–2715,000
November 23vs. NC State*
L 6–37
November 30Auburn
  • Florida Field
  • Gainesville, FL (rivalry)
L 12–47
  • *Non-conference game
  • Homecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Primary source: 2015 Florida Gators Football Media Guide.[2]

References
  1. The Department of Publicity and The Department of Intercollegiate Athletics. "A Brochure of University of Florida Football Facts" (PDF). floridagators.com. University Athletic Association, Inc. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
  2. 2015 Florida Gators Football Media Guide Archived 2015-12-08 at the Wayback Machine, University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida, pp. 110–111 (2015). Retrieved August 14, 2015.
  3. "Florida Hopes For Triumph Over Georgia". The Anniston Star. November 8, 1946. p. 10. Retrieved November 11, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. See ESPN College Football Encyclopedia.
  5. "Great Teams and Eras: The Golden Era - GatorZone.com". Archived from the original on 2015-11-26. Retrieved 2016-07-13.
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