This Date in College Football Belt History – October 1

The 12^th ranked, 3-0-1 Florida Gators of Charley Pell went to Baton Rouge for their first Belt game in school history to meet the 16^th ranked, 2-1 Louisiana State Tigers & coach Jerry Stovall.  Florida’s RB Neal Anderson rushed for 2 touchdowns including a 76-yard run late in the 4^th quarter to secure a 31-17 win as the Gators claimed The Belt for the first time.  Anderson scored in the 1^st quarter on a 15-yard touchdown run as Florida took a 7-0 lead.  In the 2^nd quarter, Gators’ QB Wayne Peace connected with RB Lorenzo Hampton on a 58-yard touchdown pass pushing the lead to 14-0.  Louisiana State got within a touchdown when QB Jeff Wickersham found All-SEC WR Eric Martin open on a 17-yard touchdown pass but Florida’s PK Bobby Raymond’s 40-yard field goal gave the Gators a 17-7 halftime advantage.  On the opening drive of the 3^rd quarter, Louisiana State’s CB Eugene Daniel intercepted Peace at the Florida 30-yard line.  The Tigers were unable to move but did get a 43-yard field goal from PK Juan Betanzos.  Late in the quarter, Florida drove 86 yards in 9 plays with RB John L. Williams scoring on a 1-yard run as the Gators pushed the lead to 24-10 as the teams started the 4^th quarter.  Louisiana State drove to the Florida 9-yard line but RB Dalton Hilliard was stopped short on a 4^th down play with 11:18 left in the game.  Following a Gators’ punt, Louisiana State drove 60 yards in 7 plays with Wickersham scoring on a 1-yard touchdown run getting the Tigers within a touchdown at 24-17 with 4:56 to play.  On the first snap after the kick-off, Louisiana State’s CB Alex Clark intercepted Peace giving the Tigers the ball at the Florida 36-yard line with 4:51 to play.  Louisiana State drove to the Florida 5-yard line with just under a minute to play when Gators’ All-American LB Wilbur Marshall intercepted Wickersham & returned it to the Florida 24-yard line.  Anderson broke loose for his long touchdown run on the next snap & the Gators had a hard fought victory.  Peace finished with 186 yards passing with a touchdown but 2 interceptions while Anderson added 149 yards rushing to his 2 touchdowns.  Wickersham threw for 271 yards with a touchdown but 2 interceptions while Martin had 5 catches for 106 yards with his touchdown.  The Tigers finished the season 4-7 in Stovall’s final season while the Gators finished 9-2-1 & ranked 6^th nationally.  Louisiana State would play for The Belt again in 1987.

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