# 2002 Florida Gators football team

The 2002 Florida Gators football team represented the University of Florida in the sport of American football during the 2002 college football season. The Gators competed in Division I-A of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC), and played their home games at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on the university's Gainesville, Florida campus. They were led by first-year head coach Ron Zook, who coached them to a second-place finish in the SEC East, an Outback Bowl berth, and an overall record of 8–5 (.615).

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| August 31 | 7:00 p.m. | UAB* | No. 6 | Ben Hill Griffin StadiumGainesville, FL | PPV | W 51–3 | 85,575 |
| September 7 | 5:15 p.m. | No. 1 Miami (FL)* | No. 6 | Ben Hill Griffin StadiumGainesville, FL (rivalry / College GameDay) | CBS | L 16–41 | 85,777 |
| September 14 | 6:00 p.m. | Ohio* | No. 12 | Ben Hill Griffin StadiumGainesville, FL | PPV | W 34–6 | 84,002 |
| September 21 | 3:30 p.m. | at No. 4 Tennessee | No. 10 | Neyland StadiumKnoxville, TN (rivalry / College GameDay) | CBS | W 30–13 | 108,722 |
| September 28 | 3:30 p.m. | Kentucky | No. 7 | Ben Hill Griffin StadiumGainesville, FL (rivalry) | CBS | W 41–34 | 85,333 |
| October 5 | 12:00 p.m. | at Ole Miss | No. 6 | Vaught–Hemingway StadiumOxford, MS | CBS | L 14–17 | 61,140 |
| October 12 | 7:45 p.m. | No. 18 LSU | No. 16 | Ben Hill Griffin StadiumGainesville, FL (rivalry) | ESPN | L 7–36 | 85,252 |
| October 19 | 6:45 p.m. | Auburn | | Ben Hill Griffin StadiumGainesville, FL (rivalry) | ESPN | W 30–23 $^{OT}$ | 85,135 |
| November 2 | 7:45 p.m. | vs. No. 5 Georgia | | Alltel StadiumJacksonville, FL (rivalry / College GameDay) | ESPN | W 20–13 | 84,433 |
| November 9 | 2:00 p.m. | at Vanderbilt | No. 23 | Vanderbilt StadiumNashville, TN | PPV | W 21–17 | 28,881 |
| November 16 | 6:00 p.m. | South Carolina | No. 20 | Ben Hill Griffin StadiumGainesville, FL | ESPN | W 28–7 | 85,222 |
| November 30 | 8:00 p.m. | at No. 23 Florida State* | No. 15 | Doak Campbell StadiumTallahassee, FL (rivalry) | ABC | L 14–31 | 83,938 |
| January 1, 2003 | 11:00 a.m. | vs. No. 12 Michigan* | No. 15 | Raymond James StadiumTampa, FL (Outback Bowl) | ESPN | L 30–38 | 65,101 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from AP Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Eastern time ||||||||

## Game summaries
### UAB
### At Tennessee

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Florida | 0 | 24 | 0 | 6 | 30 |
| Tennessee | 0 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 13 |
at Neyland Stadium, Knoxville, Tennessee
* Date: September 21
* Game time: 3:30 p.m. EST
* Game weather: Light rain, 71 °F (22 °C)
* Game attendance: 108,722
* Referee: Rogers Redding
* TV: CBS
* Box Score
Game information :
First quarter
No scoring
Second quarter
FLA – Earnest Graham 1-yard run (Matt Leach kick), 4:55. Florida 7–0. Drive: 9 plays, 84 yards, 3:20.
FLA – Carlos Perez 28-yard pass from Rex Grossman (Matt Leach kick), 3:40. Florida 14–0. Drive: 3 plays, 24 yards, 1:12.
FLA – Taylor Jacobs 7-yard pass from Rex Grossman (Matt Leach kick), 0:35. Florida 21–0. Drive: 6 plays, 62 yards, 0:52.
FLA – Matt Leach 41-yard field goal, 0:00. Florida 24–0. Drive: 1 play, 0 yards, 0:02.
Third quarter
TENN – Derrick Tinsley 15-yard pass from Casey Clausen (Alex Walls kick), 9:51. Florida 24–7. Drive: 7 plays, 59 yards, 2:28.
TENN – Jabari Davis 1-yard run (kick failed), 0:28. Florida 24–13. Drive: 14 plays, 64 yards, 6:27.
Fourth quarter
FLA – Taylor Jacobs 21-yard pass from Rex Grossman (kick failed), 10:49. Florida 30–13. Drive: 11 plays, 80 yards, 4:32.
Top passers
FLA – Rex Grossman – 20/34, 324 yards, 3 TD, 2 INT
TENN – Casey Clausen – 30/44, 285 yards, TD
Top rushers
FLA – Ran Carthon – 9 rushes, 51 yards
TENN – Troy Fleming – 9 rushes, 42 yards
Top receivers
FLA – Taylor Jacobs – 9 receptions, 141 yards, 2 TD
TENN – Kelley Washington – 7 receptions, 102 yards :

### Kentucky

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Kentucky | 0 | 0 | 28 | 6 | 34 |
| • Florida | 6 | 13 | 13 | 9 | 41 |

### Vs. Georgia

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Florida | 0 | 12 | 0 | 8 | 20 |
| Georgia | 7 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 13 |

### Outback Bowl (vs. Michigan)
## Players drafted into the NFL

| Round | Pick | Player | Position | NFL club |
| 1 | 22 | Rex Grossman | QB | Chicago Bears |
| 2 | 44 | Taylor Jacobs | WR | Washington Redskins |
| 4 | 100 | Todd Johnson | S | Chicago Bears |
| 4 | 116 | Ian Scott | DT | Chicago Bears |
| 5 | 161 | Aaron Walker | TE | San Francisco 49ers |
| 5 | 171 | Tron LaFavor | DT | Chicago Bears |
| 6 | 190 | Mike Nattiel | LB | Minnesota Vikings |
| 7 | 227 | Clint Mitchell | DE | Denver Broncos |