# 1986 Florida Gators football team

The 1986 Florida Gators football team represented the University of Florida during the 1986 NCAA Division I-A football season. The season was Galen Hall's third as the head coach of the Florida Gators football team. The 1986 Florida Gators compiled a 6–5 overall record and a Southeastern Conference (SEC) record of 2–4, tying for 7th place among Ten SEC teams. This was the last year that Florida lost to the Kentucky Wildcats until 2018. This was the longest annual win streak of any team over another in NCAA history and the longest such streak in Southeastern Conference history.

## Schedule

| Date | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| August 30 | No. 1 (I-AA) Georgia Southern* | No. 13 | Florida FieldGainesville, FL | | W 38–14 | 74,221 |
| September 6 | No. 3 Miami (FL)* | No. 13 | Florida FieldGainesville, FL (rivalry) | | L 15–23 | 74,875 |
| September 20 | No. 4 Alabama | No. 13 | Florida FieldGainesville, FL (rivalry) | | L 7–21 | 74,685 |
| September 27 | at Mississippi State | | Scott FieldStarkville, MS | | L 10–16 | 38,625 |
| October 4 | No. 18 LSU | | Florida FieldGainesville, FL (rivalry) | TigerVision | L 17–28 | 74,211 |
| October 11 | Kent State* | | Florida FieldGainesville, FL | | W 52–9 | 73,718 |
| October 18 | at Rutgers* | | Giants StadiumEast Rutherford, NJ | | W 15–3 | 36,781 |
| November 1 | No. 5 Auburn | | Florida FieldGainesville, FL (rivalry) | | W 18–17 | 74,521 |
| November 8 | vs. No. 19 Georgia | | Gator Bowl StadiumJacksonville, FL (rivalry) | | W 31–19 | 81,957 |
| November 15 | at Kentucky | | Commonwealth StadiumLexington, KY (rivalry) | | L 3–10 | 52,160 |
| November 29 | at Florida State* | | Doak Campbell StadiumTallahassee, FL (rivalry) | | W 17–13 | 62,370 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from AP Poll released prior to the game ||||||||

## Game summaries
### Georgia Southern

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Georgia Southern | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 14 |
| Florida | 7 | 14 | 3 | 14 | 38 |

### Miami (FL)

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Miami (FL) | 7 | 0 | 9 | 7 | 23 |
| Florida | 0 | 9 | 0 | 6 | 15 |

### Alabama

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Alabama | 0 | 0 | 14 | 7 | 21 |
| Florida | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 |

### At Mississippi State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Florida | 7 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 10 |
| Mississippi State | 0 | 10 | 3 | 3 | 16 |

### LSU

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| LSU | 14 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 28 |
| Florida | 3 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 17 |
Kerwin Bell was injured during the game.

### Kent State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Kent State | 0 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 9 |
| • Florida | 7 | 21 | 14 | 10 | 52 |

### At Rutgers

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Florida | 6 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 15 |
| Rutgers | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
at Giants Stadium

### Auburn

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Auburn | 7 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 17 |
| • Florida | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 18 |
For most of the game, coach Pat Dye's fifth-ranked 1986 Auburn Tigers dominated coach Galen Hall's unranked Gators at Florida Field. The Tigers defense was stifling, and forced Gators substitute quarterback Rodney Brewer to commit four turnovers in the first two quarters. Hall replaced Brewer with starting quarterback Kerwin Bell, who had missed two games with a knee injury. Tigers tailback Brent Fullwood gained 166 yards on the ground, including a second-quarter touchdown, to give Auburn a 17–0 lead early in the fourth quarter. Bell then led the Gators on two scoring drives, with Gators placekicker Robert McGinty—a transfer from Auburn—booting a 51-yard field goal to close the Tigers' advantage to 17−10 with 1:45 to play. With thirty-six seconds remaining in the game, Bell directed one final 79-yard drive in ten plays that was capped by a five-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Ricky Nattiel, who was playing with a separated shoulder. The limping Bell then surprised the Tigers defense by running in the two-point conversion and completing the comeback, with the Gators winning 18–17.

### vs Georgia

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Georgia | 10 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 19 |
| Florida | 0 | 10 | 7 | 14 | 31 |
at Gator Bowl, Jacksonville, Florida
* Date: November 8, 1986
* Game attendance: 81,957
* Box Score
| Team | Category | Player | Statistics |
| Georgia | Passing | James Jackson | 4/17, 50 Yds |
| Georgia | Rushing | Lars Tate | 24 Att, 86 Yds, TD |
| Georgia | Receiving | Kirk Warner | 1 Rec, 22 Yds |
| Florida | Passing | Kerwin Bell | 20/31, 272 Yds, 3 TD, INT |
| Florida | Rushing | James Massey | 13 Att, 49 Yds, TD |
| Florida | Receiving | Ricky Nattiel | 7 Rec, 97 Yds, 3 TD |
Full broadcast on YouTube Game highlights on YouTube
Scoring summary :
| Quarter | Time | Drive | Drive | Drive | Team | Scoring information | Score | Score |
| Quarter | Time | Plays | Yards | TOP | Team | Scoring information | UGA | UF |
| 1 | | | 68 | | Georgia | Lars Tate 1-yard touchdown run, Steve Crumley kick good | 7 | 0 |
| 1 | | | | | Georgia | 24-yard field goal by Steve Crumley | 10 | 0 |
| 2 | | | | | Florida | 23-yard field goal by Jeff Dawson | 10 | 3 |
| 2 | | | | | Georgia | 35-yard field goal by Steve Crumley | 13 | 3 |
| 2 | 7:50 | | | | Georgia | 45-yard field goal by Steve Crumley | 16 | 3 |
| 2 | 2:14 | | | | Florida | Ricky Nattiel 8-yard touchdown reception from Kerwin Bell, Steve Dawson kick good | 16 | 10 |
| 3 | 5:23 | | | | Georgia | 43-yard field goal by Steve Crumley | 19 | 10 |
| 3 | | | | | Florida | Ricky Nattiel 9-yard touchdown reception from Kerwin Bell, Steve Dawson kick good | 19 | 17 |
| 4 | | | | | Florida | James Massey 3-yard touchdown run, Steve Dawson kick good | 19 | 24 |
| 4 | 5:34 | | | | Florida | Ricky Nattiel 42-yard touchdown reception from Kerwin Bell, Steve Dawson kick good | 19 | 31 |
| "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | 19 | 31 |

### At Kentucky

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Florida | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Kentucky | 7 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 10 |

### At Florida State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Florida | 7 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 17 |
| Florida State | 3 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 13 |