Florida Gators football , 1940 – 1949 The Florida Gators football team represents the University of Florida in the sport of American football . The University of Florida fielded its first official varsity football team in the fall of 1906 , and has fielded a team every season since then , with the exception of 1943 . During the 1940s , the Gators competed in the National Collegiate Athletic Association ( NCAA ) and the Southeastern Conference ( SEC ) , and played their home games at Florida Field on the university ' s Gainesville , Florida campus . This article includes a game - by - game list of the Florida Gators ' ten football seasons from 1940 to 1949 . During the 1940s , the Gators were coached by Thomas J . " Tom " Lieb ( 1940 – 1945 ) and Raymond " Bear " Wolf ( 1946 – 1949 ) . Lieb and Wolf compiled an overall record of 33 – 50 – 3 ( . 401 ) during the decade . 1940 . Season overview . The 1940 college football season was the first of four for Thomas J . " Tom " Lieb as the head coach of the Florida Gators football team . Lieb was the former coach of the Loyola Lions , and had previously served as Knute Rockne ' s primary assistant and on - the - field replacement while Rockne was in the hospital during most of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish ' s 1930 national championship season . The highlights of the Gators ' 1940 season included victories over the Maryland Terrapins ( 19 – 0 ) , the Georgia Bulldogs ( 18 – 13 ) , the Miami Hurricanes ( 46 – 6 ) and the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets ( 16 – 7 ) . Lieb ' s 1940 Florida Gators finished with a 5 – 5 overall record and a 2 – 3 record in the Southeastern Conference ( SEC ) , placing eighth among thirteen SEC teams . 1941 . Season overview . The 1941 college football season was Tom Lieb ' s second as the head coach of the Florida Gators football team . The highlights of the season included a 14 – 0 road win over the Miami Hurricanes in Miami , Florida , and a hard - fought 14 – 7 Homecoming victory the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets . After the season was over , end Fergie Ferguson was named the Gators ' first - ever first - team All - Southeastern Conference ( SEC ) selection and an honorable mention All - American for the second year in a row . Lieb ' s 1941 Florida Gators finished with a 4 – 6 overall record and a 1 – 3 record in the SEC , placing tenth among twelve conference teams . 1942 . Season overview . The 1942 college football season was Tom Lieb ' s third as Florida ' s head coach . By the autumn of 1942 , World War II had begun to affect many college football programs . Florida lost several players and most of its coaching staff to the war effort before the season , and lost several more players during the season , leading to diminishing success as the schedule progressed . The highlight of the campaign was the Gators ' 6 – 0 edging of the Auburn Tigers on Florida Field , the Gators ' only Southeastern Conference ( SEC ) victory of the year . They also suffered through a crushing 75 – 0 defeat by coach Wally Butts ' SEC champion Georgia Bulldogs in Jacksonville , Florida , the worst defeat in the history of Florida ' s football program . The Gators began the season 3 - 1 but lost their final six contests to finish with a 3 – 7 overall record . Their 1 – 3 conference record placed ninth among twelve teams in the SEC . 1943 . No team . For the first and only autumn since the modern University of Florida opened its Gainesville campus in 1906 , the university did not field an official varsity football team during the 1943 college football season because most able - bodied men of college age were serving in the U . S . armed forces during World War II . Florida was one of seven Southeastern Conference schools that did not field a squad during the 1943 season . 1944 . Season overview . The 1944 college football season was the fourth for Tom Lieb as the head coach of the Florida Gators football team . The highlights of the season included the Gators ' 13 – 6 Homecoming victory over the Maryland Terrapins and their 13 – 0 shutout of the in - state rival Miami Hurricanes on the Hurricanes ' home field . The Gators also scored solid victories over teams from two U . S . Naval Air Station s in nearby Jacksonville . Lieb ' s 1944 Florida Gators finished with a 4 – 3 overall record and a 0 – 3 record in the Southeastern Conference ( SEC ) , placing tenth among twelve SEC teams . ` 1945 . Season overview . The 1945 college football season was the fifth and last for Tom Lieb as the head coach of the Florida Gators football team . Among the season ' s highlights was the Gators ' 26 – 13 neutral site victory over the Ole Miss Rebels played in Jacksonville , Florida . The Gators also split a pair of games against teams from two U . S . military training bases . Lieb ' s 1945 Florida Gators finished with a 4 – 5 – 1 overall record and a 1 – 3 – 1 record in the Southeastern Conference ( SEC ) , placing ninth among twelve SEC teams . After Lieb ' s coaching contract was not renewed , he became the track & field coach and an assistant football coach at the University of Alabama , where his old Notre Dame teammate Frank Thomas was the head coach of the Alabama Crimson Tide . 1946 . Season overview . The 1946 college football season was Raymond " Bear " 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 twelfth of twelve SEC teams . 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 ironically 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 . Players on these teams included future Florida attorney general James W . Kynes and College Football Hall of Fame coach Marcelino Huerta . 1947 . Season overview . The 1947 college football season was Bear Wolf ' s second as the head coach of the Florida Gators football team . The Gators broke a thirteen - game post - war losing streak , dating back to the 1945 and 1946 seasons , when they upset the eighteenth - ranked North Carolina State Wolfpack 7 – 6 on the Wolfpack ' s home field in Raleigh , North Carolina . Among the other highlights of the season , the Gators beat the in - state rival Miami Hurricanes in Miami , Florida , and ended the season with a 25 – 7 intersectional victory versus the Kansas State Wildcats . Wolf ' s 1947 Florida Gators finished with a 4 – 5 – 1 overall record and a 0 – 3 – 1 record in the Southeastern Conference ( SEC ) , placing twelfth among twelve SEC teams . 1948 . Season overview . The 1948 college football season was the third for Bear Wolf ' s as the Florida Gators football team ' s head coach . The season ' s highlights included the Gators ' 16 – 9 win against the Auburn Tigers and their 27 – 13 Homecoming victory over the Miami Hurricanes . Wolf ' s 1948 Florida Gators finished with a 5 – 5 overall record and a 1 – 5 record in the Southeastern Conference ( SEC ) , placing tenth among twelve SEC teams . Several members of the Florida Board of Control and a number of Florida alumni called for Wolf to step down after the 1948 season , but football player - led student rallies in his support ended with Wolf ' s contract being extended for another year . 1949 . Season overview . The 1949 college football season was Bear Wolf ' s fourth and last as the head coach of the Florida Gators football team . The highlight of the season was the Gators ' 28 – 7 upset of the Georgia Bulldogs . Led by halfback Chuck Hunsinger , who rushed for 171 yards and three touchdown s , and team captain Jimmy Kynes , who was the defensive star and played every minute of the sixty - minute game , the Gators beat the Dawgs for the first time since 1940 . Wolf ' s 1949 Florida Gators finished 4 – 5 – 1 overall and 1 – 4 – 1 in the Southeastern Conference ( SEC ) , placing tenth of twelve SEC teams , and ending the Gators ' ironically - named " Golden Era . " After Wolf left Gainesville , he returned to his alma mater , Texas Christian University , where he became a long - time administrator .