Florida 31, Syracuse 10
Jan. 2, 1999
Miami, Fla.
Syracuse’s 31-10 loss to Florida in the 1999 FedEx Orange Bowl at Orange Bowl Stadium in Miami, Florida was the final game for 14 Orange players, including captains Donovan McNabb, Rob Konrad, Scott Kiernan and Jason Poles. The game marked the 19th bowl appearance and the third Orange Bowl appearance for SU.
Despite Syracuse’s edge in time of possession in the first quarter (10:46 to 4:14), the Gators jumped out to an early 14-0 lead on two touchdown catches by Travis Taylor. Florida used just three plays on each drive and scored the two TDs less than three minutes apart. After a 36-yard field goal by Nate Trout opened the second quarter scoring to get SU on the board, Florida tallied 17 straight points to extend its lead to 31-3.
McNabb connected with sophomore Maurice Jackson for a 62-yard touchdown with just more than three minutes remaining for the 31-10 final.
McNabb threw for 192 yards on 14-of-30 passing. He also led the Orange in rushing with 72 yards on 20 attempts. Senior Kevin Johnson caught four passes for 49 yards. On the defensive end, Quentin Harris led SU with a career-high 17 tackles (nine solo), while Keith Bulluck recorded 12.
| Score by Quarter |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
F |
| Syracuse |
0 |
3 |
0 |
7 |
10 |
| Florida |
14 |
14 |
0 |
3 |
31 |
| Scoring Summary |
| Team |
Play |
Score |
| UF |
Taylor 51 pass from Johnson (Chandler kick) |
0-7 |
| UF |
Taylor 26 pass from Johnson (Chandler kick) |
0-14 |
| SU |
Trout 36 field goal |
3-14 |
| UF |
Kinney 4 pass from Palmer (Chandler kick) |
3-21 |
| UF |
Palmer 2 run (Chandler kick) |
3-28 |
| UF |
Chandler 32 field goal |
3-31 |
| SU |
Jackson 62 pass from McNabb (Trout kick) |
10-31 |
| Team Stats |
SU |
UF |
| First Downs |
18 |
18 |
| Rushing Yardage |
129 |
133 |
| Passing Yardage |
192 |
308 |
| Total Offense (Plays-Yds) |
66-321 |
67-441 |
| Passes |
14-30 |
22-31 |
| Passes Had Intercepted |
1 |
0 |
| Punts/Avg. |
5/43.0 |
7/36.9 |
| Punt Returns |
3-11 |
3-29 |
| Kickoff Returns |
3-59 |
3-37 |
| Fumbles-Lost |
3-3 |
0-0 |
| Penalties-Yards |
2-20 |
11-76 |
RUSHING: Syracuse - McNabb 20-72, Brown 5-31, McIntosh 6-14, Jackson 1-6, Konrad 4-6. Florida - Jackson 21-108, Taylor 2-16, Capel 2-6, Palmer 3-5, Gillespie 4-2, McCaslin 3-minus 2, Johnson 1-minus 2.
PASSING: Syracuse - McNabb 14-30-1-192. Florida - Johnson 12-17-0-195, Palmer 10-14-0-113.
RECEIVING: Syracuse - Johnson 4-49, Daniel 4-34, Konrad 3-29, Jackson 1-62, Woodcock 1-9, Brown 1-9. Florida - Taylor 7-159, Karim 4-79, Jackson 4-27, McGriff 2-25, Frazier 2-5, Gooch 1-5, Gillespie 1-4, Kinney 1-4.
