Just like the snap of a Florida Alligator’s jaws, the Spurrier era got off to a bang with a 50-7 drubbing of Oklahoma State.  The Gators, showing an efficient passing attack led by Quarterback Shane Mathews which had been lacking since the 1986 season moved up and down the field at will unveiling their new Offense which was to take the SEC by storm over the next decade.  Season highlights included crushing defeats of Auburn and Georgia (48-7 and 38-7 respectively).  Although the Gators again finished with the best record in the SEC as in 1985, they were unable to claim the conference crown due to the NCAA imposed one year bowl ban stemming from the 1989 investigation.  The Defense was keyed by All-Americans Defensive End Huey Richardson and Safety Will White as well as outstanding play from stalwarts like Cornerback Richard Fain and Defensive Tackle Brad Culpepper, Linebacker Godfrey Myles and Tim Paulk.  The Pass Defense proved vulnerable to strong passing teams though with its new 8 man front scheme and contributed greatly to losses against Tennessee and fsu.  Florida finished with a 9-2 record.

The Gators were again strong in 1991 due to the talented Senior class which had been the backbone of the team for the previous two seasons.  Standouts on Defense included DTs Brad Culpepper and Tony McCoy and LB Tim Paulk while the Offense was again led by QB Shane Mathews, a veteran and talented receiving corps, Tailback Errict Rhett and a powerful Offensive Line composed of 4 Seniors including All SEC Center Cal Dixon and Guard Hesham Ismael.  After suffering a surprising road loss to Syracuse, Florida rolled through its SEC schedule handily defeating Alabama (35-0), LSU (16-0), Tennessee (35-18), Auburn (31-10), and Georgia (45-13).  The Gators then held off a determined Kentucky team 35-26 at home to claim its second SEC Championship and set up an huge showdown with in-state rival fsu.  In a very physical and emotional game in the Swamp, the Gators prevailed by a 14-9 score as fsu’s last pass fell incomplete in the endzone in the final minutes.  The Gators were rewarded with a trip to the Sugar Bowl vs. Notre Dame. Despite registering 511 yards in total offense including a record 370 yards passing by Shane Matthews, the Gators suffered a 39-28 setback to the Irish largely due to a now injury depleted Defense and the powerful running of Notre Dame Fullback Jerome Bettis.  Notre Dame scored three TDs in the last five minutes of the game after Florida had moved ahead 22-17 early in the fourth quarter. Florida finished the season 10-2 – the first 10 win season in school history.

With the departure of so many Seniors including all four starting Defensive Linemen and four of five startes on the Offensive Line, Florida experienced a “disappointing” 9-4 season in 1992.  The season included a victory over Auburn and a 26-24 upset victory over Georgia.  Despite suffering two defeats in conference play, Florida won the Eastern Division of the newly expanded SEC and faced undefeated Alabama in the inaugural SEC Championship game on “neutral” Legion Field in Birmingham Alabama.  In that game, Florida moved the ball surprisingly well against Bama’s stingy Defense but suffered a last minute interception returned for a touchdown to fall 28-21.  The season was capped by a Gator Bowl invitation where Florida faced ACC runnerup NC State.  Errict Rhett rushed for 182 yards, the third top total in Gator Bowl history and the second best total for a Florida player in a bowl game, to highlight an impressive 27-10 win. UF's defense had a fine night as it held the Wolfpack to just 13 first downs and 267 yards in total offense while Shane Matthews closed out his brilliant career leading a Gator offense that registered 26 first downs, ran 88 plays, and totaled 445 yards in total offense. Rhett was named MVP of the game – although many Gator fans not only on TV but also in the stands did not see much of the action due to a very thick fog bank that rolled in during the 1^st quarter.  Shane Mathews finished his career as the school’s leading passer after accumulating over 9,000 passing yards and was twice named SEC Player of the Year.

The 1993 Gators led by outstanding Freshman Quarterback Danny Wuerffel and on-again off-again Junior Terry Dean finished with an 11-2 record –the best in school history and their third SEC Championship after downing Alabama by a 28-13 score in the second SEC Championship Game held once again on “neutral” Legion Field in Birmingham Alabama.  Season highlights including a thrilling 41-34 shootout win over Tennessee in the Swamp and 33-26 over Georgia in Jacksonville as well as a 58- 3 drubbing of LSU (the most lopsided win in the series).  Losses included heartbreaking last second defeats to Auburn (35-38) and fsu (21-33).  The Gators were again rewarded with a trip to the Sugar Bowl to face undefeated West Virginia where they easily prevailed by a 41-7 score.  The win was UF's first Sugar Bowl victory in four appearances and represented the school's first New Year's Day bowl win since a 27-12 win over Georgia Tech on Jan.1, 1967 in the Orange Bowl. Errict Rhett, who rushed for 105 yards and three TDs, was named the game's MVP and finished his outstanding 4 year career with 4,163 rushing yards – the most in school history.

After being tabbed as one of the front runners for the national championship and attaining the number 1 ranking for the second time in school history (1985 just prior to the Georgia game was the first) Florida finished the 1994 season with a “disappointing” 10-2-1 record and the school’s 4^th SEC Championship.  The highlights of the season included a 31-0 victory over Tennessee in Knoxville and a 52-14 wipeout of Georgia in the first game in the series played in Gainesville since 1931 and only the second overall.  Lowlights included blowing a 31-3 fourth quarter lead in Tallahassee to allow fsu to tie the game and an eventual 23-17 loss to fsu in a Sugar Bowl rematch.

Less was expected from the 1995 squad after the graduation of several key starters on Defense including All American DE Kevin Carter and first round draft choice DT Ellis Johnson among others.  The Defense did indeed prove somewhat more vulnerable but the Offense now directed by QB Danny Wuerffel as the full time starter was so potent it didn’t matter. The Gators put together a string of twelve straight victories including a thrilling 62-37 shootout with Tennessee on a rain drenched afternoon that saw Florida overcome a 30-14 deficit and score touchdowns on seven straight possessions.  Other key victories included a 49-38 come-from-behind victory over Auburn and a 28-10 victory over LSU.  Florida faced Georgia in Athens for the first time since 1932 and hung a 52-17 blowout on UGA becoming the first visiting team to score more than 50 points in the history of Sanford Stadium.  Florida then put together workmanlike victories over fsu (35-24) and Arkansas in the SEC Championship Game (34-3) to claim the school’s 5^th SEC Championship and its third in a row.  The Gators, now undefeated and ranked #2 in the country were to face one of the strongest teams in college football history – the undefeated #1 ranked Nebraska Cornhuskers in the Fiesta Bowl for the national championship.  The Gators started strong, holding a 10-6 lead at the end of the first quarter, but the Cornhuskers were too much as they posted a 62-24 victory and captured their second consecutive national title.

The 1996 season marked the debut of new Defensive Coordinator Bob Stoops brought in to shore up the Gators leaky pass Defense and the end of the 8 man front in favor of a traditional 4-3 scheme.  The Gators opened with 10 straight wins with most of them being in blowout fashion over Tennessee, LSU, Auburn and UGA setting up a #1 vs #2 showdown with in-state rival fsu in Tallahassee.  The injury riddled Florida Offensive Line had difficulty holding off a fierce fsu pass rush and the Gators dropped a 21-24 heartbreaker seemingly knocking them out of the national title picture.  Team spirits received a considerable boost however when Texas defeated Nebraska in the Big 12 Championship Game thus paving the way for a Sugar Bowl rematch if Florida could get past Alabama in the SEC Chamionship Game.in Atlanta.  Belatedly Spurrier adopted the shotgun to give Danny Wuerffel a bit of extra time behind the injury depleted Offensive Line, and that was all Wuerffel needed as Florida pulled away from Alabama in the second half for a 45-30 win and Florida’s 6^th SEC Championship and 4^th in a row. The Gators received a bit more help from the football gods when Ohio State won in the last minute over undefeated Arizona State making the Sugar Bowl rematch with fsu a de facto National Championship game. 

Both teams opened the contest throwing the football, combining for 238 yards passing and a 10-3 Gator lead at the end of the first quarter. Florida, which worked out of the shotgun for much of the game and with a now healthier Offensive Line, twice extended its lead to 14 points, but the seminoles responded each time, cutting the UF lead to 24-17 with under a minute to play in the half.fsu trimmed the Gator lead to 24-20 on a 45 yard field goal less than five minutes into the second half, but fsu would not score again.  Florida sealed the victory by scoring the final 28 points of the game, a run that began with Ike Hilliard's third touchdown reception of the game on an eight-yard strike from Danny Wuerffel.  Wuerffel scrambled 16 yards for a score to put UF up 38-20 with 13 seconds left in the third quarter, and Terry Jackson added two fourth quarter scoring runs, including a 42-yarder, for the final margin. The Gator defense was strong from start to finish, stopping the seminoles on downs at the UF 23 on the game's opening possession and holding FSU to just 42 total net yards rushing, just two yards shy of the UF bowl record set against Baylor in the 1960 Gator Bowl.  For his outstanding play all season, Danny Wuerffel was named as the second Heisman Trophy Winner in school history. 

The Gators opened the 1997 with five straight wins behind the running of Tailback Fred Taylor and a fierce Defense to aid new starting Sophomore Quarterback Doug Johnson.  Johnson’s inconsistent play was to come back to haunt Florida though in a close 21-28 loss at LSU and for the first time after seven straight wins, the Gators lost to Georgia in Jacksonville.  With Florida now out of the race for the SEC Championship there was just one major goal left for the regular season – dashing the hopes of undefeated and #1 ranked in-state rival fsu in the Swamp.  In a tight see-saw battle that saw Fred Taylor lose two fumbles and rush for 162 yards and 4 touchdowns, Florida drove down the length of the field before Taylor bulled in from the 1 yard line for the 4^th time of the day to put the Gators ahead 32-29.  The Gator Defense then sealed one of the most thrilling wins in the history of the Swamp with an interception with less than a minute to play.  On New Years Day 1998 in Orlando the Gators defeated Penn State and legendary Nittany Lion coach Joe Paterno at the Florida Citrus Bowl. Fred Taylor rushed for 234 yards, the most ever by a Gator in a bowl game and he most ever in the Citrus Bowl, to lead the Gators to a 21-6 victory. The Gator defense was also a top story of the days as it held Penn State to just 139 total yards, the lowest ever for a Penn squad under Paterno, and twice stopped the Nittany Lions from scoring on fourth and goal situations inside the one-yard line in the second quarter.  With the Citrus Bowl victory, Florida finished the season with a 10-2 record.

The 1998 season got off to a bad start early as the mistake prone Gators lost in overtime against Tennessee after committing five turnovers.  Florida recovered well from that defeat rattling off seven straight wins including LSU, Alabama, Auburn and Georgia but injuries took big toll on the team forcing Florida to face its in-state rival fsu without eight starters including Quarterback Jesse Palmer who had won the starting job and the entire starting Defensive Line.  Fsu had injury problems of its own having to play without starting Quarterback Chris Weinke, but the lack of depth on the Defensive Line as well as the erratic play of Quarterback Doug Johnson was too much for the Gators to overcome.  A healthier Gator squad faced Syracuse in the Orange Bowl and won handily 31-10 with a now healthy Jesse Palmer substituting at Quarterback for Doug Johnson who broke his leg in the contest.  The Gators again finished with a 10-2 record.  Florida’s sixth consecutive season with at least 10 wins is something that has never been matched in SEC history.

The 1999 season started promisingly with the Gators winning nine of the first ten contests behind the leadership of Quarterback Doug Johnson. Included in that string of victories were wins over Tennessee, LSU, Auburn and Georgia.  The lone setback was a heartbreaking 39-40 defeat to Alabama in the Swamp as the Gator Defense proved unable to stop Alabama’s super Tailback Shaun Alexander in the second half.  Uniquely for a Gator squad under Steve Spurrier, the play of the 1999 team seemed to get worse as the season wore on rather than better.  This became readily apparent when the Gators dropped their final 3 games of the season to finish with a disappointing 9-4 record.

The Gators finished the decade with a 102-22-1 good for an 82% winning percentage making the 90’s the best decade in Florida’s history.  Achieving 100 victories in a decade is also considered to be a major milestone and is something few programs have accomplished.