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1971 — The Gator Flop

The regular-season college football finale between Florida and Miami produced what the locals still refer to as, “The Gator Flop.”  Florida quarterback John Reaves came into the game needing 343 passing yards to break the NCAA record set the season before by Stanford’s Jim Plunkett.

With time winding down in the game, Florida led 45-8, but Reaves still needed 10 yards to break the record and Miami had the ball.  Even worse, the Hurricanes seemed in no hurry to try and score to give the ball back to Florida.  With Miami at the Florida 8-yard line, the Gators called timeout and hatched a plan.

As soon as the ball was snapped, every Florida defender hit the ground as if shot, and Miami QB John Hornibrook went in for an uncontested touchdown.  There was just enough left on the clock for Reaves to get the record by completing a pass to Carlos Alvarez as time expired. Miami coach Fran Curci called it, “the worst thing I have ever seen in football.”

Reaves became a first-round pick of the Philadelphia Eagles, but soon learned nobody lays down in the NFL.  He later found success hooking up with former Florida quarterback and pass happy coach Steve Spurrier with the Tampa Bay Bandits of the USFL.  And later still, he gained Lane Kiffin as a son-in-law.