1937 Florida Gators football team

The 1937 Florida Gators football team represented the University of Florida during the 1937 college football season. The season was the second for Josh Cody as the head coach of the Florida Gators football team. The highlight of the season was the Gators' only 1930s win over the Georgia (6–0) in Jacksonville, Florida, but the season was mostly remembered for its disappointments—three one-point losses to Temple (7–6), Mississippi State (14–13), and Clemson (10–9). Cody's 1937 Florida Gators finished 4–7 overall and 3–4 in the Southeastern Conference (SEC), placing eighth of thirteen SEC teams in the conference standings.^[1]

1937 Florida Gators football
Conference	Southeastern Conference
Record	4–7 (3–4 SEC)
Head coach	Josh Cody (2nd season)
Captain	Walter Mayberry
Home stadium	Florida Field
Uniform
Seasons ← 1936 1938 →

1937 Southeastern Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 4 Alabama $	6	–	0	–	0			9	–	1	–	0
No. 8 LSU	5	–	1	–	0			9	–	2	–	0
Auburn	4	–	1	–	2			6	–	2	–	3
Vanderbilt	4	–	2	–	0			7	–	2	–	0
Mississippi State	3	–	2	–	0			5	–	4	–	1
Georgia Tech	3	–	2	–	1			6	–	3	–	1
Tennessee	4	–	3	–	0			6	–	3	–	1
Florida	3	–	4	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Tulane	2	–	3	–	1			5	–	4	–	1
Georgia	1	–	2	–	2			6	–	3	–	2
Ole Miss	0	–	4	–	0			4	–	5	–	1
Kentucky	0	–	5	–	0			4	–	6	–	0
Sewanee	0	–	6	–	0			2	–	7	–	0
$ – Conference champion

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 25	at LSU	Tiger Stadium Baton Rouge, LA (rivalry)	L 0–19	15,000	[2]
October 2	Stetson*	Florida Field Gainesville, FL	W 18–0	4,000	[3]
October 9	at Temple*	Beury Stadium Philadelphia, PA	L 6–7	10,000	[4]
October 16	Sewanee	Florida Field Gainesville, FL	W 21–0	5,000	[5]
October 23	at Mississippi State	Scott Field Starkville, MS	L 13–14	7,500	[6]
October 30	at Maryland*	Byrd Stadium College Park, MD	L 7–13	10,000	[7]
November 6	vs. Georgia	Fairfield Stadium Jacksonville, FL (rivalry)	W 6–0	20,000	[8]
November 13	Clemson*	Florida Field Gainesville, FL	L 9–10	6,000	[9]
November 20	Georgia Tech	Florida Field Gainesville, FL	L 0–12	16,000	[10]
November 27	vs. Auburn	Fairfield Stadium Jacksonville, FL (rivalry)	L 0–14		[11]
December 4	Kentucky	Florida Field Gainesville, FL (rivalry)	W 6–0		[12]
*Non-conference game Homecoming

^[1]

Game summaries

Temple

Mayberry starred in a close loss to coach Pop Warner's Temple Owls,^[13] keeping the 10,000 spectators "in an uproar for nearly three periods."^[14]

Georgia

The 1937 team defeated the Georgia Bulldogs in the two teams' annual rivalry game for the first time in eight years.^[15][16]

Postseason

Tiger Mayberry ranked second in the country with 818 rushing yards; only Byron White exceeded Mayberry's rushing total that year.^[17]

Mayberry also intercepted six passes when the Gators' opponents only threw 57 balls,^[18][19] and was a first-team All-SEC selection by the conference coaches and sportswriters on behalf of the Associated Press.^[20]