The 1983 Florida Citrus Bowl was an American

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

bowl game In North America, a bowl game, or simply bowl, is one of a number of postseason college football games primarily played by NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) teams. For most of its history, the FBS did not use a playoff tourname ...

played on December 17, 1983 at

Florida Citrus Bowl Camping World Stadium is an outdoor stadium in Orlando, Florida, United States located in the West Lakes neighborhood of Downtown Orlando, west of new sports and entertainment facilities including the Kia Center, the Dr. Phillips Center for t ...

Orlando, Florida Orlando ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Orange County, Florida, United States. The city proper had a population of 307,573 at the 2020 census, making it the fourth-most populous city in Florida behind Jacksonville, Florida, Jacksonville ...

. The game pitted the

Tennessee Volunteers The Tennessee Volunteers and Lady Volunteers are the 20 male and female varsity intercollegiate athletics programs that represent the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee. The Volunteers compete in Division I of the National Colleg ...

and the

Maryland Terrapins The Maryland Terrapins, commonly referred to as the Terps, consist of 19 men's and women's college sports in the United States, varsity intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Maryland, College Park in National Collegiate ...

Background

Tennessee

Tennessee started the season 1-2, with a win over New Mexico and losses to #10 Pittsburgh and #11 Auburn (all at home). The Volunteers promptly won the next five games, including a road victory at #11 Alabama. A loss to Ole Miss was followed by victories over Kentucky and Vanderbilt to end the season tied for third place with Florida in the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central United States, South Central and Southeastern United States. Its 16 members in ...

. This was Tennessee's third straight bowl season.

Maryland

Maryland began the season ranked #17, and they opened the season with a win over SEC opponent Vanderbilt. A loss to #20 West Virginia dropped them out of the polls, but the Terrapins won the next six games (with highlight wins over #17 Pittsburgh and #3 North Carolina), rising up to #7 in the polls. However, the Terps lost their next two games (to #3 Auburn and #17 Clemson), though they finished the season with a win over North Carolina State. Due to Clemson (who won all seven of their ACC games) being on probation for recruiting violations, Maryland (who finished 5-1 in ACC play) was declared the champion of the

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the ACC's eighteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athlet ...

. This was their first ACC title since 1976. This was their fourth straight bowl season.

Bowl

After 37 Tangerine Bowls, this was the first time that the game was played under the Florida Citrus moniker, accompanying the newly named stadium with the same name, which had been known as "Orlando Stadium" from 1977 to 1982.

Game summary

* Maryland –

Jess Atkinson Jess Gerald Atkinson (born December 11, 1961) is a former American football placekicker in the National Football League (NFL) for the St. Louis Cardinals, New York Giants, Washington Redskins, and the Indianapolis Colts. He played college footba ...

18 yard field goal * Tennessee –

Lenny Taylor Leonard Moore Taylor (born February 15, 1961) is an American former professional football wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) and Arena Football League (AFL). Biography Taylor was born Leonard Moore Taylor on February 15, 1961 ...

12 yard touchdown pass from

Alan Cockrell Atlee Alan Cockrell (born December 5, 1962) is an American former professional baseball outfielder and coach. Football career Twice named first-team all state, Cockrell led Joplin, Missouri's Parkwood High School Bears football team to a 31–3 ...

(Reveiz kick) * Maryland – Jess Atkinson 48 yard field goal * Maryland – Jess Atkinson 31 yard field goal * Tennessee –

Fuad Reveiz Fuad Reveiz (born February 24, 1963) is a Colombian-American former professional football player who was a placekicker for 10 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He was selected in the seventh round of the 1985 NFL draft by the Miam ...

25 yard field goal * Maryland – Jess Atkinson 22 yard field goal * Tennessee – Sam Henderson 19 yard touchdown run (Pass failed) * Maryland –

Rick Badanjek Richard Alan Badanjek (born April 25, 1962) is an American former professional football running back in the National Football League (NFL) for the Washington Redskins and Atlanta Falcons. Having grown up the son of interracial parents, he was a ...

3 yard touchdown run (Badjanek run) * Tennessee –

Johnnie Jones Johnnie Henry Jones (born June 30, 1962) is an American former professional football player who was a running back for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League (CFL). Though drafted by the Seattle Seahawks in 1985, injuries prev ...

1 yard touchdown run (Reveiz kick) * Tennessee – Johnnie Jones 2 yard touchdown run (Reveiz kick) * Maryland – Jess Atkinson 26 yard field goal The Vols beat the Terps on the ground and in the turnover department, with

Boomer Esiason Norman Julius "Boomer" Esiason (; born April 17, 1961) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons, primarily with the Cincinnati Bengals. He played college football for ...

getting injured after only six passes, which led to

Frank Reich Frank Michael Reich (; ; born December 4, 1961) is an American football coach and former player who is the interim head coach at Stanford University. He played 14 seasons as a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL). He became a coac ...

taking over. Johnnie Jones rushed for 154 yards on 29 carries with two touchdowns, while Alan Cockrell threw 16-of-23 for 185 yards and one touchdown. Alvin Toles recovered a fumble and intercepted a

pass, with both leading to scores by Tennessee. Tennessee had 25 first downs to Maryland's 17, while having 201 rushing yards and 185 passing yards, while Maryland had 95 rushing yards and 253 passing yards. Both teams turned the ball over twice. There was only one punt (by Tennessee), which went for 47 yards. The possession time was won by Tennessee, by 12 seconds. Reich went 14-of-22 for 192 yards with one interception. Jess Atkinson kicked five field goals for Maryland.

Aftermath

Tennessee would continue to reach bowl games, reaching four in the next four years (along with a SEC title). They did not come back to the Florida Citrus Bowl again until

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

. Maryland reached bowls in the next two seasons, though those would be the last for the rest of the decade. They have not reached the Citrus Bowl since this game.

References

{{Tennessee Volunteers bowl game navbox

Citrus Bowl (game) Maryland Terrapins football bowl games Tennessee Volunteers football bowl games