Miami vs. Florida football 1956

I found this silent clip recently in my parents' home movies. It's from December 1, 1956 at Florida Field in Gainesville. My parents were young Miami alums, graduating a year earlier. For more than a decade their tradition was to take the train to Gainesville to watch this matchup every other year.

The 1956 team was Miami's highest finish prior to the 1983 national title squad. Coach Andy Gustafson's team defeated Florida, 20-7, in this game to remain unbeaten at 8-0-1. One week later the Canes apparently suffered a letdown, losing at home to Pittsburgh, 14-7, for the only defeat of the season. They ended up #6 in the final polls.

Admittedly the footage isn't always great but this video gives you a feel for the styles and pageantry of the era. Note the long skirts on Miami cheerleaders. Plus the card stunts that were in vogue. Also, anyone familiar with the Gators' home field can see how much it has changed in 51 years. In contrast, the Orange Bowl would look almost identical, then and now.

This video features a famous play in Miami football history, a long TD run down the left sideline by the Canes' great fullback Don Bosseler, a member of the College Football Hall of Fame and Miami's Ring of Honor. At the 2:20 mark Bosseler can be seen breaking clear, running toward the corner of the end zone where the Miami section was located. Bosseler is also shown being interviewed briefly after the game ended. He was drafted 9th in the first round by Washington months later, and played 8 seasons including one Pro Bowl.

BTW, all my previous YouTube uploads have been horse races, and this clip also has a racing angle. The horse shown briefly at about the 2:03 mark is Needles, a Florida-bred who won the 1956 Kentucky Derby seven months earlier, in a huge boost for racing in the state. There's also a card stunt related to Needles' appearance.

Category:

Sports

Tags:

• Miami
• Florida
• football
• 1956
• Canes
• Gators
• Don
• Bosseler
• Andy
• Gustafson
• Needles

[Jazzgirl8888]

This video is so much fun to watch !

I love videos like this and the appearance of Needles is fantastic.

Thank you for posting :)

[AwsiDooger]

You're welcome, Jazzgirl.

BTW, I've gotta concede, when I got an email notification that someone had posted in this thread, I expected it to be a Gator fan chortling about their victory over the Canes last week. You're comment was a very welcome relief. :)

[AwsiDooger]

your not you're

[twentybinders]

Dude, thats awsome...did one of your family members play ball for either team?

My dad played for the Canes in the 70's and he said he found an old video and the part where it was cued up at, it was of them fumbling the ball, lol

[AwsiDooger]

LOL. That's a great story.

If it was during the '70s I'm sure I saw that fumble.:)

None of my relatives played for the Canes. My parents are alums Class of '55.

[Speyrer88]

This is fantastic--also unusual to see something that far back in color. Greatness!

[AwsiDooger]

Thanks for the compliments on the video.

Yeah, I'm not surprised my dad was ahead of the curve, with a color camera in the mid '50s. When I was a kid we always had the first remote control in the neighborhood, first VCR, portable TVs, etc.

LOL. It certainly has changed. My dad's computer dates to '99, and he still uses headphones and radios and binoculars that I remember from the '70s.

[tekiman25]

At 0:05 you can see the building behind the south end zone. that is " Weil Hall" the Civil Engineering building. Spent countless hours in that building and the best thing of all it was across the street from the stadium great times!. I graduated in 09 and is great to see the CE building was always there. Thanks for posting!

[DirkXXVI]

@BigMDS67 Well consider this. Back then QB's who completed just barely over 50% of their passes were considered God's so maybe back then 6-4 wasn't so bad.

[BigMDS67]

56 wasn't a great year for Florida,they went 6-4.

[dorrishero]

which game was the game that never happend?

[stamargo71]

Great footage. That's well before my time, it's amazing how steadily the stadium has grown over the years.

[FloridaGator96]

It doesn't matter if you're a Florida fan or a Miami fan, THAT video (old film) is really neat! Thanks for sharing it.

My dad was in school at that time. He's a 1954 UF grad, so chances are good he was at the game.

Seeing a few shots of the old north end zone was nice. It was only about 30 rows high until 1990 when UF built up the massive north end zone. In the shots to the video's right, you can see the south end zone & Stadium Drive (I have no idea what the road may have been called then).

[topdawg567]

BTW that's exactly 100 years after the school was founded. =D

[topdawg567]

That's Ben Hill Griffin Stadium!? MY GOD IT"S SMALL!

[driver8train]

Thank you for putting this on here! I wish there was more of this!!!!