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East Carolina Pirates |
Florida Gators © |
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Played October 22, 1983 at Florida Field Gainesville, Florida |
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Teams' Belt Records
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Team |
Belt Reigns |
Overall Record |
Home Record |
Away Record |
Neutral Record |
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W |
L |
T |
PCT |
W |
L |
T |
PCT |
W |
L |
T |
PCT |
W |
L |
T |
PCT |
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| East Carolina | 0 | ||||||||||||||||
| Florida © | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | ||||
Previous Belt Meetings: None
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1st |
2nd |
3rd |
4th |
Final |
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East Carolina |
7 |
3 |
0 |
7 |
17 |
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Florida |
0 |
7 |
10 |
7 |
24 |
Coach Ed Emory brought his surprising 5-1 East Carolina Pirates to battle the 6th ranked, 5-0-1 Florida Gators & coach Charley Pell. The Pirates’ only blemish had been a 47-46 loss at Florida State in their season opener. East Carolina featured RB Ernest Byner but the Pirates' defense, which intercepted Florida's QB Wayne Peace 4 times, was unable to stop the Gators running game. Both RB John L. Williams (119) & RB Neal Anderson (118) rushed for over 100 yards as Florida claimed a 24-17 victory. East Carolina took an early lead after a 10-play, 80-yard drive with Byner scoring on a 13-yard touchdown run. The Pirates pushed the lead to 10-0 when PK Jeff Heath connected on a 48-yard field goal. Anderson scored on a 3-yard touchdown run but East Carolina still led 10-7 as the teams went to intermission. The 3rd quarter was all Gators as they got a 47-yard touchdown on an option pass from RB Lorenzo Hampton to WR Bee Lang & a 29-yard field goal from PK Bobby Raymond for a 17-10 Florida advantage. The Pirates tied the game in the 4th quarter on a 15-yard touchdown run by RB Jimmy Walden but Anderson’s second touchdown of the day, this one on a 6-yard run, after a 9-play, 96-yard drive put the Gators back in front 24-17. East Carolina had a chance to at least tie the game but the Florida defense stiffened & held on for the win. Peace finished with 139 yards passing but 4 interceptions for the Gators while Byner rushed for 97 yards to go with his touchdown for the Pirates. Florida finished the season 9-2-1; ranked 6th nationally while the Pirates finished 8-3 & ranked 20th nationally. East Carolina would play for The Belt again in 1988.
