Florida’s 1990 football season opened in the shadow of one of Gainesville’s darkest stretches, and ESPN is revisiting that week in a new 30 for 30 documentary, “14 Days in Gainesville.”
Two weeks before Steve Spurrier coached his first game at Florida, five students were murdered in Gainesville. By the time the Gators took the field against Oklahoma State on Sept. 8, 1990, the city was still reeling. Former police sergeant Ed Book said football simply wasn’t on the community’s mind.
“I don't remember anything related to sports or any other factor that impacted our community, other than we were going to work and trying to find somebody who had victimized our community,” Book said.
The murders began with Sonja Larson and Christina Powell in the early morning hours of Aug. 24.
Book said he learned of the killings later that day while finishing a shift with another road sergeant. Officers were called to perform a well-being check, and when the bodies were discovered, the response was immediate.
“The officer came on the radio. The sergeant and I looked, and then said, ‘Notify everybody,’” Book said. “From there, from there on, the city was brought to its knees by the serial killer.”
Christa Hoyt was murdered on Aug. 25, and Tracy Paules and Manny Taboada were killed on Aug. 27. Book said the fear in Gainesville was unlike anything he had seen before or since, with residents unsure whether it was safe to even go outside.
“You didn't see individuals walking or biking,” Book said.
The city was still living through that panic when Spurrier’s first Florida team ran out against Oklahoma State and won 50-7. The win came at a moment when the Gators were trying to rebuild their image after NCAA sanctions had turned the program into a national embarrassment in the late 1980s.
Shane Matthews, then a redshirt sophomore and the starting quarterback, said the team felt the tension around campus even if he didn’t personally feel threatened. Florida players lived in Yon Hall, and security was tight.
“That's like a dungeon over there. Nobody was getting in that place,” Matthews said.
Still, he remembered an unsettling atmosphere at practice.
“We'd be at practice, and you'd hear sirens going nonstop,” Matthews said. “Students had come back getting ready for school season, and they were going home.”
Matthews also had a personal connection to the tragedy. His finance tutor from the 1989-90 school year had lived in the same apartment complex at Gatorwood as Paules and Taboada.
“I thought it was her, but she had just left the semester before,” Matthews said.
Even with all of that hanging over the city, Matthews said the Gators knew they could offer something important once the game started.
“It was something that we were able to bring some joy to the community to take their minds off what a horrible tragedy that happened,” Matthews said.
The Gainesville Sun’s Sept. 9, 1990, front page reflected that reaction, with the headline “Kickoff lifts spirits at UF.” One fan from Jacksonville said people in the stands seemed to be using the game as a release.
“I think there’s still a lot of apprehension,” the fan said. “Everybody’s just putting it aside to enjoy the game.”
Director Dan Levin said that same idea pulled him toward the story. Levin, who is not from Gainesville and did not attend UF, said his wife is a Florida alum. He also drew a connection to how sports helped New York heal after 9/11.
“What interested me was how a football game and how sports can unite in times of tragedy, and that was what sort of brought me in as thinking that this was an interesting story and one that was worth telling,” Levin said.
Matthews said the 1990 team often gets lost because of the circumstances around the season. Florida was on probation for violations under former coach Galen Hall, so the Gators could not win the SEC or play in a bowl game.
Even so, they finished 9-2 and beat then-No. 4 Auburn 48-7, posting the best record in the conference.
An official SEC title and Sugar Bowl appearance came the next year, but Matthews believes the 1990 group deserves more credit than it has received.
“We were the best team in the SEC, and it’s a shame we aren’t honored,” Matthews said. “Hopefully that’ll change, and they’ll put us with the rest of those teams when the stadium has been renovated.”
“14 Days in Gainesville” premieres on ESPN Sept. 15 at 8 p.m.
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