by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
When Collins Cooper and Mike Younkin walk onto Florida Field Saturday afternoon, it won’t be to take on Southern Mississippi. It won’t be to face archrival Tennessee or state nemesis Florida State. It won’t be for practice, either.
Cooper and Younkin will take the field to a packed house with about 100 other teammates and coaches from the 1996 team as the school honors the 10-year anniversary of the Gators’ first — and only — national title in football. Cooper, a graduate of Episcopal High, was the team’s placekicker.
“I’m excited,” said Cooper, who graduated from Florida in 1998 and law school from Florida State in 2002. Today, he’s a real estate attorney with Crabtree & Fallar on San Jose Boulevard. “It’s a kind gesture on the part of the university to do this.”
Younkin was Cooper’s long snapper and the two became close friends while playing for the Gators. In addition to both being walk-ons, Cooper and Younkin were both awarded scholarships by then-head coach Steve Spurrier on the same day. Spurrier, who’s now the head coach at South Carolina, will be in Gainesville along with dozens of players who have RSVP’d.
“As of today, we have over 90 coming back,” said Younkin. “It will be good to see all the old teammates and coaches. It will be pretty neat.”
Cooper intends to make a weekend out of the festivities but things Saturday are all about the team that beat undefeated and No. 1-ranked FSU 52-20 in the Sugar Bowl to win the championship.
“There’s a team and immediate-family barbecue at 1:30, then at 3 there’s a Gator Booster celebration,” said Cooper. “Then, we head to the stadium and right before kickoff we’ll be honored.”
Current Jacksonville Jaguars Mike Peterson and Fred Taylor were on that team. Peterson has indicated he’ll be there; Taylor can’t make it.
Both Cooper and Younkin realize Saturday’s celebration wouldn’t be happening without a little help in ‘96. Entering their final regular season game, both teams were undefeated and the Gators were ranked second in the nation. They lost 24-21 in Tallahassee and seemingly fell out of the national title hunt.
A week later, the Gators were in Atlanta to play Alabama for the SEC Championship. To get back in contention, they needed a win and they desperately needed Texas to upset Nebraska earlier that day in the Big 12 title game. The entire hotel knew when Texas took care of business.
“We were not thinking about it at the time,” said Cooper, who was named to the SEC all-academic team in 1997. “Our focus was on winning the SEC title. That championship was always the goal of Coach Spurrier. The national title was not in our hands.”
Getting a rematch with FSU boiled down to one play: an unlikely fourth-and-long conversion by Texas very late in the fourth quarter.
“We watched the Texas-Nebraska game in the hotel and when that play happened the whole hall erupted,” said Cooper. “We went wild for a few minutes and it really lit a fire in us.”
Younkin said Spurrier didn’t know what happened.
“(Quarterback) Doug Johnson and Coach Spurrier were coming off the elevator and (wide receiver) Jacquez Green went running up to them yelling,” said Younkin. “Coach Spurrier had no idea.”
The Texas win and the Gators’ 45-30 win over Alabama set up the rematch with FSU but it didn’t assure the Sugar Bowl would be for the championship, which then went to the team ranked No. 1 in the final polls. Both teams needed Arizona State to knock off Ohio State in the Rose Bowl earlier on New Year’s Day to make sure there wouldn’t be a split title. A late touchdown run by ASU quarterback Jake Plummer gave the Gators exactly what they needed.
After Saturday, it’ll be back to the real world for Cooper and Younkin. As a real estate attorney, Cooper handles a lot of closings and some commercial litigation, both of which he enjoys.
“The part I like is when the new couples come in to close on their first homes,” said Cooper, whose mother is Circuit Court Judge Mallory Cooper. “They bring their kids, it’s a pleasant environment and it’s non-confrontational.”
Younkin is a medical sales rep for Nuvasive. He doesn’t just sell lumbar fusion products, he gets to watch his clients at work.
“I sell spine implants and surgical instruments,” said Younkin, from a hospital in Gainesville where he was watching a spinal fusion procedure while on the phone.
Younkin is from Winter Park and graduated from Florida in 2000. After taking various sales positions in the state, he landed with Nuvasive and now lives in Windsor Parke.
“I love Jacksonville,” he said. “There are a lot of outdoors things to do and it’s growing. It’s close to the beach, but you can still do things like hunt.”