There are 72 days between now and the debut of Florida State football in 2018. As part of the offseason, we’re doing a countdown that highlights players, games, and specific moments from FSU football history.
On Friday, it was Derrick Gibson and his 73 tackles during the 1999 national championship season.
Today, it’s former quarterback Gary Huff and his incredible 1972 season that raised the bar for quarterback play at FSU.
The long legacy of excellent quarterback play at Florida State continued in 1972 with a man named Gary Huff. Huff was unveiled to FSU fans in the fourth quarter of the 1970 contest against Florida, where he threw for over 200 yards and three touchdowns in mop-up duty.
But he wasn’t named the full-time starter until 1971, when he led the team to a Fiesta Bowl appearance after tossing 23 touchdowns. While gaudy quarterback numbers weren’t totally unheard of back then, they were much more rare. Expectations were sky-high for Huff in 1972.
Florida State sputtered a bit under Larry Jones and finished with a somewhat disappointing 7-4 record. But it certainly was not because of Huff.
The senior from Tampa was as prolific as ever, passing for over 2,800 yards and 25 touchdowns, albeit with 23 interceptions. Huff threw for three or more touchdowns in four contests and threw for over 300 yards in two others. There was only one game where be met both criteria: the rivalry match-up against Miami, where Huff recorded 329 yards passing and four touchdown tosses on the way to a 37-14 win.
In the days before efficiency became the focus for quarterbacks, Huff’s stats were the hallmark of a gunslinger.
It showed in the record books. When he left Florida State, Huff held more than 30 FSU records in passing, total offense, and total touchdowns. His 1972 season was what pushed him from just “great quarterback” to “legendary quarterback”. Huff finished 10th in the Heisman voting that year.
Huff was chosen in the second round of the 1973 NFL Draft by the Chicago Bears. He played six years in the NFL for Chicago and Tampa Bay. He was elected into the FSU Hall of Fame in 1983.
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