Cris Collinsworth

 Collinsworth's unique combination of speed and height attracted attention from colleges throughout the South. Collinsworth was granted an athletic scholarship from Doug Dickey to the University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida. Though he was recruited to be a run-first quarterback in the Gators in their option offense, Collinsworth threw a 99-yard touchdown pass to Derrick Gaffney against the Rice Owls in his first attempt at collegiate football, a throw which remains tied for the longest touchdown pass in NCAA history.Florida's option attack struggled against top defenses during Collinsworth's freshman season of 1977, and Coach Dickey chose to move his team away from an offensive based on running to a more balanced pro set approach for 1978. Collinsworth was made a wide receiver. His new coach was an ex- Gator quarterback Steve Spurrier in his first season as a coach. Collinsworth thrived in his new position even though the offense of Florida did not have the potential to save Dickey and his team. He was named a first-team All-Southeastern Conference (SEC) selection in 1978, 1979 and 1980. He was also named first-team All-American and a first-team Academic All-America in 1980. 8. Collinsworth as a captain of the senior team was the most significant player on the team's one-year turnaround during the course of NCAA Division I football. The Gator team improved to 8-4 in 1979 following having a record of 0-10-1 back in 1979. It was the first year that Charlie Pell had as head coach in Florida as head coach. Collinsworth completed his college career by winning the MVP of the 1980 Tangerine Bow