[2] The Gators led the nation in scoring with 336 points, and were remembered by many sports commentators as the best Florida football team until at least the 1960s.

The large scores were mostly due to its "Phantom Four" backfield which included: quarterback Clyde Crabtree, halfbacks Carl Brumbaugh and Royce Goodbread, and fullback Rainey Cawthon.

"[5] At ends were future coach Dutch Stanley, and Florida's first-ever, first-team All-American, Dale Van Sickel.

Van Sickel and quarterback Crabtree, who was ambidextrous and could throw passes with either hand, or punt with either foot, while on the run or stationary, were both unanimous All-Southern selections.

[7][8] Players not returning from the previous season included: Horse Bishop, Cecil Beck, Speedy Walker, Tom Fuller, Charlie Tucker, and Bill Middlekauff.

[11] After spending just two weeks with the team, while many players were engaged in other sports, Bachman declared his backfield material as the finest he ever had.

[1] In the first game of the 1928 season, the Gators posted a 26–0 victory over the Florida Southern Moccasins, whose quarterback weighed just 98 pounds (44 kg).

[26][27] The other touchdown occurred near the start of the second quarter, when Royce Goodbread carried a pass from Clyde Crabtree 16 yards to the goal.

[36] In a closely contested game,[35] the Gators defeated coach Gus Tebell's North Carolina State Wolfpack 14–7 in Jacksonville, Florida, in front of an audience of 13,000.

[37] Dutch Stanley missed both extra points after the Gators' two touchdowns, but Rainey Cawthon made up for it when he netted a safety.

[35] The Wolfpack scored on the return of a punt blocked off the toe of Gators team captain Goof Bowyer.

[38] The Gators played substitutes throughout the second half, putting the first stringers back in by the middle of the fourth quarter.

[1] The scoring started in the first period after some three minutes when Red Bethea caught a 25-yard pass from Goof Bowyer and ran the additional 10 yards for a touchdown.

[44] Florida's defense, however, rendered the Georgia Bulldogs' running game, including that of fullback Herdis McCrary, ineffective en route to a 26–6 victory.

[45] This was Florida's first victory over Georgia in seven match-ups and solidified the Gators as legitimate contenders for their first-ever conference title.

[43] By the second quarter Georgia had failed to consistently move the ball on the ground against Florida's line and tried to pass.

Bulldogs' quarterback H. F. Johnson completed a 10-yard pass to back Frank Dudley, who ran 30 additional yards for a touchdown.

[43] A touchdown pass reception by end Dale Van Sickel of more than 30 yards provided another score in the third period,[43][47] followed by Brumbaugh's extra point kick.

[43]Coach Josh Cody's Clemson Tigers, captained by O. K. Pressley, held extra practices to prepare for the undefeated Gators.

[48] Florida used both the run and the pass effectively, as Bethea "looked for all the world like the famous Red Grange" according to Associated Press (AP) staff writer Benton E.

[48] The 60–6 victory over coach Pat Herron's Washington & Lee Generals made the Gators the highest-scoring team in the entire nation in total points scored.

Morgan Blake wrote: "At this writing, it is a matter for serious debate as to which is the dizziest—the Washington and Lee football team or this groggy sports scribe from Atlanta ... Florida's great football team—magnificent in the fullest sense of the word, keen, alert, fast, and powerful—gave Washington and Lee the most crushing defeat it has encountered in many years.

[56][63] Prior to the contest, coach Bachman used a motivational trick learned from Knute Rockne and waved a telegram in front of his players, telling them a win over Tennessee meant an invitation to the Rose Bowl, the only postseason bowl in those days, even though conference champion Georgia Tech was already invited.

The loss curtailed Florida's hopes of its first conference title, and fans and players have long since mourned the missed chance at a Rose Bowl.

[56] On a similar play to Tennessee's score, a 16-yard pass from Royce Goodbread was caught by Dale Van Sickel, down at the 1-yard line.

[66][67] After the conclusion of the 1928 season, seven Gator players were tabbed for postseason honors by major media outlets: the "Phantom Four" as well as end Dale Van Sickel, and linemen Jimmy Steele and William McRae.

[68] Junior end Van Sickel was chosen a first-team, All-American, the first in Gators' team history, by the AP, Collier's Weekly, and the Newspaper Enterprise Association (NEA).

[74] Seniors graduating included captain Goof Bowyer, Tommy Owens, Dutch Stanley, Jus Clemons, Willie DeHoff, and Chester Allen.

[n 3] The following chart provides a visual depiction of Florida's lineup during the 1928 season with games started at the position reflected in parentheses.