The1989 Freedom Bowl was acollege footballbowl game played on December 30 atAnaheim Stadium inAnaheim, California. The game featured theWashington Huskies of thePacific-10 Conference and theFlorida Gators of theSoutheastern Conference, who were led by juniorEmmitt Smith, aconsensus All-American atrunning back.

The Huskies opened with two wins, lost three straight, then won five of six to finish the regular seasonat 7–4, tied for second in the Pac-10.

The Gators lost their opener, won six straight, then lost three of four to finish the regular seasonat 7–4, tied for fourth in the SEC. Head coachGalen Hall resigned in early October after allegations of NCAA rulesviolations,^[3][4] and defensive coordinatorGary Darnell was the interimhead coach.^[5]

Washington built a twenty-point lead at halftime andwon 34–7.^[6][7][8] Smith gained only 17 yards on seven carries, as Florida was forced to go to the air in the second half. It was Smith's lowest rushing total since his first game as a freshman, when he was a reserve.^{[7][9][10][11]}

First quarter

• Washington –Mario Bailey 21 pass fromCary Conklin (John McCallum kick)
• Florida – Donald Douglas 67 run (John David Francis kick)
• Washington – Field goal, McCallum 21
• Washington – Andre Riley 10 pass from Conklin (McCallum kick)

Second quarter

• Washington –Jaime Fields recovered blocked punt in end zone (McCallum kick)
• Washington – Field goal, McCallum 32

Third quarter

No scoring

Fourth quarter

• Washington –Mark Brunell 20 run (McCallum kick)

Source:^[6][12]

Statistics	Washington	Florida
First Downs	28	10
Rushes–yards	45–191	25–83
Passing yards	242	148
Passes	24–44–0	11–28–1
Total yards	433	231
Punts–average	7–37	8–33
Fumbles–lost	0–0	7–3
Turnovers by	0	4
Penalties-yards	9–86	9–85
Time of possession	41:52	18:08

Source:^[6][12]

Unranked since early October, Washington was #23 in thefinal AP poll,^[13] and played in the next threeRose Bowls, which included a sharednational championship after thesecond. Florida hired alumnusSteve Spurrier as head coach thenext day,^[14] and he led the Gators fortwelve seasons. Smith skipped his senior season and was selected seventeenth overall in the1990 NFL draft; he won threeSuper Bowls with theDallas Cowboys and is a member of thePro Football Hall of Fame.

This was the last bowl game between the Pac-10 and SEC until the2010 season, whenAuburn metOregon in thenational championship game inArizona.

• 1989–90 NCAA football bowl games
• Freedom Bowl
• 1980s in Anaheim, California
• Florida Gators football bowl games
• Washington Huskies football bowl games
• 1989 in sports in California
• December 1989 sports events in the United States

• Use mdy dates from August 2023
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata