Revenge Sweet For Gators Rout Puts Florida In Line For Title

Steve Spurrier’s Florida Gators discovered at last how to hurt Florida State in a way more painful and everlasting than any punishment the Seminoles inflicted upon Danny Wuerffel. The Gators broke their hearts.

Florida put itself in position to win its first national football championship, one as unofficial as it has been desperately sought, with an overwhelming, cathartic 52-20 victory Thursday night in the 63rd Sugar Bowl.

In the din and heat of the Louisiana Superdome, after a month as contentious as any recent championship matchup has seen, the Gators’ offense, led by their Heisman Trophy winner, withstood the relentless charge of the Florida State pass rush.

Wuerffel, named the game’s outstanding player, completed 18 of 34 passes for 306 yards and three touchdowns, all to Ike Hilliard. He scrambled for a fourth score, a 16-yard run that gave the Gators an 18-point lead with 13 seconds to play in the third quarter.

The Gators, 12-1, had appeared eliminated from any championship hopes when they lost at Florida State on Nov. 30. But with a renewed opportunity created by Nebraska’s loss to Texas in the Big 12 championship game and Arizona State’s loss to Ohio State in the Rose Bowl, Florida turned a taut matchup of high-powered offensive units into a loud, giddy celebration by holding the Seminoles to three points in the second half.

One year to the night after a humiliating 38-point loss to Nebraska in the Fiesta Bowl, the Gators could begin to allow themselves to think about being voted to a championship.

“Maybe there was a divine guidance to help us win whatever we win,” said Spurrier, the Florida coach.

Playing before a crowd of 78,344, the largest for any football game played at the Superdome, Florida State, 11-1, lost a chance for a second national championship in four seasons and the first undefeated season under coach Bobby Bowden. The Seminoles joined the 1975 Ohio State Buckeyes as the only top-ranked teams in history to lose a bowl game to an opponent they had defeated during the regular season.

Florida State had won 11 consecutive bowl games, a National Collegiate Athletic Association record, and had been unbeaten in its last 14 bowl games since a one-point loss to Oklahoma in the 1980 Orange Bowl. The 52 points allowed by the Seminoles was the most by an FSU opponent since 1985.

Spurrier, the Gator coach who had been critical of Wuerffel’s performance after the loss at Tallahassee, on Thursday night called his senior “the best quarterback that ever played college football.”

“If one of those NFL teams wants to win a Super Bowl, they better get Danny Wuerffel on their team.”

Peter Boulware, a Florida State junior defensive end, said of Wuerffel:

“The only way you can stop him is to sack him. Just rushing him and putting pressure on him won’t do it. He is still going to complete passes.”

Florida State, which had been accused by Spurrier of intentionally trying to hurt Wuerffel, was penalized 14 times for 115 yards, including several late personal fouls that Bowden apologized for. Florida was penalized a Sugar Bowl-record 15 times for 102 yards.

After his final college game, Wuerffel apologized to photographers he had bumped into during the postgame celebration. “I was looking for a teammate to hug,” Wuerffel said.

But Florida’s victory evolved into a shockingly one-sided team effort. Warrick Dunn, playing in his final game as a Florida State tailback, was limited to 28 yards on just nine carries by the Gators, but also by a series of leg cramps. Dunn, who had rushed for 185 yards in the victory over Florida, did not carry the ball in the second half.

Florida held the Seminoles to a net total of 70 yards in the second half, including 15 rushing yards. For all the accomplishments of a Gator offense that gained 474 yards - including Terry Jackson’s 118 rushing yards and two touchdowns - two punts by Robby Stevenson created a decisive field-position advantage for the Gators.

Stevenson punted seven times for a 48.1-yard average. A 55-yard punt against an 11-man rush that was downed at the Seminole 1-yard line in the first quarter helped the Gators to a 17-3 lead. A 69-yard punt in the third quarter, with FSU within four points, backed up the Seminoles to the 3.

The Gators took the lead on a 9-yard touchdown pass from Wuerffel to Ike Hilliard just 5:12 into the game. Florida’s first score was set up by Florida State’s first unsuccessful gamble - a fourth-and-1 attempt from the Florida 23 that failed when Fred Weary hit Pooh Bear Williams.

Dunn, the Seminole tailback who had gained 306 yards in the last two games against the Gators, had a net total of zero yards in the first 20:40. Thad Busby, who was forced to play with a glove that protected a laceration on his left hand, threw for 216 yards in the first half, 92 more than his total in the first game. But in the second half, Busby completed just 5 of 18 passes for 55 yards.

Florida 52, Florida St. 20

Florida 10 14 14 14 - 52

Florida State 3 14 3 0 - 20 First quarter

Fla-Hilliard 9 pass from Wuerffel (Edmiston kick), 5:12.

FSUFG Bentley 43, 7:11.

Fla-FG Edmiston 32, 12:16. Second quarter Fla-Taylor 2 run (Edmiston kick), 3:32.

FSUE.Green 29 pass from Busby (Bentley kick), 7:32.

Fla-Hilliard 31 pass from Wuerffel (Edmiston kick), 9:42.

FSUDunn 12 run (Bentley kick), 14:20. Third quarter FSUFG Bentley 45, 4:36.

Fla-Hilliard 7 pass from Wuerffel (Edmiston kick), 9:17.

Fla-Wuerffel 16 run (Edmiston kick), 14:47. Fourth quarter Fla-Jackson 42 run (Edmiston kick), 6:08.

Fla-Jackson 1 run (Edmiston kick), 12:48.

A-78,344.

Fla FSU First downs 26 13 Rushes-yards 43-168 21-42 Passing 306 271 Comp-Att-Int 18-34-1 17-42-2 Return Yards 169 250 Punts-Avg. 7-48.1 8-46.4 Fumbles-Lost 1-0 0-0 Penalties-Yards 15-102 14-115 Time of Possession 36:27 23:33

Individual statistics

RUSHINGFlorida, Jackson 12-118, Taylor 18-60, E.Williams 4-2, Schottenheimer 1-0, McCaslin 2-(minus 2), Wuerffel 6-(minus 10). Florida State, Dunn 9-28, Warrick 1-12, PB.Williams 2-7, Feafter 2-1, Busby 7-(minus 6).

PASSINGFlorida, Wuerffel 18-34-1-306. Florida State, Busby 17-41-1-271, Kendra 0-1-1-0.

RECEIVINGFlorida, Hilliard 7-150, J.Green 5-79, Anthony 4-50, Mobley 1-16, Taylor 1-11. Florida State, Messam 5-48, Cooper 4-82, E.Green 3-86, Pearsall 1-25, Dunn 1-12, Abdullah 1-10, Warrick 1-7, PB. Williams 1-1.

MISSED FIELD GOALSFlorida State, Bentley 55.