Mick's Quicks... Gators Travel to Lexington
Wednesday, September 24, 2003 | Football
As is often the case, there will be a focus on the quarterbacks when the Gators meet the Kentucky Wildcats Saturday in Lexington. It was no different when these two teams met a decade ago. It is the 10th anniversary of one of the more memorable games in this series.
On this particular September Saturday in 1993, the two quarterbacks just happened to be Gators. Junior Terry Dean and redshirt freshman Danny Wuerffel alternated calling signals for a struggling team. The Gators trailed 14-9 after three quarters. A Kentucky field goal with 1:23 left gave the Wildcats a 20-17 lead. Wuerffel would lead the Gators on an improbable 8-play, 58-yard drive. With eight seconds left, it was third and ten from the 28-yard line. When Wuerrfel's pass came down, it was clear that "Doering's got a touchdown" as Chris Doering had gotten behind the Wildcat secondary and into the endzone. Wuerrfel and Dean combined to threw 52 passes that night. The Gators caught 28 of them and Kentucky caught the other seven. The seven passes picked off stood as an NCAA record for most interceptions thrown by a winning team.
Wuerffel started the next five games. Then Dean started, then Wuerffel, then Dean, then Wuerffel and finally Dean as he led the Gators to the '93 SEC title over Alabama at Legion Field in Birmingham.
Fast forward the focus Saturday to the present day signal callers and there is quite a quarterback contrast. Kentucky starts a senior. Jared Lorenzen is 6-4 and somewhere between 260 and 300 pounds. He is deceitfully agile with a strong arm. Lorenzen was 35-of-59 for 363 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions in a 59-31 loss in 2000. He sat the bench against Florida the next season. A year ago, Lorenzen was 20-of-32 for 180 yards with two TDs and one interception in a 41-34 defeat. He will be making his 34th career start Saturday.
Meanwhile, true freshman Chris Leak makes his much anticipated first career start. Leak has completed 69 percent (34-of-49) of his passes. He has thrown two touchdowns and two interceptions. He has a pass efficiency rating of 136.24 in 112 snaps. Ingle Martin ranks 4th in the SEC with a rating of 140.05 in 146 snaps.
Leak becomes just the fourth true freshman to make his first career start on the road. Wayne Peace led Florida to a 15-3 win at Ole Miss in 1980. Donald Douglas started in a 10- 7 loss at Auburn in 1989. Jesse Palmer started in a 24-10 win at Auburn in 1997. None of the quarterbacks threw a touchdown pass in their first career road start.
Leak led his high school team in Charlotte to three straight state titles. He set a national high school record with 185 career touchdown passes. His 15,593 career passing yards were the second best mark ever in prep football.
We invite you to turn down your TV sound and join us for all the exciting action on the Gator Radio Network. The Tailgator pregame show starts at 10:30 am Eastern time. Check the FM dial for a frequency to listen to the Gator Network if you are in Commonwealth Stadium. The broadcast can also be heard worldwide at Gatorzone.com.
