1993 SEC Championship, Part III: The Home Stretch (and Charlie Ward)
Wednesday, September 5, 2018 | Football, Chris Harry
"This year has been a complete rollercoaster," said Dean, the fourth-year junior, after hitting eight of 12 passes for 105 yards, one touchdown and no turnovers. "You find out who your friends are."
"Terry was really throwing it well in pre-game and Danny seemed worried about the wet ball and sloppy field," Spurrier said. "During that first quarter I said to Danny, 'Their quarterback seems to be zipping it around. Can you do it?' He just wasn't getting set up as well as he should. He was leaning backwards and just not getting anything on the ball. It was time to let Terry play."
And Dean?
"I wasn't nervous," he said. "I felt no pressure at all."
Dean had a 35-yard touchdown pass to Harrison Houston in the third quarter, but mostly handed the ball off Errict Rhett (41 carries, 183 yards) and made no mistakes on the way to a huge win. For that, he was given the keys to the offense. Again.
His charge was to capitalize on the enviable situation Wuerffel and the Gators had placed themselves. First and foremost on the docket was clinching the league's East Division title and securing a spot in the second Southeastern Conference Championship Game. Before getting back to league play, the Gators had a homecoming date with Southwestern Louisiana to deal with, followed a home game game against woeful Vanderbilt and SEC finale on the road at middling South Carolina.
Florida State, rolling and ranked No. 1 in the nation, was after that.
Back to history class, folks.
To the time machine we go.
Game 8
Nov. 6, 1993
Florida 61, Southwestern Louisiana 14
What happened: The Gators, with their new quarterback, threw a new twist into their offense by working almost exclusively from the shotgun against SW Louisiana and its seven-, eight, sometimes nine-man blitzes. How effective was it? Dean passed for 448 yards and SEC-record six touchdowns in ninth-ranked UF's rout of the Rajun' Cajuns. He had five touchdowns strikes in the first half, including 35- and 49-yarders to Jack Jackson and Willie Jackson, respectfully. The score was 40-0 midway through the second period and Spurrier was about to pull his starters when USL lined up to punt and upback Tim Sensley dashed untouched 57 yards for a score. The starters stayed in, remained in for almost the entire third quarter, until Dean hit Jack Jackson with a 21-yard TD pass that set the league record.
Numbers of note: Dean finished 26 of 38 on the day. His USL counterpart was Jake Delhomme, who 10 years later helped guide the Carolina Panthers to Super Bowl XXXVIII. Delhomme completed just nine of 25 passes for 66 yards and two interceptions before being benched. … Jack Jackson had career bests of eight receptions and 153 yards. … Rhett went into the game needing 88 yards to pass Emmitt Smith as UF's all-time rushing leader, but totaled just 40 yards on 12 carries.
They said it:
* "Terry hadn't played a full game all year. I thought he deserved to play a lot. Thought if it didn't get completely out of hand I'd let him go three full quarters." — Spurrier
* "It's funny. I'll never get over it. Two weeks ago I wasn't even thinking about football. I was just going to practice and screwing around and not even worrying about the game plan. I just can't believe how things changed." — Dean
* "They are as aggressive a football team as I've ever seen since I've been coaching." — USL coach Nelson Stokely, whose defense came in ranked among the nation's top 10 in both the run and the pass.
* "Most teams don't gamble like they do. I don't care how good a defensive back you are, you blitz eight people and you're going to have some problems in one-on-one coverage." — Willie Jackson
* "We kidded with Rhett all week, saying, 'Hey man, you ain't gonna touch the ball these guys; not with the way they blitz." — Jack Jackson
Upshot: There was no mention of it in the post-game locker room, but Dean suffered a shoulder sprain against the Cajuns that worsened overnight and sidelined him from practice the next few days. When the Gators returned to SEC play the following week, Wuerffel was back under center.
Game 9
Nov. 13, 1993
Florida 37, South Carolina 26
Numbers of note: Rhett carried 29 times for 120 yards and the two scores to pass Smith on the UF all-time rushing yardage list with 4,001 career yards, the fourth-most in SEC history. … Wuerffel was 25 of 37 for 333 yards, two TDs and no interceptions. Taneyhill went 15-for-29, 197 yards, two TDs, but also two picks and was sacked five times. … Jack Jackson caught six balls for 167 yards, a second straight game with a career-high in yardage. … UF had 456 yards of total offense.
They said it:
* "This is the kind fo game that should give us some confidence if we're ever behind like that again. We never panicked. I don't think the ghosts that all you media guys like to say haunt us on the road really bothered us today." — Spurrier
* "You thrive on each other emotionally. When we needed it most, the defense did it for us, We had to do well for them." — Wuerffel
* "They came out 'BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!,' and I was like of like, 'Damn!' Coach Spurrier kept saying, 'Don't give up. Good things will start happening.' " — senior middle linebacker Ed Robinson.
* "We were competing very well, but the turnovers, shanked punts and missed tackles really hurt us. We had every intention of winning the game." — South Carolina coach Sparky Woods.
* "We had to do something. We could either take a stand or let them beat on us in their home stadium." — junior defensive end Kevin Carter.
* "Coach Red went wild at halftime. It looked like a wrestling match when someone throws a chair in the ring and all hell breaks loose. If that doesn't get you fired up, nothing will." — senior safety Monty Grow.
Upshot: Florida moved to 7-1 overall, 6-1 in the league and stood one win over the conference's perennial cellar dweller from a second straight SEC East title and berth in the league title game.
Game 10
Nov. 20, 1993
Florida 52, Vanderbilt 0
What happened: Dean returned to the starting QB spot, but wasn't overly impressive in going 11 of 22 for 128 yards, three touchdowns and an interception. He also caught a 35-yard pass from wideout Chris Doering for a score to open the game. Wuerffel got an equal number of possessions and posted nearly identical numbers: 11 of 21, 115 yards, one TD, one interception. Instead, the Gators got a season-best eight turnovers from their defense (second-most in school history), including a 48-yard fumble return for a touchdown by Robinson, and held the overmatched Commodores to 215 yards of total offense. With the win, UF locked up its place in the SEC Championship Game, securing a rematch with Alabama at Legion Field in Birmingham. But first, there was that looming date in a week with No. 2 Florida State, which figured to rise to the top of the polls after No. 1 Notre Dame was stunned 41-39 on a field goal as time expired early that evening.
Numbers of note: Wuerffel's 19-yard scoring toss to Jack Jackson in the second quarter was his 21st of the season and broke the NCAA record for TD passes by a freshman. … Rhett gained 67 yards and moved into third place on the SEC's all-time rushing list behind — get this — Georgia's Herschel Walker (5,259 yards) and Auburn's Bo Jackson (4,303). … UF became the second team in Division I history to have a 2,000-yard passer (Wuerffel), a 1,000-yard passer (Dean), and 1,000-yard rusher (Rhett). … It was Florida's first shutout win since beating LSU 16-0 in 1991. … Florida totaled 454 yards of offense.
They said it:
* "The offense sputtered around. Our quarterbacks weren't very sharp. They're both fine players, but they're not throwing as well as they should be. … So I don't know what we'll do. We'll watch film and see how they practice this week." — Spurrier when asked whether Dean or Wuerffel would start the following week against FSU.
* "Everyone was talking and politicking and I think that probably led to a downfall of some of those teams. We want to make sure that doesn't happen to us. This is the time of year you come together as a team and do what's necessary to get where we want to be." — Jack Jackson, on the crazy college football landscape that saw No. 1 Notre Dame, No. 4 Miami and No. 5 Ohio State all lose that day, leaving UF, with likely top-ranked FSU ahead, very much in the nationally championship picture.
* "Coach Spurrier told us before the game that a lot of funky things were going to happen in the Top 10. He told us all we had to do was beat Vandy by a bunch and we would move up." — UF senior offensive lineman Jim Watson.
Upshot: Who would start at quarterback against FSU was anybody's guess. There was zero intrigue regarding who'd be under center for the Seminoles. Charlie Ward, the Heisman Trophy front-runner, was coming to the "Swamp."
Game 11
Nov. 27, 1993
Florida State 33, Florida 21
What happened: The magic and mystique of Florida Field was no match for college football's best player. Ward drained the "Swamp,'' where the No. 7 Gators were 23-0 in Spurrier's four seasons, and moved the Seminoles a step closer to their first national championship. The largest crowd ever to attend a football game in the state of Florida witnessed Ward's wizardry — 38 of 53 (that's 71.7 percent) for 446 yards and four touchdowns — including a numbing 79-yard catch-and-dash score to freshman tailback Warrick Dunn with 5:28 left to stave off a furious Florida rally and ice the game. The Seminoles built to a 27-7 lead when Ward hit Kez McCorvey for a 16-yard touchdown pass with 11 seconds to go in the third quarter. In the fourth, it was Dean, who had replaced a banged up Wuerffel, who engineered back-to-back TD drives. The second was a 94-yard gem when Dean converted a third-and-16 from the Florida 1 and then hit a 42-yard completion to Willie Jackson when Spurrier gambled on fourth-and-10 from the UF 17. Two plays, Dean threw a bomb into the end zone that was tapped twice in the air and snared by Jack Jackson, as the crowd went wild. It was 27-21 with 5:58 left. FSU started the ensuing drive on its 21. On first down, Carter came hard from his end position and batted Ward's pass down. Then he did it again on second down. It was third-and-10 and as Ward brought the Seminoles to the line the "Swamp" had never been louder. Ever. He took the snap, felt pressure up the middle from Mark Campbell. Ellis Johnson was barely out of arm's reach, as Ward was flushed to his left and feathered a dump-off pass to Dunn, who'd beaten Robinson into the flat, caught the ball on a dead run and flashed untouched up the sidelines to silence the deafening din.
Numbers of note: FSU had 566 yards of total offense, 30 first downs, went 9-for-17 on third down and only punted once. … Florida tallied a season-low 374 yards, punted on six of its first seven possessions, and had no running game; less than none, actually. Rhett, who came in averaging nearly 120 yards and 5.5 yards per attempt, had seven yards on just seven attempts and the Gators finished with minus-33 yards on the ground. … Dean completed just 14 of his 33 passes, but he had some big plays on his way to 259 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. Wuerffel was 11 of 18 for 149 yards and a score before leaving with a knee injury. The Florida quarterbacks were sacked six times, compared to once for Ward. … Seminoles wideout Matt Frier caught 11 passes for 126 yards. Dunn caught eight for 140. Willie Jackson caught seven for 140 and two scores. Harrison Houston had six balls for 111 yards.
They said it:
* "We just could not catch Charlie. He made third down after third down after third down. I don't think we caught him in the pocket all day." — Spurrier
* "These two teams might be equal at this, might be equal at that, but we have Charlie Ward. I thought coming in he would be the difference." — FSU coach Bobby Bowden.
* "We had turned the game around. You can work hard on first down and second down, but it doesn't do you any good if you can't stop them on third." — Carter
* "We couldn't hear Charlie in the huddle. We kind of had to put our ears right up in his face. It's the loudest place I've ever been." — Seminoles fullback William Floyd, asked about the moments before the Ward-to-Dunn play.
* "I had my fingers on his waist. I touched him, just couldn't grab him." — Johnson
* "I turned the corner and was like this. Then it was just a race." — Dunn, showing a wide-eyed look and a grin.
* "If Charlie Ward had woken up this morning with the flu and couldn't play, it would not have hurt my feelings. He's so tough to get to back there. And you have to be careful how you go after him because he breaks containment and makes a big play. He's got a sixth sense about eluding the rush. As good a player as I've ever seen." — UF defensive coordinator Ron Zook.
* "Give Florida credit. They're a great team and you're not going to shut them down, not with the type of athletes they have. They have heart, just like we have heart. But the better team won today." — FSU cornerback Clifton Abraham.
* "All season long, people have criticized our defense. Today, the offense is what lost us the game." — Watson
Upshot: Florida would not be players in the national championship picture, but Spurrier and the Gators had yet another big game in a week. They had to shake off the loss and refocus their sights on trying to win just the second SEC championship in school history — against reigning national champion Alabama, and at one of the Crimson Tide's historic home fields.
Coming Thursday:
Part IV — A Second Shot at Bama on its 'Neutral Site' Home Field
Trent McKnight Media Availability 4-2-26
Thursday, April 02
Marcus Davis Media Availability 4-2-26
Thursday, April 02
Chris Collins Media Availability 4-2-26
Thursday, April 02
Jadan Baugh Media Availability 4-1-26
Wednesday, April 01
