Danny Wuerffel followed his Heisman Trophy with 306 yards three touchdowns passing and another rushing in the revenge-filled Sugar Bowl national-championship blowout of Florida State. (File photo)
Friday, September 24, 2021 | Football, Chris Harry
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By: Chris Harry, Senior Writer
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Steve Spurrier sat behind his ambassador's desk. He was talking about the big University of Florida all-sports reunion this weekend to honor Southeastern Conference championship teams celebrating anniversaries. The University Athletic Association invites back former athletes, coaches and support staff from teams for their 10-, 25- and 50-year anniversaries, but COVID wiped out the parties last season, so in 2021 the UAA included those that missed their years in 2020.
"I've always kind of lumped those two together, anyway," Spurrier said of a pair of teams that combined to go 24-2 over those two seasons and won their games by an average margin of 30.7 points. "They were very similar. Some might even say that '95 team did some things better than the '96."
Some might, sure, and statistics would bear that out. But the '96 Gators did one really big thing better than their mirror-like orange-and-blue '95 brothers. They won the national championship, the first in UF history. They did it by beating Florida State in the Sugar Bowl for the title, which a quarter-century later remains either a source of rich satisfaction or cringe-worthy bitterness, depending on the allegiance.
The Gators destroyed the Seminoles 52-20 on Jan. 2, 1997, at the Superdome in New Orleans. It was one of the greatest strikes of revenge in college football history; maybe even sports history, given the high stakes and passionate vitriol between the two programs (and head coaches) that reached a fevered pitch in the month-long run-up to the game that pitted No. 1 FSU (11-0) against No. 3 Florida (11-1) just five weeks after the Seminoles, then No. 2, upset the top-ranked Gators 24-21 in Tallahassee.
As FSU coach Bobby Bowden put it after the rematch, "You can see why I didn't want to play them again."
Tailback Terry Jackson broke into the clear for a 42-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter of the Sugar Bowl.
Against the nation's No. 1 defense, UF cranked out 474 yards, 26 first downs and touchdown drives of 77, 73, 65, 24, 68, 62 and 70 yards. Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Danny Wuerffel, battered, beaten and wickedly bruised in the earlier loss, benefited from the return of a couple starting offensive linemen who missed the first meeting and a revamped "shotgun" offense. He bombed the Seminoles for 306 yards and three TDs, all to wide receiver Ike Hilliard (7 catches, 150 yards), and also ran for a score. Florida scored the last 28 points of the game.
"We looked at film of the first game and saw we had guys wide open all over the field, but Danny just didn't have time to get the ball out," recalled wideout Jacquez Green. "Honestly, once Coach Spurrier put the shotgun in, we were like, 'Man, we're gonna kill these guys.' "
UF wideout Ike Hilliard (19) riddled the Seminoles for seven catches, 150 yards and three TDs in the national-championship game.
Now, imagine if Spurrier had had his shotgun epiphany the season before. What would those two seasons have looked like? And what would those offensive numbers have been?
Here's what they looked like anyway:
TALE OF THE TAPE
1995
Statistic
1996
524 (40.3)
Points (per game)
611 (47.0)
6,682 (514.0)
Yards (per game)
6,521 (501.6)
342 (26.3)
First downs (per game)
329 (25.3)
4,627 (355.9)
Passing per game
4,313 (331.8)
2,055 (158.1)
Rushing per game
2,208 (169.8)
The Gators steamrolled through the league in '95. They beat Peyton Manning and No. 8 Tennessee 62-37 at home, avenged back-to-back (and crushing) losses to Auburn with a 49-38 road win, set an opponent's record by manhandling Georgia 52-17 in a rare/historic visit to Athens and pulverized South Carolina 63-7 on the road. UF rocketed to No. 3 in the polls, then defeated once-beaten and sixth-ranked FSU 35-24 to complete the first unbeaten season in program history.
A week later, the second-ranked Gators stomped Arkansas 34-3 in the SEC Championship Game for a third consecutive conference crown and clinched a date with defending national champion, unbeaten and No. 1 Nebraska in the Fiesta Bowl to play for the program's first national title.
Everyone knows what happened after that.
Nebraska 62, Florida 24.
"I'll tell you what I told Sports Illustrated that night," former offensive guard Donnie Young said this week. "I felt like my dad took me out on the 50-yard line and spanked my ass in front of 80,000 people."
The Cornhuskers, led by option magician Tommie Frazier, trampled the Gators on the way to 629 yards of total offense — the most surrendered in program history at the time — including 524 on the ground (compared to minus-28 for UF). Nebraska scored 36 unanswered points over the second and third quarters, with Wuerffel under constant siege of blitzing Huskers — against just five blockers, as Spurrier stayed in his five-wide "Tiger" formation — on his way to being sacked seven times and throwing three interceptions.
Nebraska QB Tommie Frazier rushed 16 times for 199 yards and broke no less than seven Florida tackles on his 75-yard for a touchdown in the Fiesta Bowl.
"They played their best game and we played our worst," reflected Wuerffel, now 47. "When you end a season like that you don't get to play another game the next week to get over it, so that sour taste in your mouth lasts for a while. But it was also a super learning and growing experience. How we prepared for the '96 season was enhanced by how that '95 season ended."
A more tangible development impacted the team a couple weeks later.
"Stoops," Green said.
"Huge difference," Wuerffel added.
"We got an identity and some swag on defense when he got there," said former defensive tackle Reggie McGrew, now an assistant strength coach for the Gators. "He instilled a confidence in us that it didn't matter what they ran or what he called; we were just going to be better than the other team."
When defensive coordinator Bobby Pruett left after two seasons to become head coach at his alma mater of Marshall, Spurrier went looking for his fourth DC in six years. He found his man at Kansas State, where Bob Stoops had been the previous five seasons and, under Bill Snyder, been involved in one of the great turnarounds ever in college football. With Stoops as co-defensive coordinator and secondary coach, the Wildcats had given Nebraska its most trouble while also leading the country for two years in forcing three-and-outs. Or as Spurrier put it at the time, "You what that means? More ball plays for Stevie boy."
Stoops arrived with a quiet confidence combined with an admirable dose of humility. To this day, he appreciates the way he was welcomed and embraced by his fellow UF defensive coaches — Bob Sanders (defensive ends), Rod Broadway (tackles), Jim Collins (linebackers) — any of whom would have been qualified for the job. Stoops was inheriting a unit that was pretty darn good in '95 (third in the SEC, 14th nationally) and boasted some standout players in McGrew and Ed Chester up front, Mike Peterson and Jevon Kearse at linebacker, Lawrence Wright, Fred Weary and Anthone Lott in the secondary.
"We had a God-awful number of guys with experience on that side of the ball," Young said.
With plenty of respect for what the Gators had accomplished before he arrived, Stoops went to Spurrier early and offered to use some of the previous scheme and terminology to make the transition easier. No, Spurrier said.
"He told me whatever we were doing at Kansas State was what he wanted," Stoops said in a recent interview. "He told me to do it my way, period."
Defensive coordinator Bob Stoops (right) arrived in 1996 and brought an air of confidence and swagger to the UF defense that proved a good foil to Steve Spurrier (left) and his high-powered offense.
Stoops recalled it being something of a rough start. The first live scrimmage of the spring the offense went up and down the field. About the fourth or fifth time they'd flipped it around, Spurrier had a question for the new guy.
"Hey Stoopsie! Think we'll be able to force a punt this year?"
After the scrimmage, Spurrier found Stoops in the locker room, put an arm around him and said, "Don't worry about it, Bobby. You just keep doing what you're doing. You're not gonna to see an offense like ours this year."
That was a fact.
By the time the Gators were set to open the 1996 season a new tenor had been established when it came to practice.
"There were times when Coach Spurrier would tell the defense, 'Just run this coverage or that coverage.' He wanted something simple in scrimmages," McGrew said. "But with Coach Stoops we got to the point where we were like, 'No, we're not doing that.' And when Coach Spurrier wanted the No. 1 offense against the No. 2 defense, Coach Stoops would say, 'Let's do 1v1s.' It got really competitive out there."
And, in time, the Gators were ready to unleash on their 1996 opponents, the first of which was Southwestern Louisiana. The final score of 55-21 wasn't much of a surprise, but the manner of which the game played out definitely was. UF scored four touchdowns on defense, with two fumble returns (12 and 64) and two interception returns (26, 65 yards).
Said Chester that night: "Never seen anything like it. I spent more time blocking their offensive linemen than they did blocking me."
After giving all game balls to defensive players after the game (plus one to the coordinator), Spurrier asked Stoops if he wanted to bet whether the defense would outscore the offense the following. Stoops declined. Smart move.
UF's second game was a 62-14 beatdown of Georgia Southern, as the offense churned out 658 yards in the final warmup before the start of SEC play and the mega-hyped showdown between the No. 3 Gators and conference preseason favorite Tennessee, ranked second and armed with the Heisman favorite in Manning.
The carnage began in Knoxville began a six-week run as dominant as anything the conference had ever witnessed.
Peyton Manning threw four interceptions in the first half against the Gators, as UT turned the ball over six times before intermission and fell behind 35-0.
* Florida 35, Tennessee 29. Wuerffel threw four TDs (and no interceptions) and the defense forced six turnovers (four Manning picks), all in the first half in jumping to a 35-0 lead in front of the largest football crowd in NCAA history. The final score was deceptively close, as the Volunteers scored with 10 seconds remaining. The Gators jumped to No. 1 two days later, thanks to Arizona State's stunning upset of Nebraska, winner of 25 straight.
* Florida 65, Kentucky 0. Green returned two punts for touchdowns and the Wildcats totaled just 67 yards.
* Florida 42, Arkansas 7. Wuerffel's 462 yards, to go with four TDs, were a school record, as the Razorbacks suffered their worst home loss in 65 years.
* Florida 56, LSU 13. The Tigers came in ranked 13th and brimming with confidence after their defense held the Gators to just 321 yards the year before. This time, UF rolled up 635 yards and 35 first downs, with two 100-yard rushers and two 100-yard receivers.
* Florida 51, Auburn 10. The Gators had 625 yards, while holding the Tigers to a measly 173 and became the first Auburn opponents to reach 50 points since 1948. Afterward, Tigers coach Terry Bowden said, "This Florida team is by far the best of what we've seen in the four years I've been here and I don't think you can measure that by talent. They've made a decision to be explosive on both sides of the ball. They've taken their program and said 'Attack every moment on offense and every moment on defense.' "
* Florida 47, Georgia 7. To this day, the most lopsided UF victory in the storied series.
"It was really remarkable," Wuerffel said. "We went into the SEC and basically were abusing powerhouse teams and literally feeling at times like we were at practice going up and down the field. There were no obstacles in our way. It was a really fun stretch of football, for sure."
Danny Wuerffel passed for 3,625 yards and a league-record 39 TDs during his 1996 Heisman Trophy-winning season.
The SEC East was put to bed with a 52-25 win over South Carolina (a performance Spurrier wasn't all too pleased with), followed by a harrowing 28-21 road win at lowly Vanderbilt that required a gutsy fourth-and-1 conversion by Wuerffel on a QB sneak near midfield inside two minutes remaining.
When the Gators went to Tallahassee the following week they weren't playing their best football and were down three offensive linemen who'd started half the season, having lost center Jeff Mitchell for the season against Georgia, right tackle Zach Piller to a high-ankle sprain at Vandy, and left tackle Mo Collins to a one-game suspension.
Wuerffel was punished by the FSU front. UF had three turnovers and two missed field goals. FSU scored the game's first 17 points and ran the clock behind 185 yards rushing from Warrick Dunn on the way to their 24-21 victory. Seminoles fans stormed the Doak Campbell Stadium field and tore down the goal posts after clinching a berth in the national title game.
Afterward, Wuerffel had to be helped into the interview area, with the welts and bruises to his arms and torso there for all to see.
It was the following week that Spurrier installed the shotgun as the Gators, who dropped to No. 4, prepared to faced 15th-ranked Alabama (and nation's No. 1 pass defense) in the SEC Championship Game at Atlanta. They also got Piller and Collins back for that one.
Three hours before the SEC game kicked off, unranked Texas shocked No. 3 Nebraska 37-27 in the Big 12 Championship Game, meaning the Gators would go to the Georgia Dome that night knowing a win would mean a rematch with FSU in the Sugar Bowl. Wuerffel threw for 401 yards and six touchdowns, thus cementing the Heisman he'd win the following week, as Florida beat Alabama 45-30 and became just the second team in league history to win four straight SEC championships (the first to do so outright).
Jacquez Green's 85-yard touchdown reception was one of six scoring tosses from Danny Wuerffel at the 1996 SEC Championship Game.
The rematch was officially announced the next day. Spurrier, meanwhile, officially announced the pregame theme by beginning what would be a month-long narrative targeting what he perceived as dirty tactics (and hits) leveled on Wuerffel during the FSU game. Spurrier was relentless about, even airing end-zone "All-22" tape for media (local and national) and thus upping the revenge factor.
"Those [FSU] guys were great pass-rushers," offensive lineman Cooper Carlisle recalled of a FSU unit that featured four future first-round NFL picks up front. "But I think it was also Coach's way of getting a lot of people to think about it."
And talk about it. Spurrier, meanwhile, did all such talking for his players, uttering one of his greatest lines. "Danny is a New Testament guy. He wants to turn the other check. I'm more Old Testament. An eye for an eye."
And so it was.
Donnie Young was a senior, team captain and All-America offensive guard during the 1996.
"We were laser-focused," Young said.
Added Stoops: "We had turned the ball over a bunch in the first game, missed some kicks, and whatever yards we gave up they had to run a bunch of times to get them. I felt really good going into the game. I knew we would have a better offensive game, and if we did we would beat them."
On New Year's Day, the Gators watched in their team hotel as Ohio State threw a late touchdown pass and upset unbeaten, second-ranked Arizona State in the Rose Bowl.
"Everybody that needed to lose lost," Spurrier said. "I told our guys that fate had helped us enough. Now, it was up to us."
They needed no more help. Just those healthy linemen, the shotgun and an across-the-board virtuoso performance from a team that started the season as the best in the country and finished that way, as well.
It was much like the '95 season, only a different ending. Very different. Very memorable. And worth celebrating 25 years later.
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