September 7, 1996, Ben Hill Griffin Stadium at Florida Field, Gainesville, Fla.
Attendance: 84,963
A week after the Florida defense steals the spotlight, the offense responds with an outstanding effort of its own as the fourth-ranked Gators defeat Georgia Southern 62-14 in front of 84,963 faithful.
The Gators score on their first four possessions and four of the five times they touch the ball in the first half to build a 35-7 halftime lead. It is more of the same in the second half, as Florida scores the first three times it has the ball. Overall, the offense finds itself in the endzone on seven of 11 possessions en route to 658 yards in total offense, the second most total yards in the Spurrier era and the third best effort in school history. Six of the touchdowns come on the ground, the most by a UF team since 1990. UF runs for 264 yards on the day and passes for 394 yards, while playing turnover-free football.
Danny Wuerffel leads the offensive charge - completing his first 11 passes on the day and finishes 15-of-16 for 267 yards with two touchdowns. Wuerffel's 11 straight completions ties a UF single-game record (Terry Dean completed 11 straight vs. Arkansas State in 1993). Wuerffel also sets a UF single-game mark with his 93.8 completion percentage. On the day, UF quarterbacks complete 23-of-28 passes and throw to 13 different receivers. Freshman Eugene McCaslin leads all ground gainers with 116 yards on just eight carries. Sixty-three of his yards come on a fourth-quarter touchdown burst - his second TD of the day.
The UF defense scores its fifth touchdown of the young season when Cameron Davis grabs a loose-fumble and rambles 40-yards for a second-quarter touchdown. The five defensive scores establishes a school single-season record.
Georgia Southern enjoys success operating its flexbone offense. The Golden Eagles control more than 37 minutes of the game clock and rush 65 times for 311 yards and two touchdowns. The 311 yards is the most by a Gator opponent in the Spurrier era.
Other Game Notes
- Danny Wuerffel's two TD passes allows him to pass John Elway and move into sixth place on the NCAA career passing TD chart with 78.
- Wuerffel also moved into second place on the UF all-time yards passing chart with 7,741 - passing John Reaves and Kerwin Bell.
- Wuerffel posts a passing efficiency of 275.18, the second best single-game performance of his career and the third best in UF history. Wuerffel now owns five of the top six single-game pass efficiency ratings in school history.
- Bart Edmiston sets a UF school record with his 85th consecutive PAT made. The old record was 82 held by Judd Davis.
- UF's 264 yards rushing is the second best single-game effort in the Spurrier era.
Scoring Summary & Statistics
Team 1st 2nd 3rd 4th Final
GSU 7 0 7 0 14
Florida 14 21 20 7 62
1st Quarter
UF: 12:09 - Anthony 32-yard pass from Wuerffel (Edmiston PAT) - 3 plays, 54 yards, :51
GSU: 4:45 - Russell 5-yard run ( Stalnaker PAT) - 14 plays, 80 yards, 7:24
UF: 2:26 - T. Jackson 8-yard run (Edmiston PAT) - 8 plays, 74 yards, 2:19
2nd Quarter
UF: 10:38 - T. Jackson 12-yard run (Edmiston PAT) - 6 plays, 77 yards, 2:26
UF: 9:57 - C. Davis 40-yard fumble recovery (Edmiston PAT)
UF: 4:52 - E. Williams 1-yard run (Edmiston PAT) - 7 plays, 90 yards, 2:43
3rd Quarter
UF: 13:26 - Green 28-yard pass from Wuerffel (Edmiston PAT) - 4 plays, 53 yards, 1:34
Florida: Wuerffel 15-16-267-2-0; Schottenheimer 5-5-90-0-0; Johnson 3-7-37-0-0.
GSU: Robinson 7-7-60-0-0; Hill 0-3-0-0.
Receiving (Receptions-Yards-Touchdowns)
Florida: Hilliard 4-72-0; McGriff 3-28-0; Green 3-61-1; Williams 3-58-0; Anthony 2-62-1; Richardson 1-34-0; Allen 1-27-0; McCaslin 1-16-0; Kinney 1-15-0; Ross 1-11-0; Dean 1-5-0; Nabavi 1-5-0; T. Jackson 1-0-0.
