GATORS AT 100

Wuerffel Dominated For Gators

By ANDY STAPLES

Published: Jul 17, 2006

GAINESVILLE - At that exact moment, with Auburn University players celebrating a 36-33 win on Florida Field and Florida fans wondering why their coach called for a downfield heave with the score and the clock on his side, the combined memories of all 331 losses in the 88-year history of Florida football probably didn't ache like No.332.

The Gators' loss knocked Florida from atop the polls and all but crushed the Gators' chances of playing for a national title. Florida's long-suffering fans probably couldn't have named one positive from the 3 1/2 hours of torture they endured on Oct. 15, 1994. Almost 12 years later, it's easy to find the silver lining.

That day against Auburn, Florida coach Steve Spurrier realized Danny Wuerffel was the quarterback who could take the Gators all the way.

Wuerffel, then a sophomore, started the following week against Georgia, and he didn't let go of the job until after he'd won the 1996 Heisman Trophy, led the Gators to a national title and rewritten the school passing record book.

"My whole career at Florida feels like a dream sometimes," Wuerffel said in April, minutes before his induction into the UF sports hall of fame. "I wonder if it really happened."

It did, though some have forgotten just how good Wuerffel was. His six-year NFL career - 2,123 yards, 12 touchdowns, 22 interceptions - may have distorted the memory of his on-field accomplishments as a Gator. For the record, Wuerffel was 34-5-1 as a starter, throwing for 10,875 yards and 114 touchdowns. His touchdown mark remains a Southeastern Conference record.

If they gave a Heisman for humanity, Wuerffel, who has spent his post-football life trying to help underprivileged children as the development director for Desire Street Ministries, probably would be an annual finalist. Desire Street's New Orleans facilities were destroyed by Hurricane Katrina, so Wuerffel secured a site in the Panhandle for the 2005-06 school year and has since moved the school to Baton Rouge, La.

But even Wuerffel's humanitarian efforts may have partially obscured his college dominance - not that Wuerffel would mind. Still, one of Wuerffel's favorite targets believes college football fans need to remember how No.7 carved up the SEC.

"The stuff that Danny did," former Gators receiver Chris Doering said, "was ridiculous."

Don't believe Doering? Check the numbers. Wuerffel remains second in NCAA history in passer efficiency rating (163.6) and fourth in touchdowns. Wuerffel doesn't crack the top 20 in career yardage, but to determine that statistic's importance, ask a coach if he'd rather have a quarterback who led the nation in yardage or one who led the nation in touchdown passes.

The three players ahead of Wuerffel on the touchdown chart didn't play on dominant teams, so they kept chucking long past the point when Wuerffel would have given way to his backup. And just imagine Wuerffel's touchdown total if he hadn't split time his freshman and sophomore years with Terry Dean or if he hadn't sat out the made-for-stat-padding 1995 homecoming game against Northern Illinois. That game, backup Eric Kresser set a school single-game passing yardage record.

For some SEC perspective, consider the other two most successful conference quarterbacks of the past 15 years, Tennessee's Peyton Manning and Georgia's David Greene. Manning had a 147.1 efficiency rating and threw for 89 touchdowns. Greene, who won 42 games in 52 starts, had a 138.3 rating and threw for 72 touchdowns.

"You've never seen a guy put up the kind of numbers that [ Wuerffel] did," said Doering, who caught one of Wuerffel's most famous passes to beat Kentucky in 1993. "And you probably never will again."

That isn't entirely true. One player in the past few years has put up numbers comparable to Wuerffel's. Had Southern California's Matt Leinart played a portion of his freshman season - he didn't throw a pass in 2002 - he might have equaled or surpassed Wuerffel.

In three seasons, Leinart threw for 10,693 yards and 99 touchdowns and finished his career with a 158.5 passer rating. He also won the Heisman Trophy and led his team to one consensus national title, one shared national title and another national title game. Of course, he also was spotted leaving Paris Hilton's house one morning.

So maybe Wuerffel's off-the-field efforts give him the edge in the head-to-head matchup.

"The fact that [ Wuerffel] was able to do all that and be such a great student and such a great guy," Doering said, "that makes it all that much better."