The Associated Press

A happy Danny Wuerffel walks off the field with his father Jon, left. | ZOOM |

NEW ORLEANS - The shotgun sure did it.

Florida coach Steve Spurrier devised an offense that allowed Danny Wuerffel to deliver more hits than he took Thursday night as No. 3 Florida beat No. 1 Florida State 52-20 in the Sugar Bowl and won its first national title.

The Heisman Trophy winner shook off brutal shots all night and came through with three touchdown passes to Ike Hilliard and a 16-yard scoring run that helped the Gators avenge two defeats with one win.

''We got in that shotgun, and obviously, the shotgun gave us a chance,'' Florida coach Steve Spurrier said.

''The shotgun was probably the smartest thing Steve has done,'' Florida State coach Bobby Bowden said.

''The shotgun really helped us,'' Wuerffel said. ''It let us get some balls off.''

Wuerffel helped himself, too. Often, he would shift his running backs, changing them from receivers to blockers.

''Steve left his backs in more tonight and it gave Wuerffel more time,'' Bowden said. ''Their protection scheme was outstanding.''

Just 33 days ago, the Seminoles (11-1) knocked the Gators out of the No. 1 ranking with a 24-21 win in Tallahassee. In the rematch, just the 11th time two teams have met in the same season, the Gators (12-1) not only avenged that loss, but made up for last year's 62-24 whipping by Nebraska in the title game at the Fiesta Bowl.

The 52-20 defeat was the largest loss by a No. 1 team in a bowl. In the 1978 Cotton Bowl, Notre Dame beat Texas 38-10. The 32-point margin was the worst for a No. 1 team since Penn State beat Pitt 48-14 in 1981.

Florida's Fred Taylor dives into the endzone for a TD. | ZOOM |

The Seminoles suffered a huge setback when running back Warrick Dunn went out in the second half with cramps after running just nine times for 28 yards. He was taken to the locker room and given fluids, came back for one third-quarter carry and didn't return.

''They just beat us in every part of the game,'' Bowden said. ''The kicking game, I think the punts that kept us at the 1. I think they scored off of each of those. ...They just beat the heck out of us. ... You can see way we didn't want to play them again, don't you?''

The loss ended an NCAA-record, 11-game bowl winning streak for Bowden.

Since the loss to Florida State, Spurrier has accused the Seminoles of late hits and dirty play against Wuerffel, who was sacked six times and intercepted three times. In the game that counted most, though, Wuerffel was 18-of-34 for 306 yards and the Gators scored more points than any other team in Sugar Bowl history.

Said Spurrier: ''Danny did it all and the whole team played super. (I'm) proud of everybody.''

Wuerffel was sacked three times and hit on many more occasions. But he was never really hurt.

''We played a lot better upfront tonight,'' Florida center Wyley Ritch said. ''We felt like that was a part of the game we had to win. And we did.''

Florida's Ike Hilliard makes the first of his three TD catches. | ZOOM |

Only Spurrier and his players could have imagined scoring so many points against Florida State. The Seminoles had the nation's third-best scoring defense, having allowed just 122 points all season.

''To tell you the truth, Coach Spurrier told us early in the week he'd like to score 50 points against Florida State,'' Gators receiver Jacquez Green said. ''He felt like we could do it. No one in the country can keep up with our wide receivers.''

Leading 24-17 at halftime, the Gators ran away from the Seminoles in the third quarter with Wuerffel hitting Hilliard on an 8-yard score and then running 16 yards for a score to make it 38-20. With 8:54 left in the game, Terry Jackson ran 42 yards for a score and the blue-and-orange clad Gator fans began celebrating in the Louisiana Superdome. Jackson added a 1-yard TD run with 2:12 left to complete the rout.

Hilliard also had TD catches of 9 and 31 yards and finished with seven catches for 150 yards.

Early in the game, the Gators seemed in control, but penalties slowed their offense and the Seminoles were able to stay close. Florida was penalized a Sugar Bowl-record tying 15 times for 102 yards and FSU was flagged 14 times for 115 yards.

SULLIVAN COLUMN

Florida        10  14  14  14 - 52


Florida State   3  14   3   0 - 20

First Quarter

Fla-Hilliard 9 pass from Wuerffel (Edmiston kick), 5:12.

FSU-FG Bentley 43, 7:11.

Fla-FG Edmiston 32, 12:16.

Second Quarter

Fla-Taylor 2 run (Edmiston kick), 3:32.

FSU-E.Green 29 pass from Busby (Bentley kick), 7:32.

Fla-Hilliard 31 pass from Wuerffel (Edmiston kick), 9:42.

FSU-Dunn 12 run (Bentley kick), 14:20.

Third Quarter

FSU-FG Bentley 45, 4:36.

Fla-Hilliard 7 pass from Wuerffel (Edmiston kick), 9:17.

Fla-Wuerffel 16 run (Edmiston kick), 14:47.

Fourth Quarter

Fla-Jackson 42 run (Edmiston kick), 6:08.

Fla-Jackson 1 run (Edmiston kick), 12:48.

A-78,344.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING-Florida, Jackson 12-118, Taylor 18-60, E.Williams 4-2, Schottenheimer 1-0, McCaslin 2-(minus 2), Wuerffel 6-(minus 10). Florida State, Dunn 9-28, Warrick 1-12, PB.Williams 2-7, Feafter 2-1, Busby 7-(minus 6).

PASSING-Florida, Wuerffel 18-34-1-306. Florida State, Busby 17-41-1-271, Kendra 0-1-1-0.

RECEIVING-Florida, Hilliard 7-150, J.Green 5-79, Anthony 4-50, Mobley 1-16, Taylor 1-11. Florida State, Messam 5-48, Cooper 4-82, E.Green 3-86, Pearsall 1-25, Dunn 1-12, Abdullah 1-10, Warrick 1-7, PB. Williams 1-1.

MISSED FIELD GOALS-Florida State, Bentley 55.