Catch This!

The Tigers have been underrated for two reasons: lack of exposure (one of the NCAA sanctions was no TV appearances last season) and the fact that only two of their 17 victories had come over ranked teams. On one recent occasion when the Tigers did get national exposure, they had to overcome a 23-9 fourth-quarter deficit to defeat LSU 30-26. Perhaps that is why Spurrier was so dismissive of the Tigers in an interview with ESPN that aired last Saturday morning. "They don't play the type of schedule a lot of teams play," Spurrier said. "We're not putting them up on a pedestal as a national-championship team, I'll tell you that."

It was the kind of foolhardy needling—witness his reference this summer to Florida State as "Free Shoes University"—that has earned Spurrier the nickname Coach Superior around the South. Why Spurrier, who is basically a nice guy and a crafty coach, can't stop himself is a mystery. "I don't try to be a loudmouth," he said earlier in the week. Nonetheless, his remarks served only to whip the Tigers into a froth before the game and prompted unlimited gloating afterward.

Even more mystifying were his comments to Dean, whom twice last week Spurrier threatened to bench if he didn't play well. It was a puzzling way to attempt to motivate Dean, a fifth-year senior marketing major who carries a 3.9 GPA but has suffered intermittent crises of confidence in his football career. "He told me if I played bad I was going out," Dean said.

Dean's relationship with Spurrier, who is often critical of his quarterbacks, is at best businesslike and at worst hostile. "We won't be going on any fishing trips together," Dean said.

He lost the starting position last year after throwing four interceptions by early in the third quarter against Kentucky. Wuerffel, then a redshirt freshman, saved the day and started five games before Dean regained the job. This season Dean was finally living up to his promise—he came into the Auburn game having completed 62% of his passes for 18 touchdowns—but he had been inconsistent in his last outing, earning Spurrier's ire with a mediocre performance in a 42-18 rout of LSU.

Did Spurrier's threats shake Dean's confidence again? "I think it's pretty obvious," Dean said after the game. "You be the judge. He can say what he wants. It's my job to block it out."

Spurrier defended not only his handling of Dean but also Dean's performance against Auburn, blaming the interceptions on "poor coaching." He did not indicate, however, whether Dean or Wuerffel would start the Gators' next game, against Georgia on Oct. 29.

Wuerffel was nearly immaculate in his play. He completed his first nine passes and threw touchdown strikes of 26, 17 and 28 yards, the last a perfect arc over the middle to Jack Jackson that gave Florida the 33-29 lead. Shortly afterward, though, Spurrier made the last of several play-calling gaffes. After Auburn got one first down on its drive, the Gators took possession on their own 20-yard line with four minutes remaining.

Facing third-and-15 on the 29 with 1:31 left, Spurrier called for a pass. Wuerffel threw down the middle, and Robinson made the interception. Instead of having to field a punt and start deep in their own territory with less than a minute to go, the Tigers began their final march on their 45. Although Spurrier tried to minimize the importance of the call—"We would have been punting on the next down anyway," he said—the damage was undeniable.

By contrast, Bowden made no poor decisions. The Auburn sideline was in a kind of controlled pandemonium during the final drive, which covered 55 yards in 50 seconds. "You get so busy thinking about how to win, you don't think about losing," said Bowden later.