The sweat rolled off Terry Dean’s chin. Florida’s 31-0 whipping of Tennessee at Neyland Stadium had been a long, humid night’s work for the Gators quarterback, but it had definitely been worth the effort.
“Now we know we can go all the way,” Dean said. “We’re right on the verge of being a great team. It’s up to us to take it from here.”
Not all the pollsters are convinced yet. Nebraska, which scorched UCLA 49-21 Saturday, remains atop the CNN/USA Today poll, while the Gators are No. 1 in the Associated Press vote.
Still, the Gators’ resounding victory over the Vols has Floridians dreaming about the school’s first national title. The Gators are unlikely to be threatened again in Southeastern Conference play unless Auburn, the only SEC team that beat them a year ago, can spring an upset Oct. 15 in Gainesville. The War Eagles looked exceedingly vulnerable in slipping past unheralded Louisiana State at home Saturday.
The Gators’ biggest concern might be looking ahead to Nov. 26, when they visit Florida State. It’s fitting that Florida’s road to the national championship goes through Tallahassee, because last year the Seminoles had to go through Gainesville to claim their first national championship.
Of course, there are plenty of other games to be played across the country before anyone can lay claim to the mythical No. 1. But most of the pieces of the national title jigsaw will be in place before the Gators and Seminoles go at it.
Seventh-ranked Colorado’s rout of Wisconsin set up a showdown Saturday with No. 4 Michigan in Ann Arbor. If Colorado wins, it still must take on Nebraska Oct. 29 in Lincoln.
And if Michigan wins, it still has to defeat Penn State Oct. 15 to keep alive its No. 1 dreams. The Nittany Lions have been every bit as devastating as the Gators. After watching his Iowa Hawkeyes lose to Penn State 61-21 Saturday, coach Hayden Fry called the Nittany Lions “one of, if not the best, college football teams in the 1994 season.”
Each of the top seven teams in the AP poll still has to play at least one of the others during the regular season. It’s not as tidy as a playoff system, but it’s as close as Division I-A will come for now.
If there’s a reason for Florida fans to be confident, it’s the team’s defense. The unit was talented last year but had a proclivity for giving up big plays. New defensive coordinator Bob Pruett has switched to a 4-3-4 defense and instilled a smarter approach.
“We don’t take too many chances,” free safety Michael Gilmore said. “I think in the past we did.”
The Gators have allowed only one touchdown in the last 10 quarters.
