Any bitterness from the loss two weeks ago to Steve Spurrier and South Carolina, which ended their Sugar Bowl hopes, was gone on Saturday amid the jubilant fans in the Swamp. Their mood was lifted by a rollicking rout of rival Florida State.
The 90,669 fans -- most of them in Florida orange and blue -- watched the Gators crush Florida State, 34-7. Florida had started the season with high expectations only to stumble two weeks ago against Spurrier, its former coach.
The Gators (8-3) aren't going to Atlanta for the Sugar Bowl -- though they may be going to Atlanta to play in the Peach Bowl for the second straight year. But that did not seem to matter as they dismantled a disjointed, out-of-sync FSU.
The junior quarterback Chris Leak, who seemed to have regressed in his first season with the Gators' new coach, Urban Meyer, looked fine on Saturday in a hybrid version of the spread offense. Leak completed 19 of 30 passes for 207 yards and two touchdowns.
Florida State will limp into the inaugural Atlantic Coast Conference championship game in Jacksonville, Florida, next week with a 7-4 record after losing three in a row. The Seminoles will try to save a season in which they soared to No. 4 in the national rankings in early October with a 5-0 record.
But, hampered by injuries this season, they may have a hard time recouping after Saturday's jarring loss. They committed flagrant fouls, turned the ball over four times and seemed to lose all discipline in the second half.
Down by 27-0 with 12 minutes 2 seconds left, FSU coach Bobby Bowden called his team around him at the 35-yard line during a timeout after a turnover. Perhaps he was imploring the players not to lose their cool.
Florida State had lost control of the game because the offense was ineffective although the defense had played well early.
The freshman quarterback Drew Weatherford had no zip on his passes, and he finished 24 of 42 passing with one touchdown pass and two interceptions.
The Seminoles recognized the problems Weatherford was having, so they tried to outmuscle Florida with an inside running game, handing the ball to the veteran backs Leon Washington and Lorenzo Booker and the freshman Antone Smith.
When Florida shut that down, FSU was in trouble. Midway through the third quarter, the Seminoles had just 82 yards on 37 plays and six first downs.
The Gators' offense also sputtered in the first quarter. Florida State, which leads the ACC in sacks, dumped Leak for losses on each of Florida's first two possessions.
But when Leak started to get protection, he made a difference. On the Gators' third possession, he completed 4 of 4 passes for 55 yards on a nine-play, 71-yard drive.
He passed eight yards to the junior Chad Jackson for a touchdown.
The Gators made the score 14-0 in the second quarter, when Marcus Thomas blocked a Florida State field-goal attempt and Reggie Lewis returned it 46 yards for a touchdown. Chris Hetland's extra-point kick made the score 14-0 with 9:52 remaining in the second quarter.
Florida State contributed to its demise early in the third period. Florida faced third-and-six from its 24 when FSU had only 10 men on the field. As a defender ran onto the field, Leak completed an eight-yard pass to Chad Jackson to keep the drive alive.
The Gators, on the same series, looked as if they had been stopped on a third-and-10 from their 32. But a late hit by Florida State and personal foul gave Florida a first down at its 47.
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