SEC Rewind

Dec. 7, 1996

How Florida won

These were the days of Steve Spurrier and the Fun ’n’ Gun, and the Gators did both. Wuerffel passed for an SEC title-game record of 401 yards and six touchdowns against a Crimson Tide defense that ranked sixth in the nation in total defense. Reidel Anthony had 11 receptions for 171 yards and three touchdowns. The next weekend, Wuerffel won the Heisman Trophy. Additionally, he was a two-time first-team academic All-American and was awarded the Draddy Trophy (the so-called “academic Heisman”) presented annually by the College Football Hall of Fame to the nation’s top football scholar-athlete.

Tweetable fact

Wuerffel is the only two-time MVP in the SEC title game.

In the Bowl Alliance

In a rematch against rival Florida State, the Gators won the national championship by hammering the Seminoles 52-20.

Where he is now

An Alpharetta resident who is the executive director of Desire Street Ministries in Atlanta, Wuerffel will be one of 14 inductees into the College Football Hall of Fame on Dec. 10 at the National Football Foundation’s Annual Awards Dinner at the Waldorf Astoria in New York. The mission of the ministry: “To love our neighbor by revitalizing impoverished neighborhoods through spiritual and community development.”

He said it

“Life throws a lot of punches and a lot of curveballs, and when we get too attached to our plan or our agenda or expectation, life can be really tough. You would think that we can control it, but we can’t. So just being flexible is the great lesson I learned from coach Spurrier.”