Florida States Its Case, 14-9 : Southeast: No. 5 Gators end four-game losing streak to No. 3 Florida State.

Florida State, the nation’s top team for nearly three months, is now only third-best in its own state.

No. 5 Florida handed the third-ranked Seminoles their second consecutive loss, knocking its intrastate rival out of the national championship picture with a 14-9 victory on Saturday.

The victory was the eighth in a row for Florida (10-1), which won its first official Southeastern Conference championship this season and is headed to the Sugar Bowl to play Notre Dame.

It also ended a four-game losing streak to Florida State and means the Gators are no worse than second-best in the state after being considered No. 3 for the last five years.

“It’s been a long time coming,” Florida defensive tackle Brad Culpepper said. “I’d rather beat them four years in a row, but I’m proud to be part of the team that stopped the streak.”

Florida State (10-2), which lost the No. 1 ranking to Miami two weeks ago, closes out the season against Texas A&M; in the Cotton Bowl.

“Being No. 1, we were a target all year. We might have run out of some juice at the end,” Florida State quarterback Casey Weldon said. “I don’t think we can even consider it a good season now with the expectations we had.”

Shane Matthews passed for 208 yards and one touchdown, and Errict Rhett rushed for 109 yards and one score to lead the Gators.

The key, however, was the Florida defense, which harassed Weldon into a sub-par performance and held Florida State to 37 yards rushing.

“It was one of the most emotional games I think I’ve ever been around as a player or as a coach,” Florida Coach Steve Spurrier said. “There was constant electricity. It seemed the game depended on every play.”

Matthews, who completed 13 of 30 passes for 208 yards, gave Florida a 14-3 lead when he rolled to his right to avoid a heavy rush and passed to Harrison Houston, who was being covered by linebacker Reggie Freeman. Houston made the catch for a 72-yard touchdown pass play.

Freeman was left with single coverage of Houston when cornerback Terrell Buckley moved up to stop Matthews from running. Freeman, trailing the receiver, slightly overran the pass while Houston made an adjustment and sprinted away from the stumbling linebacker after making the catch.

The 11-point lead appeared safe until late in the fourth quarter when Weldon, who lost one fumble and threw an interception, finally got Florida State’s offense on track.

Florida State, which failed to score a touchdown on two possessions inside the Florida five, drove 80 yards to pull within six points when Amp Lee scored on a 25-yard pass play with 5:24 to go. The Seminoles got the ball back a minute later, but Weldon’s bid to overcome a poor three quarters fell short when Florida stopped him on downs at the Gator 14.