Wuerffel and Florida Establish Themselves : Southeastern: Quarterback passes for 231 yards and three touchdowns to lead No. 9 Gators to 41-34 victory over No. 5 Tennessee.

Even after leading ninth-ranked Florida past fifth-ranked Tennessee, Danny Wuerffel was hesitant to say he had settled Florida’s quarterback controversy.

So Florida Coach Steve Spurrier said if for him.

“He’s our quarterback until something happens to change that,” Spurrier after Florida’s 41-34 Southeastern Conference victory.

“He took care of the ball very well. I had hoped to play Terry Dean, too, and I feel bad I didn’t. But the way the game took off, it was just a matter of sticking with one quarterback and keeping whatever momentum we had to try to win the game.”

Wuerffel, who came off the bench to direct two fourth-quarter scoring drives to beat Kentucky last week, passed for 231 yards and three touchdowns against an outmatched Tennessee secondary.

The redshirt freshman finished with 19 completions in 38 attempts. Errict Rhett rushed for 147 yards and two touchdowns for Florida, which improved to 3-0 overall and 2-0 in the SEC.

Tennessee’s Heath Shuler completed 25 of 41 passes for 355 yards and five touchdowns. Billy Williams had touchdown receptions of 41, 70 and 13 yards, Cory Fleming scored on a 56-yard pass play after the Volunteers fell behind, 21-0.

The Gators, who have not lost at Florida Field since 1989, extended the nation’s second-longest home winning streak to a school-record 20 games. Tennessee (2-1, 1-1) lost for the first time in seven games under Phillip Fulmer, who replaced Johnny Majors last season.

“We thought they were an outstanding team, and they did nothing to change that,” Fulmer said. “We have to look at why we lost. One, we were playing a good team. Two, we had too many turnovers and penalties.”

Shuler’s five-yard touchdown pass to Joey Kent and a two-point conversion run by Charlie Garner trimmed Florida’s lead to seven points with 1:46 left. By that time, a thunderstorm had rolled in and Wuerffel ran out the clock in heavy rain.

“We came down here expecting a shootout--and it was,” Tennessee cornerback Ronald Davis said. “Florida has a balanced attack and they did a terrific job catching us off-guard.”

Aubrey Hill, Chris Doering and Harrison Houston scored on passes from Wuerffel, who did not learn until Friday that he would take the first snap against Tennessee. Wuerffel had one pass intercepted Saturday.

“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous,” Wuerffel said. “We won. That’s all that counts. They gave us a scare, but we came together and got it done.”

Florida moved the ball almost at will in building a 21-0 lead on Wuerffel’s touchdown passes to Hill and Doering and a one-yard run by Rhett.