Florida Stakes Its 41-7 Claim to a Higher Ranking : Sugar Bowl: Gators deal West Virginia its first defeat and figure they’re at least No. 2 in their own state.

Turns out West Virginia is no more a national championship team than Jed Clampett was a linguist.

Mountaineers, go home.

Talk was as cheap as Minnie Pearl’s hat this week, considering it was hard to get a word in edgewise on West Virginia while it railed against the establishment of a poll system that, instead of looking at the Mountaineers’ 11-0 record and handing over the trophy, considered variables such as strength of schedule and viability.

In fact, during the course of Florida’s 41-7 victory over West Virginia Saturday night before a Superdome crowd of 75,437 in the USF&G; Sugar Bowl, the course of national championship discussion switched from one sideline to another, as the Gators put down a deposit for the rest of the century.

Gators spoke of this being a beginning for Florida, so long the third football wheel in the state behind Miami and Florida State.

The loudest cheering of the fourth quarter came when Gator fans struck up a rousing mock Florida State cheer when it was announced that Nebraska had overtaken the Seminoles in that other game at Miami.

The lead was short-lived, but in the fight for state stature, any Florida State misery is Florida joy.

In the Gators’ hearts, their dominating victory over West Virginia demands that No. 8 Florida move up in the final polls and remain there when next season opens.

“We’re certainly proud of what the team did this year,” Gator Coach Steve Spurrier said after the victory. “We’re trying to be the best team in the state. We’ll let the media do the rankings. But it’s certainly nice not being third in the state.”

The Gators, under the hand of Spurrier, the offensive whiz, ran the Mountaineers every which way but loose.

Florida led at halftime, 21-7, scored on its first two possessions of the third quarter to make it 35-7, and cruised home from there.

Just another day at the office as the Gators racked up 482 total yards to the Mountaineers’ 265.

“All of us are ready to do a walk on Bourbon Street,” Spurrier said.

How did the Gators win? Let them count the ways:

--Senior tailback Errict Rhett ran through the Mountaineers, rushing for 105 yards in 25 carries and three touchdowns, good enough to earn him the game’s most-valuable-player award.

Rhett’s next stop will be the NFL.

“This is the way I wanted to go out,” he said. “This is the game I’ll always remember as a Gator, the last game.”

--Quarterback Terry Dean, on a personal comeback quest, threw over the Mountaineers, completing 22 of 37 passes for 255 yards and a touchdown.

--Receiver Willie Jackson jumped over the Mountaineers, making nine catches for 131 yards, including a 39-yard scoring catch with 51 seconds left in the first half when he leaped over defender Mike Logan to make the grab and then pranced untouched into the end zone.

--Freshman safety Lawrence Wright? Well, he ran circles around West Virginia, turning what appeared to be a routine second-quarter interception into a spectacular 52-return for touchdown.

It unfolded with 9:12 remaining before halftime with the score tied, 7-7, and turned the tide of the game.

Dropping back to pass from his own 34, Mountaineer quarterback Darren Studstill’s pass was tipped by defensive back Monty Grow, who was blitzing. The pass fluttered to Wright, who made the interception at midfield, ran right to the 40, reversed his field to the left, cut back to the middle, then right again, all the way to the end zone.

All the while Spurrier was pulling his hair out.

“Everyone was hollering, ‘No, Lawrence, run forward,’ ” Spurrier said. “Then he goes in untouched. It was the dangdest thing I’ve seen.”

Wright called it, “Destiny. It was meant to be.”

The Mountaineers will spend the winter trying to figure out how the game got away.

“They deserved to win,” Mountaineer Coach Don Nehlen said. “We got whupped. We got whupped big time. There’s very little else to say.”

They actually led, 7-0, scoring on their opening drive on a 32-yard pass from Jake Kelchner to Jay Kearney.

But two key defensive penalties by West Virginia extended Florida’s next possession, allowing Rhett to work some magic on a three-yard run in which he changed direction, from left to right, then ran through a defender and in for the score.

Then came Wright’s interception return for touchdown, Jackson’s circus catch near the end of the half and two short touchdown bursts by Rhett in the third quarter.

Rhett’s third touchdown was set up by a fumbled kickoff return on which Logan fumbled after running into one of his teammates.

It was that kind of night.

For Dean, the junior quarterback, it was a special night to cap what has already been an emotional career. He spent three years on the bench behind former Florida star Shane Mathews before finally being named the Gators’ starter last spring.

It was a role that lasted six quarters before Dean was benched during the Kentucky game on Sept. 11, replaced by redshirt freshman Danny Wuerffel, who would star off the bench and be named Southeastern Conference player of the week. Dean almost quit, but his father, Frank, told him it “was not an option.”

Instead, Dean began the paperwork to get his MBA. He was going to finish out the season, then get on with his life.

But he got a second chance in Week 7 against Georgia, when Wuerrfel struggled and returned to the bench. Dean returned to the lineup, earned back some respect and shared the position with Wuerrfel the rest of the season.

Saturday’s Sugar Bowl was Dean’s baby. Wuerrfel was in street clothes, out with a knee injury. And Dean never flinched.

“I don’t even remember two weeks ago,” said Dean, lost in the moment. “This really helps to put everything behind you. It’s easy to do when you get a win like this.”

So now the Gators, for the sake of argument, can boast: What about us? Florida finishes with its first 11-victory season.

Another step toward overtaking Florida State and Miami?

“I didn’t know we were behind Miami right now,” Spurrier said.