Dean Helps Florida Make a Case, 73-7 : SEC: Quarterback has four touchdown passes for No. 2-ranked Gators in rout of Kentucky.

Coach Steve Spurrier of No. 2-ranked Florida isn’t eager to join a debate over who should be No. 1.

Although the Gators made a powerful statement for returning to the top spot with a 73-7 Southeastern Conference victory over Kentucky on Saturday, Spurrier said he’s more concerned about next week’s game at Tennessee than with the polls.

“Seriously, Nebraska deserved to be up there as much as we did,” said Spurrier, whose team slipped behind the Cornhuskers last week despite beating New Mexico State by 49 points in its first game.

“We were honored to be up there in the preseason, but we really hadn’t done all that much. We won one game we should have won. . . . We’ll be tested a lot more when we play Tennessee.”

The Gators, who needed a last-minute touchdown to beat the Wildcats a year ago, scored on five of their first six possessions en route to a 31-7 halftime lead on Saturday. They improved to 2-0 overall and 1-0 in the SEC.

Last September at Lexington, Ky., Terry Dean had four passes intercepted and was yanked twice before backup Danny Wuerffel rescued the Gators. This time, Dean was nearly flawless.

After tying an NCAA record with seven touchdown passes in the first half of Florida’s 70-21 victory over New Mexico State, Dean had four more against Kentucky (1-1, 0-1), which trailed, 21-0, before it managed to make a first down.

Dean left the game late in the third quarter, finishing with 15 completions in 22 attempts for 201 yards. In five quarters this season, he has 11 touchdown passes and no interceptions.

After Dean tossed a perfect spiral to Reidel Anthony on a 65-yard scoring play in the third quarter, the Florida Field crowd of 85,238 began to chant “We’re No. 1!”

The roar continued when Xavier McCray picked up Daymon Carter’s fumble on the ensuing kickoff and ran it back 33 yards for a 52-7 lead.