Florida Turns Tide by Not Playing Safe : College football: Stallings’ decisions second-guessed after Spurrier’s deception wins out, 24-23, ending Alabama’s title hopes.

OK, who tinkered with the script? It specifically says that Alabama must win all close games, that Florida must gag as if it got a whiff of ammonia, that Gene Stallings’ conservative coaching style never fails and Steve Spurrier’s play-calling backfires like your grandmother’s Vista Cruiser.

Instead, Saturday’s Southeastern Conference championship game at the Georgia Dome ended with a 24-23 Florida victory and for a change of pace, some serious postgame second-guessing of Stallings and his fourth-quarter strategy.

For instance, why did Stallings have the Crimson Tide kick an extra point rather than try a two-point conversion midway through the final quarter? The extra point made it a 23-17 lead. A two-pointer would have forced Florida not only to score a touchdown, but also make Spurrier decide between a tie or a win.

And did Stallings put too much faith in senior quarterback Jay Barker, who played the entire second half despite a bruised non-throwing shoulder? Barker later said the injury bothered him, but not enough to sit out. You decide: Barker was six of 10 for 122 yards, one touchdown and one interception in the first half and four of nine for 59 yards, no touchdowns and one interception in the second.

And anyway, isn’t that Stallings’ decision, not Barker’s?

Whatever the reasons, No. 3-ranked Alabama (11-1) can forget about a Sugar Bowl bid and the national championship chance that came with it. The Crimson Tide goes to the Citrus Bowl, while No. 6-ranked Florida (10-1-1) faces Florida State in a rematch of their regular-season tie game in New Orleans on Jan. 2.

“It must have just been meant to be,” Spurrier said.

While Alabama played it safe, Spurrier was pulling out obscure formations used by little Emory & Henry College in the 1950s. He ordered lateral passes and fake injuries.

Whatever Spurrier did, it worked. More important, it worked during the fourth quarter, the same quarter in which Florida blew a 28-point lead against Florida State last week at Tallahassee.

This time there would be no choke. The only gasping heard came from Alabama’s players, who couldn’t believe their eyes.

On Florida’s deciding scoring drive, the Crimson Tide defense saw starting quarterback Danny Wuerffel limp gingerly off the field, replaced by Eric Kresser. Surely the Gators would play it safe and run some sort of halfback plunge while Wuerffel recovered. At least that’s what Alabama thought.

“I’m supposed to hop off the field,” Wuerffel said. “Did it look good?”

Alabama was fooled. Kresser, who has the strongest arm on the team, promptly dropped back and hit Ike Hilliard for a 25-yard gain to the Alabama 42. In came a healthy Wuerffel, the deception complete.

“Sometimes when you put someone else in, they’re a little timid,” Wuerffel said, explaining the psychology of the play. “You don’t expect them to fire it downfield.”

Three plays later, on fourth and one from the Alabama 33, running back Fred Taylor squirted forward for two yards. Then the Gators lined up in a split formation that saw part of the offensive line go to the right and the other part to the left.

Alabama’s players said they were ready for this one, but couldn’t stop Wuerffel from hitting Reidel Anthony for a nine-yard gain. Second and one at the Alabama 22.

Next came the lateral pass--the first time the play had been called all season by Spurrier--from Wuerffel to wide receiver Chris Doering. Doering, a former third-string high school quarterback, found Aubrey Hill wide open for a 20-yard gain.

Wuerffel hit Doering for a two-yard touchdown on the next play and Judd Davis kicked the extra point, leaving Alabama with 5:29 for a game-winning drive.

The Crimson Tide never crossed midfield. Barker’s pass on fourth and 13 was intercepted by safety Eddie Lake. End of threat. End of game. Beginning of second-guessing.

Stallings wasn’t in the defending mood. He said he kicked the extra point because he didn’t want to risk being beaten by two field goals.

“I understood that entirely,” he said. “I made the decision, how’s that?”

Later, as he left the postgame news conference, he turned to reporters and said, “Does anybody want to ask why we went for the extra point? It was the right decision at the time. I’d do the same thing again.”

As for Barker, Stallings said he wasn’t about to pull the guy who had led the Crimson Tide to a 34-1-1 record. And it’s probably best not to mention Alabama’s final drive, if you can call it that.

All they had to do, kicker Michael Proctor said, was get to the Florida 40-yard line. Proctor would have done the rest.

“I kicked a 56-, 57-yarder in practice (the day before),” he said.

No one will ever know now. Nor will the Crimson Tide have a chance for the national championship it craved.

“It stinks,” guard Jon Stevenson said. “It really stinks.”