Florida Is No. 1 in SEC and Going for Big One : College football: Wuerffel leads Gators to 34-3 victory over Arkansas and showdown against Nebraska in Fiesta Bowl.

This foregone conclusion didn’t conclude as fast as lump-throated Fiesta Bowl officials would have liked--midway through the first quarter--but everyone got what he came for in the end.

The Florida Gators, slowed up the way water is through a strainer, shook off a sluggish-for-them 17-point first half Saturday night before flipping on the afterburners in defeating Arkansas, 34-3, in front of a Georgia Dome crowd of 71,325 at the Southeastern Conference championship game.

The victory left No. 2 Florida (12-0) with its third consecutive SEC title and the Fiesta Bowl with a dream-come-true Jan. 2 matchup between the Gators and top-ranked Nebraska for the national championship.

“I’m so happy for so many people,” John Junker, the Fiesta Bowl executive director, said afterward.

In fact, the Fiesta Bowl would like to thank . . .

--Ben Hanks. Down 24-3 in the third quarter, Arkansas faced fourth and goal at the Florida three. A touchdown would have made it almost a game. As Junker fidgeted in the press box, Razorback quarterback Barry Lunney rolled left on an option and was looking to pitch the ball to tailback Marius Johnson. But Lunney, just as he was being tackled from behind by Ed Chester, pitched the ball into the waiting arms of Hanks, a Gator defender, who picked off the lateral (officially ruled a fumble) and raced 95 yards for the touchdown that sent tortillas flying.

“That was certainly the turning point,” Junker said. “That’s when we started to think about preparing the party in Tempe.”

--Danny Wuerffel. The junior Florida quarterback was his usual self, completing 20 of 28 passes for 276 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. Making a late charge for the Heisman Trophy, Wuerffel finished the regular season with 35 touchdowns, 10 interceptions, and the highest efficiency rating (178.4) in NCAA history.

“I’m still hoping he’s a senior,” Arkansas Coach Danny Ford said afterward. “Is he really a junior?”

--The Arkansas bench. Needing team unity as never before, two Razorback defenders got in a fight on the sidelines late in the second quarter.

It had to be broken up by defensive coordinator Joe Lee Dunn.

As if Dunn didn’t have enough to worry about with the Florida offense.

“I’m not very happy about that,” Ford said of the fight.

Florida and the Fiesta savored every last punch.

The Gators, admittedly, didn’t bring their “A” game. “We sputtered around there some,” Coach Steve Spurrier said.

But Arkansas isn’t Nebraska, either. The Razorbacks needed to play a perfect game to have a prayer, but instead committed four turnovers that led to 17 Gator points.

“There was no doubt in our mind we were outmanned,” Ford said. “The only way we could win was to not to turn the ball over. But look at the stat sheet.”

The Gators caught another break when Madre Hill, Arkansas’ 1,000-yard rusher, sprained his left knee on the Razorbacks’ first drive. Hill gave it the old college try later in the half, but left for good after carrying once for no gain.

To its credit, Arkansas did its best to slow down the pace of the game against a Florida offense that averaged 45 points and 547 yards a game.

The Razorbacks put a scare into Gator fanatics when they took the opening drive and mounted a 16-play drive that consumed 7:34 on the clock.

Arkansas had to settle for a field goal, and field goals don’t generally cut it against Florida.

It took the Gators three minutes and seven plays to take the lead for good, on a 22-yard pass from Wuerffel to Chris Doering with 4:30 left in the quarter.

On the next series, safety Teako Brown set up a Florida touchdown when he intercepted a Lunney pass and returned it 10 yards to the Arkansas 47.

Five plays later, Wuerffel dived over from the one to put the Gators up 14-3.

Brad Edmiston’s 31-yard field goal with 5:03 left in the half extended the lead to 17-3, but this was hardly vintage Florida.

Dunn, the Arkansas defensive guru who boned up on the Florida offense by reading a book Spurrier once wrote, frustrated Wuerffel at times with an array of looks and blitzes.

“We thought if we could keep it close in the fourth quarter, they might get a little tight, playing for the national championship,” Ford said.

Arkansas had its one chance, and blew it.

After Hanks’ 95-yard return for touchdown made it 31-3 with 4:25 left in the third, you could almost feel the entire Gator contingent exhale with relief.

“When everyone expects you to win, it is kind of scary,” Hanks said.

Not to worry. Everything is right in the football world.

Arkansas (8-4) ends up where it belongs, in the Carquest Bowl against North Carolina, while Florida plays for the whole Fiesta enchilada.

“This is the first bowl game I ever coached that really meant something,” Spurrier said of the showdown against Nebraska. “The rest meant winning and losing, or whether you finished third or seventh in the country. Obviously, a lot is riding on this one coming up.”