Spurrier Not One to Turn Cheek

Florida Coach Steve Spurrier and his quarterback, Danny Wuerffel, are both religious. Spurrier is the son of a preacher, and Wuerffel’s spirituality has been well chronicled.

But when it comes to football, Spurrier admits coach and player are influenced by different books of the Bible.

“Danny, during the course of a game, he doesn’t have a nasty temper at all,” Spurrier said. “I think he’s sort of like a New Testament person. He gets slapped upside the face, he turns the other cheek. He says ‘Lord forgiveth, they know not what they doeth.’ I’m probably more of an Old Testament person; you spear our guy in the ear hole, I think you’re supposed to spear the other guy in the ear hole.”

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Florida State Coach Bobby Bowden, a military history buff, thinks there are comparisons to be made between one of his favorite war heroes, Gen. George Patton, and Spurrier.

“Patton, he was always sticking his foot in his mouth,” Bowden says.

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The loss of reserve tailback Rock Preston, declared academically ineligible this week, leaves Florida State woefully thin at tailback. Luckily, the Seminoles have a durable starter in superstar Warrick Dunn.

In relief of Dunn, however, Preston had averaged 7.9 yards in 49 rushing attempts.

If Dunn gets hurt Thursday, his replacement will be untested sophomore Dee Feaster, who has carried 20 times this season for 60 yards.

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If anyone could appreciate the pounding Wuerffel has absorbed, you figure it would be Spurrier, former Heisman Trophy winner and NFL journeyman.

“I quarterbacked the worst team in the history of the NFL, Tampa Bay in ‘76,” Spurrier says. “We were 0-14 and I played in every one of those games. How many quarterbacks last through 14 losses?”

Surprisingly, Spurrier says he escaped the season unscathed.

“In fact, I was very seldom ever sore after a game,” he says. “The other guys came in there and hit me, but they didn’t hit me to hurt me. They weren’t mad at me. They weren’t mad at the Bucs. They didn’t care nothing about knocking me out of the game. They wanted me to stay in there, I think.”