41 7 3 2 7 14 | 8 8 Florida 7 14 14 | |
The 1994 Sugar Bowl took place on January 1, 1994, in the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana between the Florida Gators, the champions of the Southeastern Conference (SEC), and West Virginia Mountaineers, winners of the Big East Conference. The Mountaineers came into the game undefeated, with slim national championship hopes, while Florida came in 10–2 and ranked #8.
Game summary
After a quick touchdown from Jake Kelchner to Jay Kearney to put West Virginia up 7–0 early, the Gators came right back and answered with a touchdown by Errict Rhett to tie the score at 7. Just before halftime, Gator defensive back Lawrence Wright picked off an errant pass from West Virginia quarterback Darren Studstill right on the midfield logo. He first made his way to his right side, but when he ran out of blocking help just inside the West Virginia 40, he turned around and backtracked, circling back to the 45 before finding some running room, and he sprinted into the end zone from there to cap a 51-yard interception return touchdown. That put Florida up 14–7, and crushed the Mountaineers' competitive spirit, as Florida's defense proceeded to force a quick three and out, which gave Terry Dean time to connect with Jack Jackson for a 39-yard touchdown to make it 21–7 at halftime.
From there, the Gators cruised in the second half. Rhett ran in two more touchdowns and Judd Davis added two insurance field goals in the fourth quarter to make the final score a convincing 41–7.