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GAINESVILLE, Florida (Ticker) -- As expected, Florida and coach Steve Spurrier showed no mercy. Rex Grossman threw for two touchdowns and ran for another as third-ranked Florida stayed in the national title chase with an easy 37-13 victory over No. 20 Florida State. The victory gave the Gators (9-1) their 12th straight nine-win season, breaking the Southeastern Conference record set by Alabama from 1971 to 1981. In the process, the Seminoles (6-4) were assured of their first four-loss season since 1986 and suffered back-to-back defeats for the first time since losing to Miami and Florida in 1991. The loss also could drop the Seminoles out of the national polls for the first time in 12 years on Sunday. "I won't worry about it one bit," Seminoles coach Bobby Bowden said. "We're either in it or we're out. We'll try to fight our way back." Earlier in the week, Bowden joked about how his injury-plagued and inexperienced team could take a "bye" this year in their annual battle with the Gators. But Spurrier said he had no intention of listening to "anybody singing the blues." His team was aggressive from the opening kickoff and snapped a three-game losing streak to the Seminoles. "Anytime you have a win it feels good and anytime you get a win over Florida State it feels even better," Grossman said. "I feel pretty good about the win, although I thought we could have gotten a few more points on the board." Florida built a 20-3 halftime lead on a two-yard touchdown run by Earnest Graham, a six-yard TD pass to Taylor Jacobs and field goals of 36 and 38 yards by Jeff Chandler. Grossman added a one-yard TD run in the third quarter and threw a 28-yard TD pass to Jabar Gaffney in the final period. Grossman completed 27-of-42 passes for 290 yards, ending his string of consecutive 300-yard passing games at nine. The news was not all positive for the Gators. Graham suffered a sprained knee in the second quarter and was on crutches late in the game, putting his status for a December 1 showdown with Tennessee in question. "We'll get this one out of our system quickly and start trying to get ready for the Vols," Spurrier said. "That's going to be the big game." The Gators are fifth in the latest Bowl Championship Series poll. "We need to beat everybody we have left," Gaffney said. "We have no room for errors." Chris Rix of the Seminoles completed 26-of-29 passes for 229 yards, including a five-yard TD pass to P.K. Sam in the fourth quarter. Rix was the Seminoles' leading rusher with just 18 yards on seven carries. Any chance the Seminoles had of getting back into the game ended when they committed two second-half turnovers and came up with just a field goal on a pair of trips inside the Florida 10. The first drive came after a fumble by Robert Gillespie and ended when Nick Maddox was stopped short on a screen pass at the Florida 7. Linebacker Michael Boulware quickly picked off a pass from Grossman, but the Seminoles were forced to settle for a 23-yard field goal by Xavier Beitia that made it 20-6. Florida answered with an 11-yard, 85-yard drive that ended with Grossman poking the ball over from the 1. An 18-yard pass to Reche Caldwell put the ball at the 1. Caldwell caught seven passes for 70 yards. Chandler added an 18-yard field goal wirth 2:32 remaining. Beitia connected on a 39-yarder on the final play of the first half.
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