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Louisiana State 42, Florida 28: Gators fall short against LSU, suffer first loss of season

Louisiana State 42, Florida 28: Gators fall short against LSU, suffer first loss of season

The Florida Gators went blow for blow with the LSU Tigers in a heavyweight fight on Saturday night, but in the end—the Tigers were too much for a bevy of unfortunate circumstances that swung the Gators way.

If somebody told me that Florida’s top two pass rushers—Jabari Zuniga and Jon Greenard, would both be injured on this night, then I would have given it absolutely no shot at stopping this explosive LSU offense—and no shot to win as a result. Well, this is the scenario that plagued the Gators on Saturday night with both going down with ankle injuries. Zuniga left the game at the beginning of the third quarter, reaggravating the same ankle injury that has sidelined him for the last four games. For Greenard, it was the first series of the night—a crushing blow to this otherwise nasty pass rush. We never got to see what could have been if Florida had its key pieces at full strength.

The Gators could not stop the Tigers, largely due to an ineffective pass rush against Tigers QB Joe Burrow. Ultimately, that loss and lack of production could have been the difference in the football game. But LSU’s relentless quick strike offense was too perfect for the UF defense, as the Tiger’s never made a mistake with the ball in their hands. Burrow finished 21-of-24 for 293 yards and 3 TD’s and he stayed clean in the turnover department. Interestingly, Florida came into Saturday night leading the country in interceptions and third in sacks. They didn’t add to either category against LSU, accounting for no sacks and were never in any positions to intercept Burrow.

But Florida’s offense did just fine too, at least for the first and to start the second half. But Louisiana State made the stops when it counted and finished off the Gators to move to 6-0.

This entire week I was concerned with UF’s ability to sustain drives and stay on the field. Against LSU, Florida did more than just that and in fact, dominated the time of possession. Dan Mullen’s game plan was fabulous, but lack of execution down the stretch prevented Florida from finishing. And Florida’s defense didn’t help it on this night.

This game had the feel of a Big-12 shootout to start with each team trading TD’s over the course of the first half. The Tigers missed a field goal on their first drive but rebounded quickly on their next, striking first behind a gashing 57-yard run by running back Clyde Edwards-Hellaire and Burrow’s first TD on the next play to receiver Ja’Marr Chase from 9-yards away.

Florida answered quickly with a 12-play, 75-yard drive highlighted by nice runs by Lamical Perine and Emory Jones, who was highly implemented in the game plan. Trask would toss his first of four TD’s on the evening to Trevon Grimes to tie it at 7-7.

Burrow would lead LSU on a 5-play, 82-yard march finished off by a perfect pass to receiver Justin Jefferson when UF DB Trey Dean was all over it. I’m still not sure how he completed some of these passes.

But Florida would respond with another 75-yard drive, this time taking 13 plays—finished off by a clutch 4th-and-Goal conversion from the 1-yard line on a pass that Trask threw up for grabs under pressure and Perine came down the weird TD.

LSU once again drove the field with ease, with Edwards-Hellaire exploding through a gaping hole for a 39-yard TD scamper. Mullen acknowledged that LSU surprised the Gators with successful runs time and time again. Mullen and Todd Grantham seemed to have taken the Tigers ground game lightly heading into Saturday’s showdown as their major attention was on the passing game and rightfully so. But this Tigers ground attack is one underlying story in the eventual outcome as the Tigers chewed up 218-yards rushing on the night.

Florida answered before the half on a hellacious drive led by nice passes from Trask to Kyle Pitts and Van Jefferson, who each were unstoppable all night. Florida knotted things up at 21 a piece behind Trask’s third TD to Jefferson from 6-yards away.

The Gators were heading to halftime with the edge on the road and got the football back to kick off the second half. Trask led an excellent, perfectly called drive by Mullen—with catches of 20, 17, and 12 by Jefferson, and he finished with a 2-yard TD reception to give UF the 28-21 lead for the first time. UF had its opportunities to muster control and squandered every one of them away.

LSU would respond with 21 unanswered points, creating a game-clinching interception by Derrick Stingly Jr., who was picked on regularly all night until that point, and right when UF was deep in LSU territory threatening in the fourth quarter to close the deficit.

Just as Florida would seem to gain some momentum, the Tigers would answer each and every time and not allow UF to take control.

I felt that going into halftime that whichever coaching staff made the right defensive adjustments would take this game. I was very confident in Todd Grantham making the necessary moves to stall LSU in the second half, but the reality is—there were none. I get that Florida was down its two most active edge rushers, but Grantham had no answers for this potent, well-planned offense, and the Tigers continued their air parade from previous weeks into the second half, never slowing down the least bit. Burrow made every throw with precision, LSU wideouts snagged everything thrown right in their hands, never dropping the football or fumbling it when Florida pressed tirelessly for strips all night. Maybe Grantham should have tried to get physical and try some sort of bump-and-run and press these LSU wideouts to disrupt their routes.

It just wasn’t Florida’s night and it was to be expected. It was just too tall of an order for the mighty Gators on this night. Give Louisiana State credit for playing a nice, clean game and not giving Florida anything easy. The Tigers made the plays that were there and didn’t make the crucial misstep that could have changed the outcome.

Florida is still in outstanding position within its division with four conference games remaining. Trask looks like the answer at quarterback, going 23-of-39 for 310 yards and three touchdowns to just one interception, although that one interception was a huge momentum swing for the Tigers, and he had another INT negated by penalty. Still, if Trask keeps progressing in the offense the way he has been then UF will only get better. Florida will need him to, as they play on the road next Saturday against a South Carolina team that looks a little scarier after going into Athens and leaving with a win over Georgia. Even after this loss, Florida is looking like the new favorite in the east. Assuming they can regroup, get healthier, and most importantly respond to a tough loss, the Gators have as good of a shot as any to end up in Atlanta playing for a conference title and what could be a playoff berth.



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