GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Even when the LSU offense got it right, it was all wrong.

Trailing Florida 7-6 and facing a third down late in the third quarter in front of a frenzied Ben Hill Griffin Stadium crowd, LSU junior quarterback Zach Mettenberger found sophomore LSU wideout Odell Beckham Jr. blazing down the sidelines.

Fifty-six yards and an official review later, Beckham had fumbled away No. 9 LSU’s (5-1, 1-1 Southeastern Conference) only offensive spark since the opening drive on the way to a 14-6 defeat.

“We keep possession on that reception, and it could have been the difference in that game,” said LSU coach Les Miles.

His case isn’t compelling, as the Tigers posted their ugliest offensive performance in recent memory against a team not named Alabama.

The statistics tell the tale. Six points, 200 total yards and eight first downs aren’t winning football numbers.

It got so bad that No. 4 Florida (5-0, 4-0 SEC), which compiled a mere 61 passing yards on 12 attempts, made its LSU counterparts resemble a JV squad in the second half.

But the reality may have been more harsh on the Tiger offense, which had averaged 39 points and 433 yards per game prior to Saturday.

After a week relatively free of drops against Towson, several passes eluded Tiger receivers Saturday.

Mettenberger, known mostly for his mistakes deep in enemy territory, forced a throw on his own end of the field, which Florida intercepted to set up a short field to work with.

A makeshift offensive line again struggled to keep an opponent out of the backfield, especially after LSU senior left guard Josh Williford left the game with a head injury in the first quarter.

With sweat and frustration still visible on their faces following the game, LSU players didn’t have many answers for their second-straight putrid offensive performance in SEC play.

“It’s a weird feeling,” said junior running back Spencer Ware, who was LSU’s leading rusher with only 21 yards. “I don’t know [what’s wrong]. There’s just something different about this team we need to get fixed.”

LSU’s offense may have been hanging by a thread, but it was Florida’s defense that cut the cord.

Behind a raucous crowd, the Gators defense was as smothering as the famed humidity in The Swamp.

Florida junior safety Matt Elam’s helmet less antics along with seven solo tackles and his strip of Beckham kept the Florida defense energized while it allowed only one LSU third-down conversion.

“The open week benefitted Florida, and it showed in their preparation of the game plan,” Miles said.

The Gators didn’t need much leeway — it provided three of the Tigers’ eight first downs via penalty — but LSU gave it to them anyway with a slew of unforced errors.

After a fumble by Florida sophomore quarterback Jeff Driskel late in the second quarter, LSU took over at the Gators’ seven-yard line, ahead 3-0 with a chance to gain a double-digit advantage.

On third-and-goal from the four-yard line, the Tigers took two timeouts before calling a halfback pass that freshman running back Terrence Magee had to tuck away for no gain.

According to Miles, there was an electrical malfunction with the headset, while Mettenberger said the wrong wristband number was called in before the first timeout.

“It was a play called in for a different personnel set than we had out there,” Mettenberger said. “It was just that one time we had the wristband issue, but it was important.”

The mishap was representative of the Tigers’ recent SEC struggles, as LSU has scored one touchdown in the last 12 quarters of play against league foes.

On LSU’s last realistic series to tie the game, sophomore tight end Nic Jacobs caught a nine-yard pass to get the drive near midfield.

He wasn’t eligible to catch it, drawing a five-yard penalty as an ineligible man down field.

Ware called Florida a “big-time defense,” but lamented LSU’s own inability to keep the Gators’ swarming defense away from the line of scrimmage.

“When you know somebody’s gonna run or where the ball’s going, it’s not that hard to stop you,” he said. “Everybody flies to the ball, and it was nine of them against our seven or six. We were outnumbered every time.”

The Tigers posted their lowest regular season point total since a 13-3 loss to Florida in 2009. Outnumbering capable opponents on the scoreboard seems to be slipping further from LSU’s grasp.

“We understand the things that went wrong,” Miles said. “Mistakes are being made, and it’s showing up on the point sheet. The plays are exactly how we coach it, so they’re very defined mistakes. There’s just too many of them.”