Charles Scott has won a national championship and a Southeastern Conference championship in his three years at LSU. And he has helped LSU defeat every SEC Western Division opponent at home and on the road. But despite all of the accolades, one game stands out in Scott’s mind — LSU’s 23-10 loss to Florida in 2006.”Last time we were in The Swamp, we made a lot of mistakes,” Scott said. “We gave them the game and made it easy for them. We’re looking forward to this as ‘Let’s go to the Swamp and play better.'”Scott and the Tigers have a chance at redemption Saturday when No. 4 LSU (4-0, 2-0) returns to The Swamp to take on No. 11 Florida (4-1, 2-1) at 7 p.m. The game will be the second straight season the two schools have filled the primetime slot on CBS.LSU had five turnovers in the 2006 game, including a fumble at the Gators’ 1-yard-line. The Tigers also had a muffed kick return turn into a safety and had a punt blocked.LSU coach Les Miles said he reminded his team of the way it played in 2006 and expects them to redeem themselves in what will be LSU’s second road game of the season.”Our team will be ready to play and play our style of football when we get there, and that’s what really is important to me,” he said.Senior offensive tackle Herman Johnson said he also pulled aside some of LSU’s younger players to prepare them for what he said will probably be the rowdiest atmosphere they will play in this season.”I just told them that there will be a bunch of yelling and screaming,” he said. “You just can’t let that get to you. Eventually, you’ve got to get over it and let it go and play your game.”The Gators also come into Saturday’s game with revenge in mind.LSU defeated Florida, 28-24, in last season’s matchup in Tiger Stadium, powered by five fourth-down conversions and a last-minute final drive to win the game.Florida coach Urban Meyer made an emotional statement following the game and said the Gators would return to the top of the SEC ladder.”I don’t make guarantees, but I guarantee we’ll be back,” Meyer said after the game. “The Florida Gators will be back smokin’.”Meyer’s proclamation has been accurate so far, as Florida ranks No. 1 in the conference in scoring offense and No. 3 in scoring defense.Junior quarterback and reigning Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow is the anchor of the Gators’ offense and has 1,025 passing yards and 157 rushing yards with 10 combined touchdowns this season.Tebow has had arguably his two best statistical games this season the last two weekends against Ole Miss and Arkansas, passing for a combined 536 yards and three touchdowns.LSU redshirt freshman quarterback Jarrett Lee said he studied Tebow in high school and in his college career and tries to imitate the way he plays. “He’s a great player with great competitiveness,” he said. “I look at that and just kind of want to do the same thing to try to get better.”Junior linebacker Perry Riley said the Tigers’ defense is more concerned with keeping another Gator in check.”We’re more concerned with slowing down [junior wide receiver] Percy [Harvin],” Riley said. “Tebow has changed up his game a little bit this year, and he doesn’t run as much. He’s still a big threat and will always be a big threat, but we’re more looking at Percy Harvin and the different ways they get him the ball.”Meyer said Harvin, who averages 6.6 yards per carry and has a combined five touchdowns this season, and the emergence of freshmen running backs Chris Rainey and Jeffrey Demps have helped take the pressure off Tebow this season.”We haven’t had a home run guy at tailback,” Meyer said. “Anytime you have something other than a medium yardage play out of that position, you put some fear into the defense.”The winner of the Florida-LSU game has won the BCS national championship game each of the past two seasons.Miles said he can’t predict whether that will happen again this season, but he expects the Tigers to have an increased adrenaline level this weekend.”Make no bones about it; this is a fun game to play,” Miles said. “You play in the SEC, you play classic matchups and you better enjoy this one. I can promise you that there will be a lot more energy around our building this week.”—-Contact Casey Gisclair a [email protected]
Tigers seeking revenge on the road in SEC showdown
By Casey Gisclair
Sports Writer
Sports Writer
October 9, 2008