Throughout the first half of the highly anticipated match against then-No. 9 Florida, the No. 1 ranked LSU Tigers looked as if they were the underdogs. Florida coach Urban Meyer and his Gator offense spread the LSU defense out with five wide receiver sets and were able to score more points -17 – against LSU in a half than any of the previous five opponents did through four quarters against the Tigers. The Tigers’ offense did little to help keep their defense off the field, gaining less than than two first downs on all but one first half possession. The second half offered redemption for both units as the Tiger defense limited the Gators to only seven second-half points and forced two late turnovers while the offense converted four of their five fourth-down conversions to help LSU squeak out a 28-24 victory against Meyer and the Gators. “We came together as a team, and we just knew it was one of those times in a season where you have to overcome some adversity,” said Kirston Pittman, senior defensive end whose fourth-quarter interception led to a late LSU touchdown. “We knew we were in for a fight, and we got exactly what we thought we would get.” That fight included Florida racking up over 300 yards of total offense, led by a gutsy performance by sophomore quarterback Tim Tebow. The first-year starter, who accounted for two scores in Florida’s 23-10 victory over the Tigers this past season in Gainesville, Fla., gave his team a good opportunity to pull off the upset against the No.1 ranked team by making a number of plays on the road. “He’s a great athlete, a really nifty guy and a tough competitor,” Pittman said. “I can tell you from experience that if you take a bad angle on [Tebow], you probably won’t end up with the tackle.” Tebow and the Florida offense kept the LSU defense on their heels in the first half as the Gators displayed new wrinkles and formations that LSU junior defensive end Tyson Jackson said took the Tigers some time to adjust to. “A lot of the things we prepared for at practice, Florida started to switch it up on us,” Jackson said. “They ran the ball opposite of where the tendencies said they would. So it just took us some time to get adjusted.” The Tigers’ offense also needed time to get adjusted as senior quarterback Matt Flynn was off the mark on several passing attempts, including a first-quarter interception completing just eight of 15 first-half passes. The vaunted seven-deep LSU rushing attack was inconsistent early, and receivers dropped a host of catchable balls, four by receiver Brandon LaFell. Kicker Colt David capped off the early offensive struggles with a missed field goal just before the end of the first half as the Gators took a 17-7 lead. Tebow and Florida seemed to take the record crowd of 92,910 out of the game on many occasions only for LSU to respond with a big play to switch momentum back to the home team. Five of those big plays came in the form of fourth-down conversions as LSU coach Les Miles and the offense converted on all of its gambles, including another well designed fake field goal in the third quarter. “The adjustments we needed to make was to tackle on defense and the offense needed to possess the ball,” Miles said. “What we said at the half was that we will not lose, and we didn’t come this far to play like that.” The Tigers offense opened the second half with a 15-play, 70-yard drive that ended in a 4-yard Keiland Williams touchdown run. After that, LSU began to efficiently move the chains and pick up first downs throughout the rest of the half and win the time of possession battle by nearly 11 minutes. The five converted fourth down attempts, two of which went for touchdowns, not only helped the offense possess the ball and finish long drives but also kept Tebow and the Gator offense off the field, something defensive coordinator Bo Pelini said was key to his opponents losing offensive rhythm. “They threw the kitchen sink at us, but we were able to get off the field and create a couple turnovers when we needed them,” Pelini said. “The momentum switched a couple of times, and a lot of teams would have packed it in. But I think that shows the tremendous character of our team.” The second-half resurgence marks the second week in a row that the Tigers have fought through shaky first half starts to close the game out in the second half. This past week against Tulane, LSU scored 27 unanswered points to close out the Green Wave 34-9, but the 10-point deficit against the Gators proved to be a tougher task against a higher ranked opponent. “I thought that Florida was as talented of a team as we have played in my time here,” Miles said. “I give great credit to my opponents, but we enjoyed that victory. I like how our football team is coming together.”
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