No. 1 Florida seemed hell-bent on making LSU look worthy of its then-No. 4 national ranking, a ranking which many media outlets said LSU didn’t deserve.But every time the Gators let the Tigers back into the game, the Tigers just walked themselves right back out.And the Gators clung on a 13-3 victory on a cool, wet evening in front of an LSU record crowd of 93,129 Saturday night in Tiger Stadium.The loss dropped LSU (5-1, 2-1) to No. 10 in the AP and ESPN/USA Today Coaches polls. It also marks the team’s first Saturday night loss in Tiger Stadium in 32 games since the team’s 31-0 loss to Alabama in 2002.”Our football team is sick,” said LSU coach Les Miles. “They understand that it was a great opportunity, but they also understand that it counts.”But the final score was not at all indicative of a dominating performance of Florida’s defense against LSU’s offense and LSU’s inability to gain yards in the second half.But the fact Florida couldn’t put the game away left the Tigers continually just one play away from tying up the game or taking the lead, something Miles simply sneered at in his postgame talk.”Tiger faithful, I apologize,” Miles said. “I wish we were better.”The LSU offense converted one of nine third downs on the evening, forcing the defense to essentially camp out on the field.But junior cornerback Jai Eugene said the defense never got tired.”We knew we had to come out and make plays to give our offense a chance to score,” Eugene said. “Our defense played pretty well, but there are a few things we can probably get better at.”A well-rested Florida defense was able to dominate the Tigers’ offense in the second half, allowing LSU to gain a mere 44 second-half yards.LSU’s offensive line seemed to be in a quagmire the entire half, allowing five second-half sacks.Another reason for the offensive letdown may have been the absence of freshman quarterback Russell Shepard, statistically one of the Tigers’ best offensive threats with a 6.2 yard average per touch.Miles said he was never able to incorporate the playmaker into the offense.”We’re not getting him onto the field within the flow of the offense,” Miles said. “That’s certainly an issue for us on offense.”The only real offensive fireworks provided by either team was a 24-yard touchdown strike from Florida senior quarterback Tim Tebow to senior wide receiver Riley Cooper at the end of the first half. The score gave the Gators a 10-3 lead a drive after LSU had scored a field goal to tie the game at 3-3.But that was the only touchdown in the game for either team.”[LSU’s defense is] really good, and they come to play,” Tebow said. “We didn’t execute that great. We didn’t put the ball in the endzone when we should have, but I am very proud of our team and offense.”LSU’s untimely penalties kept a couple of Florida drives alive.
Two LSU offside penalties on the first Gator drive of the game gave Florida’s offense 10 yards in field position.The Gators moved the ball efficiently starting from their own 7-yard line on the drive, going on an eight-minute drive with 82 yards on 13 plays, which culminated in a 28-yard field goal by sophomore kicker Caleb Sturgis, the first score of the game for either team.The Tigers provided another defensive offside penalty early in the second quarter and turned a 3rd and 12 and turned it into a 2nd and 7. The Gators capitalized on the next play with a Tebow pass to junior tight end Aaron Hernandez good for 10 yards and a first down.A facemask call away from the ball on LSU junior safety Chad Jones later on the drive gave Florida the ball on the LSU 29-yard line, and two plays later was another offside penalty on LSU. Senior linebacker Jacob Cutrera knew how costly those penalties were to his team.”We’re about to go three-and-out, and we give them a penalty that costs us 5 yards, and they get a first down — that just takes the wind out of the defense,” Cutrera said. “We just can’t let that happen anymore. It’s too many mental mistakes.”—-Contact Andy Schwehm at [email protected]