The LSU football team may have been playing No. 17 Florida, but reverberating throughout Tiger Stadium was the phrase, “We want happen.”
After just one reception last week against Kentucky, junior wide receiver Rueben Randle had his biggest outing of the season, reeling in four catches for 127 yards and a touchdown.
“It boosted my confidence up a lot,” Randle said. “Last week I was kind of down because I didn’t get a lot of balls. Coach [Miles] told me to keep my head in it, and my chance would come this week.”
The Mad Hatter reached into his bag of tricks again Saturday, pulling out a jump pass from Jefferson to senior tight end Mitch Joseph  — a move former Florida quarterback Tim Tebow pulled against the Tigers in 2006.
Freshman punter Brad Wing also ran a 44-yard fake punt into the end zone late in the first quarter. But a taunting motion by Wing as he crossed the five-yard line drew a flag and negated the score, forcing the Tigers to settle for a field goal.
Miles said the call was “absolutely correct,” and the Tigers can use the flag as a learning experience.
“What a great lesson it will be to our guys to take points off to celebrate,” Miles said. “Are you kidding me? Do I think it was flagrant? It was. Basically it was directed at an opponent, and our team will understand that in a big game, four points is very important.”
LSU’s No. 5-ranked defense welcomed Florida freshman quarterback Jacoby Brissett to the Southeastern Conference with a dominating performance, surrendering just 100 yards through the air, 65 of which came on one play.
Adding to Brissett’s troubles was the “Honey Badger,” who struck again.
Sophomore cornerback Tyrann Mathieu continued his Heisman campaign with a leaping interception over Florida wide receiver Andre Debose in the end zone, after baiting Brissett to make the throw.
“[Debose] only runs one route, and that’s a fly route, so it was really about me just getting my head turned and realizing the route he was running and judging the ball when it came down,” Mathieu said. “I definitely tried to let him get in his route and seem like he was open. But he has great speed so I couldn’t do too much.”
 
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Contact Mark Clements at [email protected]