The last time Florida came to Tiger Stadium with a freshman quarterback, Chris Leak, the Tigers came out on the losing end.
This time, the result was much different.
Florida came to LSU without the services of its starting quarterback, senior John Brantley, or freshman backup Jeff Driskel. Both were out with leg injuries sustained last weekend against Alabama.
With no clear third option at quarterback, the Gators turned to a three-man rotation. Freshman quarterback Jacoby Brissett started the game, taking his first collegiate snaps. He completed 8 of 14 passes for 94 yards, including one touchdown and two interceptions.
Florida also used sophomore running back Trey Burton and senior running back Chris Rainey at quarterback. Besides Brissett, only Burton attempted to pass, completing 1 of 2 attempts for six yards.
Despite the revolving door at signal caller, LSU sophomore defensive lineman Sam Montgomery said it didn’t matter who Florida played at quarterback.
“We play whatever comes at us at whatever time,” Montgomery said. “We were concerned about what formations we’re going to be running, not what certain personnel is going to be in.”
That may be the case for the defensive lineman, but senior safety Brandon Taylor said he checked who was in the backfield before each snap.
“That’s how we made our checks on the field,” Taylor said. “If they had one of the running backs at quarterback, we have to make a check and go to zero coverage [man to man]. If it was a regular quarterback we would just keep our coverage on.”
Taylor said LSU worked on defending the Wildcat formation in practice because they were expecting to see it Saturday, especially after the Gators used it in last year’s matchup.
“When Rainey was in, we told the [defensive ends] and the outside linebacker to loosen up because we know he likes to bounce the ball [outside] a lot,” Taylor said. “Burton, he likes to stick his nose in there. Whoever was in there, that’s how we ran our defense.”
The Tigers held Florida’s explosive runners to 113 yards, including only 52 yards from Rainey, who previously averaged 83 yards per game. The emphasis on stopping the run didn’t detract from LSU’s ability to defend the pass.
Florida totaled 100 yards through the air, 65 of which came from a touchdown pass to sophomore receiver Andre Debose.
Sophomore defensive back Tyrann Mathieu said he was able to take advantage of Florida’s inexperience at quarterback by baiting Brissett into throwing a deep ball to Debose in the fourth quarter. Mathieu went step for step with Debose and came down with the ball in the endzone for an interception.
“[Debose] only runs one route  — the fly route,” Mathieu said.
“So if I can bait the quarterback, make it seem like my head isn’t looking at the quarterback, I think I won that battle.”
Mathieu said Florida was trying to stretch the field to take advantage of its speed at the running back position.
“I think those guys were just trying to get to the edge,” Mathieu said. “I know their coach wasn’t going to really come my way with the ball, so it was really about me trying to stay focused throughout the game.”
LSU coach Les Miles said he was pleased with how his defense played, except for the Gators’ lone touchdown.
“I liked exactly what the defense did except for a couple of plays, certainly the long pass,” Miles said. “I liked it very much. The defensive line was constant pressure in the quarterback’s face, making line of scrimmage tackles.”
 
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