No. 16 LSU had little trouble gaining yards against the nation’s No. 3 defense.
The Tigers picked up 423 yards against No. 21 Florida, which stifles opposing offensive attacks to 266.8 yards per game, but turnovers marred their chances of winning a fourth-consecutive game against Florida.
Florida clinched a Southeastern Conference Championship Game berth by defeating LSU, 16-10, on Saturday in Tiger Stadium.
“We shot ourselves in the foot,” said LSU coach Ed Orgeron. “You got to give it to our guys, they fought.We always thought we were going to win that game as poorly as we played.”
LSU had two turnovers inside Florida’s 10-yard line that could have broke the game open for the Tigers if they got on the board and another on a fumbled kickoff return in the fourth quarter.
Due to its miscues, LSU was down six points when it took over at its own 25-yard line with three minutes left.
One minute later, LSU was faced with a fourth down and 10 from the 49-yard line. Junior quarterback Danny Etling threw a strike over the middle that connected with junior wide receiver D.J. Chark for 32 yards down to the Florida 18-yard line with 1:53 left.
The Tigers were previously 0-for-5 on fourth downs this season.
LSU used the next six plays to get down to the one-yard line but couldn’t convert on a toss dive to sophomore running back Derrius Guice on the game’s final play.
“We thought we could get it,” Orgeron said. “Maybe we should have spread them out a little bit. Obviously hindsight is 20-20, though.”
Florida freshman linebacker David Reese and junior safety Marcell Haris led Florida’s defensive attack with 12 and 11 tackles, respectively.
After halting Florida’s inaugural possession just on the other side of midfield, the Tigers reeled off a 12-play, 80-yard drive. Guice accounted for 40 yards and punched in the touchdown from one yard out.
Guice finished with 19 rushes for 83 yards and a touchdown while adding a 29-yard reception.
Junior running back Leonard Fournette wasn’t expected to play after wearing sweats to warmups, but he dressed out just before kickoff and took 12 carries for 40 yards.
Florida’s lone first-half score came on a 36-yard field goal from sophomore kicker Eddie Pineiro.
The Tigers orchestrated another nickel-and-dime drive, eating up nearly six minutes and going 68 yards on 10 plays. They were knocking on the door from seven yards out when Guice went down for a loss of five, and Florida junior defensive tackle Caleb Brantley forced a fumble in the process.
“One of the turning points of the game,” Orgeron said. “Up 7-3, go up 14-3 with the great defense we have, we can do some things to move the football and take care of the clock. We just didn’t get it done.”
Guice’s fumble gave up a sure scoring opportunity as LSU went to the halftime locker room with a slim 7-3 lead.
Etling came out firing in the second half. He was perfect on the opening drive, finding Jeter for an 18-yard gain, hitting Dupre down the right sideline for 33 yards on the next play, and then connecting with sophomore tight end Foster Moreau for a third down conversion.
But Florida mounted a goal-line stop, followed by a botched hold on a chip-shot field goal try. Freshman punter Josh Growden – the holder – tossed up a pass to the back of the end zone that fell incomplete, and Florida took over at the two.
“We were moving the ball real well. Unfortunately we just had big mistakes near the goal line,” Etling said of LSU’s two miscues inside the 10-yard line, “and that’s what cost us.”
Then, after allowing just 60 yards total in the first half, LSU gave up 98 on one play.
Florida freshman wide receiver Tyrie Cleveland beat sophomore cornerback Donte Jackson down the sideline, catching senior quarterback Austin Appleby’s heave from his own endzone and shrugging off Jackson en route to a 98-yard touchdown.
And in one fell swoop, the Gators took the lead from LSU, 10-7.
“He got beat,” Orgeron said. “He got beat one-on-one.”
LSU made it inside Florida’s 10-yard line with a 79-yard drive, but the Gators dropped their anchor once again for another goal line stop. This time, though, Growden handled the snap cleanly and senior kicker Colby Delahoussaye knocked in the 22-yard attempt.
Pineiro made a 26-yard field goal with four minutes left in the fourth quarter and added another 34 yarder one minute later after Jackson fumbled the kickoff return.
Florida junior running back Jordan Scarlett ran for 108 yards on 22 carries, while Appleby threw for 144 yards and a touchdown. Sophomore defensive end Arden Key said he developed incredible respect for Scarlett throughout the game.’
“He might be [one of the] top five best backs in the country.” Key said. “We knew Scarlett was a pretty good, strong runner, but we didn’t know he was that strong of a runner … He’s top five. I got much respect for him.”
LSU marched all the way down field on the final drive but poor execution on the last play kept the Tigers out of the end zone, Orgeron said.
“We had a chance to win the game, but you can’t think that one mistake made the difference in the entire game,” Etling said. “It’s a team effort, and many mistakes through the game ended up costing us. We still put ourselves in position to win and unfortunately at the end we came up short.”