A clash between the high-octane, experienced LSU offense and a young, suspect Florida defense could be the difference in the game when the Gators face the Tigers in Tiger Stadium at 2:30 p.m. on a CBS national telecast.
LSU (5-0, 2-0 SEC) ranks first in the Southeastern Conference with 40.2 points per game and fourth in the SEC in total offense with 410 yards per game. The Tigers average 256 passing yards and 158.3 yards rushing per game.
UF’s defense ranks eighth among SEC teams, giving up 353 total yards to opposing offenses. The Gators’ opponents average 201 passing yards and 152 rushing yards per game.
LSU coach Nick Saban said he thinks the Florida defense still poses a significant challenge to the Tigers offensively. Despite the Gators surrendering so many yards to opposing offenses, UF allows only 18.2 points per game.
“They create a lot of problems because they have a good scheme,” Saban said. “They have an excellent secondary, probably the best we’ve played against so far this year, and they do a few more things than what we played against this year.”
While UF’s front seven on defense contains seven freshmen on the depth chart, the Gators’ backfield has five experienced seniors. The UF defense has not allowed a passing touchdown in the last 10 quarters, dating back to Tennessee’s Hail Mary touchdown pass at the end of the second half in the Gators’ 24-10 loss.
UF senior cornerback Johnny Lamar said the seniors will continue to lead the defense.
“The seniors are playing for the younger guys,” Lamar said. “We are going to try and do our best, not for pride or anything else, but to win.
“We are just trying to focus on the things that we need to do to go into LSU and win a game. We can’t control anything else but that.”
Tigers wide receiver Skyler Green said the Gators’ defensive backfield matches up well with LSU’s receivers.
“They have speed on their defense to where it probably matches up to ours, but we’ll have to play just that much harder than they will,” Green said. “I think we pretty much have a lot of fast guys on our side of the ball and we just have to use that to our advantage and just find open spots in their defense and just make plays.”
Senior middle linebacker Reid Fleming said the Gators need to concentrate on stopping LSU’s running game if UF is to be successful Saturday.
“They have three great backs over at LSU,” Fleming said. “Against Ole Miss, we had two missed assignments and missed tackles, and if you are going to be a great defense you can’t do that. I think that if we get that corrected, we can play with anybody. But during this week at practice we have to go out there and focus on those assignments and techniques and hopefully we can do something against LSU.”
The Gators (3-3, 1-2 SEC) have allowed nine rushing touchdowns this season, with seven of them coming in the Gators’ first three SEC games. LSU has scored 12 rushing touchdowns this season, with four of them coming in its first two SEC contests.
UF coach Ron Zook said the LSU offense is one of the best the Gators have faced this season. He said the Tigers’ experience gives them the largest advantage against the Gators’ young front seven.
“In a lot of areas they are the best team we have faced,” Zook said. “They have the best offensive line we have faced with a quarterback [Matt Mauck] who is completing 65 percent of his passes. They also have arguably the best receiver [Michael Clayton] in the league.
“Gap control is something that people have preached since I have been in defense. With our young guys, they don’t understand it fully right now but it will get better with experience.”