The 5-0 LSU football team will face a familiar quandary this Saturday in Gainesville, Fla.
 
In each of the last two seasons, the Tigers’ campaign has been derailed in games against Florida. The Tigers were undefeated in both 2008 and 2009 before losing to Florida in both games by a combined score of 64-24.
 
If history means anything, the LSU-Florida game this weekend should indicate what direction the Tigers’ season will take.
 
“What we want to do is take one game at a time,” said LSU coach Les Miles. “I think that going on the road to Florida will be a great challenge to our team. This game is certainly a pivotal one, as are all [Southeastern Conference] games. Certainly the opportunity to hold serve and to win is what we are looking for.”
The 2008 LSU squad struggled defensively the entire season under co-defensive coordinators Doug Mallory and Bradley Dale Peveto, and their flaws were exposed against Florida.
 
Florida routed then-No. 4 LSU, 51-21, setting the stage for a second-half slump for the Tigers, who stumbled to a 3-4 finish after the Florida game.
 
Enter new defensive coordinator John Chavis, whose schemes try to take advantage of the Tigers’ athleticism on the   defensive side of the ball.
 
The Tigers got off to a 5-0 start in 2009 and were once again ranked No. 4 before kicking off a much-ballyhooed tilt against the then-No. 1 Gators.
 
The LSU defense played true to form, but it was the offense’s turn to struggle, only posting 162 total offensive yards in a 13-3 loss.
 
Once again, the Florida game marked a disappointing turning point for the LSU football team, as the team went 4-2 the rest of the season.
 
This season is setting up the same way.
 
While the Tigers are undefeated, they have failed to substantially put a game away against lesser opponents, leading some in the national media to speculate whether the Tigers are deserving of their No. 12 ranking in the Associated Press Top 25.
 
The Tigers could put those questions to rest with a victory against No. 14 Florida on the Gators’ home turf.
 
“The thing that we want our team to do is go on the road and play just the way we play and eliminate the mistakes and turnovers,” Miles said. “If we make plays, just make the plays that we are capable of making, we will be very happy with the outcome.”
 
Only a handful of key players on the team have played significant time against Florida in Gainesville.
 
Senior linebacker Kelvin Sheppard was a member of the last LSU team to beat Florida — the 2007 national championship team – but that game was in Tiger Stadium.
 
Sheppard also played in both the 2008 and 2009 games, but he isn’t concerned about history repeating itself.
 
“They’re a different team now. They lost a lot of guys, so we have to watch film and prepare for the team we’re playing this year and not the team we played in past years,” Sheppard said.
 
The trip to Gainesville will be the first significant road trip for many players on the young LSU squad.
 
“We’ve got a lot of players traveling for the first time to a hostile place. Florida’s probably one of the closest places you’ll get to Death Valley,” said LSU sophomore receiver Russell Shepard. “This is going to be the best team we’ve played, and we recognize that.”
 
 
 
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Contact Luke Johnson at [email protected]