Senior linebacker Kendell Beckwith suffered a knee injury in the second quarter that kept him out of the remainder of LSU’s 10-16 loss against Florida on Saturday.
Beckwith entered the game as LSU’s leading tackler and No. 2 in the Southeastern Conference with 90 tackles. He made just one against Florida before sustaining an injury while trying to tackle Florida sophomore running back Jordan Scarlett.
Scarlett took 22 carries for 108 yards, 80 of which came in the second half, and he seemed to have more success up the middle than LSU is accustomed to surrendering.
“We didn’t have the big hits like he would normally have,” said sophomore outside linebacker Arden Key. “Just the big hits and the energy he brings from not talking and just playing football.”
Junior linebacker Donnie Alexander took Beckwith’s place in the middle of LSU’s defense. The New Orleans native shattered his career high with eight tackles, tying for most on the team.
“That’s an All-American right there,” Battle said. “That’s probably a first round draft pick. Of course it’s going to be hard to replace him, but Donnie did a good job. We just had to come together as a defense as a hole to make those tackles.”
Career days
Saturday was a career day for junior fullback J.D. Moore and true freshman wide receiver Dee Anderson.
Moore, who entered the game with two career carries for five yards, rumbled for 15 yards on four carries. His first three rushes picked up first downs, though his final attempt came up short of the goal line as he attempted to punch in a would-be game-winning score in the fourth quarter.
“We’ve been having success in short yardage with that play all night,” Moore said. “They just gave us a bit of a different look because it wasn’t, obviously, an open field. It was a short-yardage play.”
The 6-foot-4, 241-pounder also made his seventh catch of the season for a six-yard gain, which was called a touchdown on the field but replay revealed his knee was down just short of the goal line.
Anderson, a 6-foot-5 Desoto, Texas, native, logged his first career reception Saturday. He would finish with two catches for 15 yards.
Pre-game scuffle
About an hour and twenty minutes before kickoff, LSU and Florida players were involved in a scuffle.
Multiple LSU players were involved in a shoving match and including Florida defensive backs coach Toran Gray getting into a shoving match with LSU junior running back Leonard Fournette.
Gray bumped into Fournette, which resulted in Fournette shoving Gray twice. The scrum was eventually broken up and Florida players went back to its locker room.
Junior safety John Battle, a Hallandale, Florida native, said it was just “trash talk” between the teams.
“We’re boys,” Battle said. “We’re going to scratch and claw. That’s a part of the game. Bring a little more excitement to it. It’s always trash talk between Florida and LSU.”
Battle said he was unsure who started the engagement, but regardless, LSU coach Ed Orgeron said his team does not need to be involved in pregame fracase.
“We don’t need that,” Orgeron said. “I don’t know happened out there. I wasn’t out there. That’s not how the game is won. Don’t need it.”
