The LSU Tigers captured their fourth consecutive win against the Florida Gators Saturday night thanks to a 45-35 victory in Gainesville. Even though the Gators were able to score at will, their poor defense was blamed for the loss. LSU has won the last five contests versus Florida, and Saturday was no different, thanks in part to their ability to score on Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, where they have struggled all season.
The Gators’ performances on third down last weekend were atrocious, and on Saturday night they got even worse. Despite entering the game ranked 125th out of 131 teams nationally in that defensive category, the Tigers converted 8 of 12 third downs and earned first downs on both of their fourth-down attempts.
LSU scored touchdowns on its first six drives of the game, covering at least 73 yards on each drive to take a 42-21 lead with 1:07 remaining in the third quarter. Even a strong overall performance from Florida’s offense wasn’t enough to compensate for their defensive deficiencies, as the Gators scored two touchdowns in succession while making a couple of key stops.
Head coach Billy Napier said, “There’s lots of things we can do better. There’s nothing fun about losing,” head coach Billy Napier said. “… It’s my job to position the team to win, to have success, and I could do my job better. And that’s exactly what I’m going to do.”
Despite the fact that Florida-LSU is one of the fiercest annual battles in the SEC, the rivalry has been one-sided as of late, with LSU having won 10 of the last 13 games since 2010. Let’s examine what took place Saturday night in Gainesville, Florida.
As of Saturday, the Florida defense had given up 50.6% third-down conversions, tied for 125th worst in the country. LSU converted 66% of their tries, and they went 6 for 7 on third down in the first half, converting 40 yards on third-and-8, 13 yards on third-and-8, 26 yards on third-and-10, and 54 yards on third-and-8 for a touchdown. LSU converted a fourth-down try after that, and it subsequently scored.
Florida held the Tigers to just 2 of 5 on third down in the second half, but LSU breezed down the field on earlier downs to make that possible. Florida gave up 528 yards on LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels’s six touchdown passes and 349 yards on the ground, for a total of 44 yards. Despite the fact that the Gators were mostly healthy on defense, the Tigers tallied 26 first downs and averaged 7.5 yards per play. On one play, four UF defenders missed tackles as a result of a 50-yard run that resulted in a touchdown early in the third quarter.
Late in the fourth quarter, Florida was looking for a stop in a one-point game when sophomore cornerback Jason Marshall Jr. made an incredible interception. On the play, sophomore defensive lineman Gervon Dexter tackled Daniels head-up but fell on him with all of his weight, resulting in a roughing the passer penalty. Although the call was technically correct, it was not made until after Marshall intercepted the ball, and there was no other way for Dexter to have landed. LSU then kicked the field goal and iced the game. If the interception had stood, the outcome might have been different.
LSU once again had great success on field-goal attempts late in a game, the only problem. LSU kicked a 47-yard field goal down the stretch to go ahead 10-0 with 1:52 left in the game, even though their kicker had missed three of five kicks entering the contest. That’s how it seems to go in these instances with LSU winning games against Florida, as they always find a way to win.
According to the experts, there are certain moments throughout the game when they question Napier’s decision-making. In many of the Gators’ earlier matchups, there was an explanation for Napier’s difficult choices, but on Saturday night, it was tough to grasp why he chose not to drive for a score down 28-21 in the first half with 2:17 remaining and the ball on the UF 27. Florida ran some plays, but Napier kept his timeouts and let the clock run down. When LSU tried a last-second Hail Mary from the 44-yard line with 1 second remaining, UF could have scored a long but feasible field goal if Napier had used his timeouts earlier.
After the game, Napier avoided explicitly critiquing the officials to avoid drawing attention from the SEC. The Gators were clearly disadvantaged by certain calls that went LSU’s way Saturday night. It was not the officiating that was the issue, according to Napier. He said, ‘They let them play.’ Luck was not on the Gators’ side, although not every call went LSU’s way or UF didn’t commit costly mistakes.
The Gators’ resilience was the most positive takeaway from the game, according to Napier and the coaching staff. Despite any difficulties, Florida continues to rally together, which is something the coaching staff has emphasized since the day they took over the program. This occurred during Tom Petty Day on Saturday, after the Petty family was honored on the field during the singing of ‘I Won’t Back Down,’ a new tradition for the Gators between the third and fourth quarters.
The Gators and Tigers have split their 33 games against one another … LSU has won 10 of the last 13 games and four of the last five in Gainesville, Florida, since 2010 … LSU is 16-15-3 all-time against Florida in Gainesville after winning the last five games … UF has scored 24+ points in eight of the last 13 games … Florida has won 30 of the last 39 games against unranked opponents since 2018, with their first unranked loss coming against LSU … The Gators have won 173 of their last 183 games in The Swamp, an NCAA record for home winning percentage (.836) since 1990 … Florida has scored in 429 consecutive games, the second-longest streak in NCAA history.
The Gators will utilize an off week to rest their wounded players, Torrence and Richardson in particular, and prepare for their season-long battle with No. 1 Georgia. This is the ideal time for a Florida team that must find some answers on defense before facing Georgia. Because of an exceedingly imbalanced schedule, the Gators have just one home game remaining in 2022. My hopes are still high for the Gators and I think they can very well fix the season with 3 more wins, one of them being a big win against Florida State at the end of the season but only time will tell.
