The Recap: LSU 45, Florida 35
The LSU football team went into The Swamp on Saturday night in Gainesville and walked out with a double-digit win over the Florida Gators, moving the Tigers to 5-2 on the season with five games remaining.
For the first time in Southeastern Conference play this season, LSU started fast on offense.
How fast?
LSU scored a touchdown on the first six possessions of the game, and the offense didn’t punt until the seventh possession – which came in the fourth quarter.
After going down 7-0 within the first minute of the game, the Tigers answered with a touchdown. And the two teams traded touchdowns on the first six possessions of the game, putting the game at a 21-21 tie with just under six minutes until halftime.
That’s when LSU flipped the game, scoring before half to take the 28-21 lead before going on to score 28 unanswered points to go ahead 42-21 with a minute left in the third quarter.
The Gators rallied thanks to a pair of touchdowns and a defensive stop, cutting the lead to 42-35 with 7:39 left in the game.
But one final time, the LSU offense answered the call on the road, this time going 46 yards on a 12-play drive that saw key penalties come in for both teams. The drive took away all Florida’s timeouts and put the clock at under two minutes, and kicker Damian Ramos hit the biggest field goal of his career when he split the uprights from 47 yards out to give LSU the double-digit lead.
Here’s the recap from the game’s scoring drives.
FIRST QUARTER
LSU won the toss and elected to defer.
On the opening kickoff, special teams woes struck when the Tigers gave up a return to midfield. Two snaps in, Florida quarterback Anthony Richardson went to the air and hit receiver Justin Shorter for a 51-yard touchdown to put the Gators ahead 7-0 before a minute ticked off the game clock.
Florida 7, LSU 0 – 14:01 remaining in first quarter
LSU, a team that has started notoriously slow in SEC games this season, answered right away.
LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels came out sharp on the opening drive as he leaned on wide receiver Kayshon Boutte, who got things rolling with a 40-yard catch on the third play for the Tigers. After getting into the red zone, LSU elected to go for it on 4th-and-1 and converted on a 3-yard run by John Emery Jr. After going to Emery again on the ground on first down, Daniels found emery in the passing game for the 7-yard touchdown.
LSU 7, Florida 7 – 7:46 remaining in the first quarter
The Gators answered with another touchdown, and this time every play call resulted in a run. Montrell Johnson’s 39-yard touchdown scamper capped off a 10-play, 75-yard drive to give Florida the lead.
Florida 14, LSU 7 – 2:00 remaining in the first quarter
SECOND QUARTER
LSU found a way to stay hot out of the gates with another long scoring drive, this time going 73 yards in 12 plays to tie the game. Two more big plays from Boutte and Emery in the passing game got the Tigers into the red zone, and the chains moved on third down thanks to a 13-yard catch-and-run by Jaray Jenkins.
Emery got the ball to the goal line on a 3-yard carry, then Daniels ran it into the end zone for the score.
LSU 14, Florida 14 – 11:55 remaining in the second quarter
After forcing a three-and-out, the Tigers appeared to be in good shape to take control of the start of the second quarter. Then came another special teams error with Jack Bech muffing the punt return, which the Gators quickly recovered at the LSU 13-yard line. Five plays later, the Gators found the end zone on another run by Johnson to take the lead back.
Florida 21, LSU 14 – 8:13 remaining in the first quarter
After a big third down conversion on a 26-yard pass play from Daniels to tight end Kole Taylor, the Tigers were knocking on the door for points again. And once more, LSU found an answer when Daniels hit Brian Thomas Jr. for the 24-yard touchdown pass. To this point, it’s the best LSU has looked on offense all season.
LSU 21, Florida 21 – 5:55 remaining in the second quarter
Once again, LSU forced a three-and-out on defense. And once more, LSU found the end zone.
After a 10-yard run from Emery and another first down on a pass to Malik Nabers, the Gators jumped offsides on 3rd-and-8. Daniels immediately snapped it, looked for the deep shot and found Jenkins for the 54-yard touchdown pass to give LSU the lead for the first time.
With four drives in the first half, the Tigers scored touchdowns every time.
LSU 28, Florida 21 – 2:17 remaining in the second quarter
The Gators got the ball back with the chance to run a 2-minute drill, but after some questionable clock management from Florida, the Gators had to settle for a heave to the end zone from the 44-yard line. After being forced out of the pocket, Richardson threw the ball out of bounds to end the quarter.
HALFTIME: LSU 28, Florida 21
THIRD QUARTER
After LSU won the toss and elected to defer, the Tigers got the ball first in the second half.
And the trend continued. Another drive, another touchdown for the offense.
On the opening snap of the second half, LSU running back Josh Williams took the handoff, shook off defenders and ran 50 yards to get the Tigers into enemy territory. After another run by Williams, Daniels took over with back-to-back runs, including a 9-yard touchdown rush.
After five drives, LSU had scored every time. To this point, Daniels is 14-for-18 passing for 252 yards and three passing touchdowns to go with 24 rushing yards and two more touchdowns.
LSU 35, Florida 21 – 13:17 remaining in the third quarter
The Gators went on a 11-play, 63-yard drive that took more than six minutes on the clock, but for the second possession in a row, the LSU defense forced a turnover on downs – this time after the Gators got into the red zone.
And for the sixth time in six drives, LSU’s offense answered with a touchdown.
On the longest drive of the night, LSU went 88 yards in 13 plays in just under six minutes to score again, extending the lead to 42-21 after scoring 28 unanswered points.
Once again, the touchdown came by way of Daniels, who ran the ball in from nine yards out for his third rushing touchdown and sixth total touchdown on the night.
LSU 42, Florida 21 – 1:07 remaining in the third quarter
After the Tigers took even more momentum, the Gators finally found life thanks to an 81-yard touchdown run by quarterback Anthony Richardson. The play came on the first play of the fourth quarter.
LSU 42, Florida 28 – 14:46 remaining in the fourth quarter
LSU started fast with a first down to Boutte, but the chains moved just once. After running into a fourth down, the Tigers punted it away.
With the crowd getting into the mix, the Gators looked poised on an 11-play, 80-yard touchdown drive that was capped off with a short rushing touchdown by Trevor Etienne.
LSU 42, Florida 35 – 7:39 remaining in the fourth quarter
With nearly eight minutes left on the clock, the Tigers needed a way to not just find points, but also take time off the clock.
LSU’s offense did just that, going 46 yards in 12 plays to take 5:47 off the clock and burn all of Florida’s timeouts. The drive was extended on a roughing the passer call on a play that resulted in an interception thrown by Daniels, and LSU made good of the second chance by driving the ball into the red zone. That’s when missteps occurred, with LSU twice being flagged for a false start that pushed the Tigers behind in the chains and made the field goal attempt even longer.
No matter, the LSU special teams unit delivered when the Tigers needed it most as kicker Damian Ramos hit the 47-yard field goal straight down the middle to extend the lead to double-digits.
LSU 45, Florida 35 – 1:52 remaining
Florida got the ball back and were quickly forced into a turnover when freshman linebacker Harold Perkins knocked the ball out of Richardson’s hands, and Mekhi Wingo fell on the loose ball to give the offense the football and a chance to kneel it out. But after a lengthy review, the officials reversed the call and ruled Richardson’s arm was moving forward and that the result was an incomplete pass. No matter, the Tigers didn’t flinch on defense, and Florida turned the ball over on downs to give the Tigers the chance to kneel out the final plays.
