Tony Thomas
Writer
THE REAL DEATH VALLEY, BATON ROUGE, LA- Emotions run high in this intense Southeastern Conference rivalry between the No. 3 LSU Tigers and the Florida Gators. The two teams even had a dust up on the field during pregame warm-ups. Florida should have saved some of that fire for the actual game.
The LSU faithful were treated to a staple of the Tigers’ football tradition that had been lacking the last few years. Against the Florida Gators in Death Valley on Saturday night, LSU brought back the spirit of D.B.U. by intercepting Gators quarterback DJ Lagway five times and the LSU defense held Florida to just 10 points in a 20-10 victory by the favorite sons of LSU.
The Tigers defense did all that without their emotional leader, linebacker Whit Weeks, who was ejected from the game in the first quarter for targeting. His replacement, Davhon Keys, posted 14 tackles for the game.
In addition to those five INTs, the LSU defense sacked Lagway three times as the Tigers pressured Lagway all night. LSU defensive back Dashawn Spears picked off Lagway twice and returned one 58 yards for a score. In addition, A.J. Haulcy, DJ Pickett and Tamarcus Cooley also recorded INTs on the night.
Penalties plagued both teams, as they combined for 14 penalties for 125 yards. A holding penalty negated an 80+ yard scoring play for the Gators early in the game. Coming into the game, the Tigers ranked 96th in the FBS in penalties.
LSU QB Garrett Nussmeier threw a touchdown pass and an INT. LSU failed to get into the end zone on the ground and has just two rushing TDs on the season.
Scoring apparently plagues LSU as well. The Tigers have scored just 26 total points in the first half over three games this season. That’s an average of 8.6 points per half. That’s not going to cut it in the SEC. The Tigers travel to Oxford, Mississippi, to play Ole Miss in two weeks. Scoring 20 points per game will not get the job done.
LSU running back Caden Durham reeled off a 51-yard run down to the Florida five-yard line. With under two minutes left in the game, first and goal, LSU coach Brian Kelly chose to run the clock out. That didn’t sit too well with the LSU faithful. They need to make a statement offensively, have more fire. Play calling and execution have to get better.
LSU moves to 3-0 on the season. Florida suffered their second consecutive loss and falls to 1-2.
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Tony Thomas
Writer
The embattled coach leaves Baton Rouge with a 34-14 record and .708 winning percentage at LSU.
