Tony Thomas
Author
The Florida Gators are next up on the LSU schedule. No. 3 LSU and Florida have been combatants in some of the greatest gridiron battles that Tiger Stadium has ever portrayed. They don’t call it “Death Valley” for nothing. Having first played in 1937, Florida has the slimmest of leads in the series with a 34-32-3 record. LSU has won six of the last nine meetings.
The Tigers, ranked No. 1 in the country, hosted No. 9 Florida. College Football Hall of Famer Tim Tebow quarterbacked the Gators that night in Tiger Stadium. Tebow accounted for three touchdowns. LSU trailed the entire game until the final 1:09 of the game. LSU full back Jacob Hester bulldozed his way into the endzone from 2-yards out to give the Tigers the hard-fought victory.
LSU was a perfect 5 of 5 on fourth down.
In Death Valley, LSU QB Herb Tyler scored two rushing touchdowns and Cedric Donaldson returned an INT for a touchdown. Florida running back Fred Taylor scored three rushing TDs, but that was overshadowed by the five turnovers and nine penalties committed by the top-ranked Gators.
LSU is coming off a 23-7 victory over Louisiana Tech in the Tigers’ home opener. Florida suffered an 18-16 loss to South Florida (2-0). Florida head coach Billy Napier’s coaching seat has heated up once again.
QB DJ Lagway leads the Florida offense with 342 yards passing, four TDs and one INT. He has completed 74.5 percent of his passes through two games.
Running back Jadan Baugh is averaging over seven yards per carry.
On defense, Myles Graham and Jaden Robinson combined for 17 tackles in the loss to USF.
Through two games, QB Garrett Nussmeier has passed for 469 yards, two TDs and one INT.
Aaron Anderson and Barion Brown are Nussmeier’s primary targets.
On defense, the Tigers have allowed 8.5 points per game this season. That’s good enough for No. 13 nationally, third in the SEC. Whit Weeks leads the Tigers in tackles through two games with 15.
Florida is on the ropes and LSU will go for the knockout punch on Saturday. The Tigers’ defense is clicking on all cylinders. On offense, LSU needs to turn it up a notch or two. Look for LSU to do just that in front of a raucous home crowd.
Final Score: LSU 35 – Florida 14
In the series history, the Tigers have outscored the Lions 79-7 and own a 2-0 record.
The preseason brought us way too much hype and unreasonable expectations
As a Vanderbilt football fan who’s been cheering from the stands since the early ’90s – back when we were still dreaming of consistent bowl games and the occasional upset over a ranked opponent – I’ve witnessed more heartbreak than highlights. Remember the 1990s? We had flashes of being headed in the right direction under […]
