Offense, defense and special teams helped the Gators come up with a much-needed victory at home against the LSU Tigers.
Florida football (5-5, 3-4 SEC) defeated the No. 21 LSU Tigers (6 – 4, 3-3 SEC) by a score of 27-16.
Quarterback DJ Lagway started for the Gators after missing last week’s game due to a left hamstring injury and threw for 226 yards and a touchdown in his return. Freshman running back Jadan Baugh exploded for a 55-yard touchdown run with five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter to ultimately seal the game.
With help from the defense to seal the game, despite their shakiness on third down stops, the Gators came up with a huge win to keep their bowl-eligibility hopes alive. Florida just needs a win against either Ole Miss next week or the Florida State Seminoles to make a bowl game this season.
Here are five key factors from today’s game.
Defense starts with a bang
Florida’s defense started out the game strong. On LSU’s opening drive, the Tigers moved the ball toward midfield and were faced with a 4th-and-1 situation.
LSU decided to go for it and ran a play toward the outside that was immediately shut down by Dijon Johnson which made the Swamp deafening.
Unfortunately for the Gators’ offense, they were forced to punt because they committed two consecutive penalties to start out their drive. So the great field position went to waste.
Gators bite first
Florida started their second offensive drive on their own 20-yard line and Lagway got away with an almost sure interception on his first attempt. The ball hit the LSU defender right in the hands but he couldn’t make the catch.
A couple of plays later, Lagway completed a 34-yard pass to receiver Chimere Dike that put the Gators at midfield. Then, running back Ja’Kobi Jackson had a big run for 20 yards that placed Florida right outside the red zone.
To cap off the drive, Lagway threw a 23-yard touchdown pass to receiver Elijhah Badger who was in one-on-one coverage that gave the Gators an early 7-0 lead midway through the first quarter.
Defensive woes on third downs
Florida had a tough time defending the Tigers on their third down attempts.
Over the course of the game, LSU was 13-for-24 on third downs and converted four of them on their fourth possession alone which resulted in a 14-play, 84-yard drive that ended in a game-tying touchdown in the second quarter.
The third-down defensive struggles allowed the Tigers to construct lengthy drives which also allowed them to dominate the time of possession. LSU had the ball for 41:43 compared to Florida’s time of possession of 18:17.
LSU was 8-for-12 on third downs in the first half and it wasn’t like the majority of them were short distances either. A lot of these conversions were on 3rd-and-long situations. But luckily toward the end of the game, Florida’s defense was able to dial in when it mattered most and slowed down those third-down conversions.
Plenty of sacks to go around
The Gators’ defense was all over Garrett Nussmeier throughout the game, especially in the second half.
Florida had a total of seven sacks and it wasn’t just from a couple of players. The sacks were spread out among multiple Gators defenders.
Linebacker Shemar James had two while defensive tackle Caleb Banks, EDGE T.J. Searcy, EDGE George Gumbs Jr. and EDGE Kamran James each came up with a sack.
It was certainly refreshing to see the Gators pass rush being as effective as they were today and it’ll be interesting to see if they can carry it over next week against a high-powered Ole Miss offense.
Special Teams delivered for the Gators
Florida’s offense struggled to find ways to get in the end zone today, but thanks to their fantastic play from junior kicker Trey Smack who kicked 2-for-2 that included a career-long field goal of 55 yards.
And let’s not forget about senior punter Jeremy Crawshaw who had all four of his punts inside the 20-yard line. In a game where field position was critical, the Gators special teams unit played a big part in their victory today.
Up next for the Gators
The Gators play their final home game of the season against the Ole Miss Rebels on Saturday, Nov. 23. Kickoff is set for noon ET and will be broadcast on ABC.
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