A goal-line stand for the ages clinches Florida's road win over LSU
BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA | All types of emotions culminated for Florida on Saturday after its thrilling finish in a 16-10 win over LSU. Elation. Vindication. Confidence.
After all of the talk about Florida being “scared” to play LSU in Baton Rouge stemming from the infamous rescheduling fiasco – and then a pre-game scuffle erupted between members of both teams – the Gators had plenty to prove against the Tigers. And a goal-line stand on the final play of the game by the UF defense to clinch a trip to Atlanta proved those who doubted Florida wrong, as the Gators stormed the field at Tiger Stadium in celebration and then finally sounded off about the Tigers’ comments over the past couple of weeks.
“I mean, it just shocks me that somebody would question the Gators,” Florida head coach Jim McElwain said of LSU. “The way I look at it, they got what they deserved. And it should have been worse."
“We didn’t have no courage,” cornerback Jalen “Teez” Tabor quipped. “I guess out of fear we fought back. … We won the game and in Death Valley. I guess where opponents come to die. Isn’t that what they have on the stadium right there?”
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“This is a home game for us. We turned this place into The Swamp,” quarterback Austin Appleby remarked. “We’re 6-0 in The Swamp.”
Florida coaches and players had plenty to be excited about after the game. No. 21 Florida’s 16-10 win over No. 16 LSU wasn’t just only the Gators’ first win over a ranked road opponent under McElwain, or the group’s first victory in Baton Rouge since 2009. It was a contest for the history books that’ll forever be remembered in this ongoing rivalry – and a defining win for McElwain and the current direction of his program.
And a win so monumental hinged on a goal-line stand on the final four plays of the game, where the Gators managed to hold the Tigers 1 yard short of the end zone.
After LSU quarterback Danny Etling took advantage of a slipping Quincy Wilson and connected with wideout D.J. Chark on 4th and 10 for 30 yards to drive the Tigers into the red zone, the Gators, leading by six points, found themselves with their backs against the wall but a mission at hand: Keep LSU out of the end zone, at all costs.
Following a 5-yard rush by Derrius Guice and then a 6-yard Etling pass to Malachi Dupre, LSU found itself with four more opportunities to score from the UF 7 with just a minute remaining in the game.
But the Florida defense wouldn’t bend.
With the clock winding down, Florida defensive end Jordan Sherit and linebacker Kylan Johnson wrapped up Guice for a 2-yard gain, and the Gators quickly called a timeout. On the next play Guice charged for a 4-yard gain, but Sherit and linebacker David Reese helped keep the LSU tailback a yard short of the goal line.
Florida then called another timeout with 24 seconds left, as the anxiety among the contingent of Florida supporters at reached new highs – and plenty of Gators fans around the country bit their nails. Then on the next play, LSU ran a fullback dive with J.D. Moore – but there was defensive end CeCe Jefferson, in his first game back from a foot injury, to sniff out the play and make a crucial tackle for no gain.
“We got burned on that a couple times earlier. The fullback dive,” Jefferson said. “It was actually, they tried to do the belly flip out of that. So I told my safety, which came down, I told him to stay wide so he can take care if they pitch it out to 5. I seen the tackle, he was leaning hard inside. It was kind of a small-enough split for me to get in, you know what I’m saying? So I cheated down a little bit and just shot the gap. And as soon as 44 got it, I go him. So that was pretty much my progression for that play.”
LSU let the clock run out to three seconds remaining and then called a timeout. This was it. The game would come down to one final play.
The Tigers handed it off to Guice on 4th and goal, but safety Marcell Harris shed a block from Moore to tackle Guice by the legs – and then defensive tackle Taven Bryan came in flying to add further resistance. As Guice attempted to dive, he fumbled the ball in the process – and LSU recovered it just short of the goal line.
Then, the celebration began for the Gators, who are Atlanta bound once again.
“They came out in tight splits,” Jefferson said. “We obviously knew it was going to be run. We just knew once we made contact, we had to immediately start driving our fee.t hats what we did. We were able to get initial knockback at the line of scrimmage, forcing Derrius Guice, a good running back, to stop his feet and think. We just executed.
“Savage mode. It’s straight savage mode, man,” Jefferson continued. “It’s do or die. If we lose this game, I heard we got to depend on Tennessee to lose or win. No, man. We’re a bunch of guys – we’re independent guys. We don’t like to depend on anybody to win or lose to decide our fate. This group of guys, man, we’ve been through a lot from the seniors down to the underclassmen. We just remind each of other of that, and success happens.”
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