BATON ROUGE, La. -- No. 7 Florida knew they needed a sharp performance in Death Valley to bring home the win over No. 5 LSU.

The Gators offense did everything they could to give the visitors a chance to win, however, it was the UF defense that stuttered.

Honestly, injuries finally caught up with Florida.

"When you lose both of your starting d-ends especially in this type of environment it catches up to you," Gators head coach Dan Mullen said after the 42-28 loss to LSU.

The Gators played much of the game without Jon Greenard or Jabari Zuniga - both players dealing with an ankle injury.

“Not having Jon killed our vibe," said cornerback Marco Wilson. “It takes the air out of us, really, but the next guy has to step up. We need to put it in our mind that guys are going to go down in a game. Guys are not going to be able to go. The next guy needs to be ready to play just as well as the starter.”

Joe Burrow finished the game throwing 21-of-24 for 293 yards and three touchdowns, meanwhile, the Tigers pounded the rock on the ground, amassing 218 yards on 24 carries, averaging 9.1 yards per carry.

"I was really concerned about the run game coming in and we obviously didn’t do a good job of stopping the run," Mullen said. "From watching them on film, I thought they ran the ball better than what they were getting credit for."

"Big run plays set them up for touchdowns they should have never been set up for," said Wilson.

LSU running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire led the way for the Tigers with 134 yards and two touchdowns, while Burrow extended plays with his legs, running for 43 yards.

"I think he did good job scrambling around to extend plays to be honest with you," Mullen said about the Tigers signal caller. "I thought their ability to run the ball was the big difference in the game. We weren’t able to get pressure on them, which is what we wanted to see how he handles getting the pressure on him. And when we did, he did a job of scrambling. He had 43 yards rushing, so he did a pretty good job running the ball."

After playing a calm, poised game, Trask threw a pick in the endzone, trying to make something happen when the Gators found themselves in a two-score hole.

"I had a one-on-one matchup and obviously a guy trying to make a play," said Trask about the throw in the endzone.

"He was trying to make a play, trying to give his receiver a chance to make a play. Was trying to back-shoulder," said Mullen. "I thought he did a really good job. I thought Emory (Jones) did a really good job, came in and gave a really good mix-up for us. Both those guys. I don't have a whole lot to complain with their performances tonight. I thought they handled the environment."

The defense, however, struggled all night long.

"This is unacceptable for us," Wilson said. "We definitely need to put our head down and grind and make sure this doesn’t happen again."