Rapid Reaction: Gators' goal-line stop clinches SEC East in dramatic fashion
It all came down to the final play, because with all the drama, how else was the game supposed to end?
Derrius Guice, who said “Florida couldn’t run no more” couldn’t get one last yard to score the tying touchdown on the final play of the game.
Florida locks up a spot in Atlanta with a thrilling 16-10 victory in Baton Rouge.
What it means
Florida locks up the SEC East with an upset victory in Death Valley. LSU drops its fourth game of the season, hurting its postseason outlook and Ed Orgeron’s chance of getting the full-time head coaching job.
What I liked
LSU: The Tigers saw an opportunity to run on Florida’s banged-up defense and called the game accordingly.
To open the second half, LSU’s offensive line dominated up front. Danny Etling had extra time to find Colin Jeter for a first down before hitting Malachi Dupre for 33 yards to move to the UF 24-yard line.
In the first half, following Guice’s fumble deep in the red zone, the Tigers forced a three-and-out to get the ball back in good field position and keep points off the board.
Florida: Despite only 60 yards of total offense, Florida’s defense and special teams kept it in the game, down only 7-3 at the half. The defense particularly tightened up in the second quarter as the teams traded punts before the half.
Offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier decided to ride the momentum after LSU’s botched field goal, calling for Austin Appleby to launch one deep to Tyrie Cleveland. The freshman wideout got a step on LSU DB Donte Jackson to haul it in, and he shook the tackle to go 98 yards and give Florida a 10-7 lead.
The Gators’ defense is rarely labeled bend but don’t break, but they made their biggest stops when the Tigers threatened to score. In five trips to the red zone, LSU had only 10 points to show for it.
What I didn’t like
LSU: Guice’s fumble ended a 63-yard, 5:45 drive that could have given the Tigers some breathing room and put the Gators on the ropes. It wasn’t the only time LSU moved the ball well but had nothing to show for it.
In the third quarter, the Tigers again were deep in the red zone when Etling got popped by Florida LB Vosean Joseph, and DT Caleb Brantley brought down Leonard Fournette for a loss. Ed Orgeron looked like he was playing it safe with the field goal, but it was botched and the score remained 7-3, but not for long. On the next play, Florida went 98 yards for a touchdown to take the lead.
Florida: The Gators couldn’t capitalize when they had opportunities to change the momentum of the game in the first half. When Guice fumbled inside the UF 10-yard line, the Gators recovered but went three-and-out on offense. Later in the second quarter, LB David Reese had a golden opportunity for a pick-six but couldn’t come up with the interception. With 1:01 left before the half, Florida only moved the ball two yards on a head-scratching short pass.
Up 10-7, the offense was moving the ball with Jordan Scarlett running the ball. On 2nd-and-3, the Gators tried a pass and Appleby threw it away. On 3rd-and-3, the Gators tried a screen that was deflected. Scarlett had run for 37 yards on four carries, a questionable time to go away from the run.
Again, with Scarlett mowing through the LSU defense, Nussmeier got cute, calling a fake to the fullback and a pitch to Lamical Perine. The pitch resulted in a fumble, and Florida had to kick a field goal going up only 13-10.
Key play
Florida’s defense came up with its biggest stop of the season, keeping Guice out of the end zone on 4th-and-goal from the 1-yard line on the last play of the contest.
What’s next
The Tigers look to bounce back against Texas A&M in College Station. Before the SEC Championship Game, the Gators have a big game in Tallahassee against Florida State.
Pathetic. ABSOLUTELY F*CKING PATHETIC! LSU looked like they tried to lose this game. This reminded me of Wisconsin game. To the Florida fans, have fun playing Bama.
You talked so much $hit before this game……LMAO
Because we should have won. We had three red zone opportunities where we turned it over. We out gained them by 100 yards. Our offense basically looked like the Miles offense. Fournette was a liability. Our defense refused to tackle and don’t even get me started on Dante Jackson.
It was the Miles offense.
Should have won means nothing…. Talked all that $hit and they came to your house and waxed that a$$….LMAO
Stick with that lol… Nothing to see here LSU fans still crying.
You’re username is hilarious when you’re the one crying. Go ahead, respond with Ole Miss sucks this, and we pay our players that, and how we didn’t match our preseason hype, and how Kelly is a loser for smokin’ a lil bud and blah blah blah. I’ll still laugh at your existence because after all the talk about how Florida tried to pussyfoot their way out of the game, they came to Death Valley and not only beat y’all, but beat y’all BY ONE YARD. SHEESH!!
Preach!
Wait, I though Coach O was different? LOL LSUSMC, ya boi Coach O is just another Les Miles. Maybe not even that good. Tried to tell you. And to lose on a LES MILES old fashioned pitch. Couldn’t have written a more ironic loss.
This surely looks bad. In Orgeron”s defense, he was stuck with Miles offensive staff. He did great by getting rid of Cameron, but Ensminger was the only person on staff that had ever called plays before. You can’t go outside the program and bring in a new OC four games into the season. We were also stuck with Cameron’s playbook. None of that excuzes the ball security issues today. O took a big hit.
Tennessee said it was there year….. The gators proved that was a lie!!!!!!!!
It would have been most likely without the countless injuries, but that’s part of the game so it’s not excuse. But it would have been very interesting to see how the Vols would have done without them, i can only speculate though
yea you losers keep saying that. But did you check out the list of injuries on the Gators D today? Guess what? They didn’t cry like little babies, they sucked it up and won the game. That is how real teams do it, not piss and moan and cry like you lot always do.
I just said it wasn’t an excuse so I’m not sure what you’re arguing about.
Saying it’s not an excuse while saying you win the east without injuries is hilarious….. Sure seems like an excuse…
Think whatever you want. If you want to be overly sensitive to my comment then go ahead, I also said I was just speculating. Just to clarify, “most likely” means probably, but unknown. I wasn’t claiming we definitely would have won the East at all.
Like I’ve said in a couple other comments, I’d rather the east be represented by Florida with the way the two teams are currently playing.
Congrats Gators!!! And everybody say goodbye to @keno98, he lost both parts of a bet and now is done spewing his ignorance on this site.
Hope so.
i have my doubts about that bill. that dude loves this site way too much.
Well…..we still have you …spewing your ignorance! What needs to happen to get rid of you?
Prove me wrong, that simple. When dipsh*ts like you, keno98, voltrainconductor, Esec, etc started your nonsense of how TN was going to win the east and compete for a playoff spot, I simply said this team was a 3-4 loss team, which they are. You inbreds lost your minds. I’m sorry you are sad about your b*tt buddy leaving, but he shouldn’t have taken the bet.
LMAO…..LSU fans and players talked so much Crap about the gators…..Guess they weren’t scared after all…..I look forward to seeing Bama and Florida in the SECCG….LSU LMAO…
Hope we can make a good game out of it.
The way FSU is playing, we have a real good chance of beating them in Tallahassee if we play like we did today (not that we played lights out, but it should certainly be enough against them).
I would love to have Anzalone, Maye, and Davis back for that one to give Bama more of a challenge, but I am real happy that McElwain made it back to Atlanta.
This should help him out with recruiting either way.
For some reason they stopped showing replays at the end of the game (at least the channel i was watching on), did Guice get anywhere close when he stretched out on that final play? I would have liked to have seen a side view but it wasn’t shown so I couldn’t tell
No and he fumbled
interesting. Thanks.
Good game Gators, even being a UT fan part of me was pulling for you. Hopefully this game will make people reconsider thinking that the sec east is so much weaker than the west. Except for Alabama, the two are relatively even and this is evidence of that. Sucks that the Vols won’t get to ATL this year, but with the current state of the two teams FL will better represent the East. I’ll be pulling for you guys.
Still can’t believe a call for a pitch on the 1 yard line on the final play…that fullback dive again would have probably gotten the TD
Funny thing was we had a 3rd and goal from the one and did the same thing and fumbled. We settled for a field goal but that drive we ran it down theor throat.
No matter who you are, you gotta respect that game… what a hell of a game.
Don’t know of many other games where the division title rests on a goal line stand on 4th and inches with no time left and the defense holds. Absolutely fantastic way to finish. Congratulations.
all the salty ut fans now like “going to get pummeled by bama.” Who was the pre-season favorite, ut. Just can’t do it can you guys?
Doesn’t change the fact that you WILL get pummeled by Alabama. We’ll be laughing at the sugar bowl
You’re a dumba$$. They won the division. I bet the UT players and Coaches aren’t laughing…. You are currently struggling with Missouri. LMAO
UT better watch out for Vandy too.
I hope you aren’t kidding, vandy is no joke. This year their 4-6 record would be a 7-3 or better in any other conference. They just have the bad luck of being in the SEC
@Blizzard,
I was being completely serious about Vandy. They are playing good ball right now and I see a lot of UT fans thinking they are a shoe in for the Sugar bowl because Florida has a really tough game against Bama.
If UT does not watch out, Vandy will get their sixth win in Nashville this Saturday.
Lmao yall sure as hell ain’t going to no sugar bowl.
Debatable but we’ll see.
Auburn is way more likely to get the Sugar bowl. UT will be lucky to do better than the music city bowl.
FLA earned it. Good luck against BAMA.
The early start definitely hurt. LSU hasn’t played a noon gm in decades. They looked like they were still sleep. Don’t know why in the h3ll Alleva would agree to a home gm start this early in the day.
Poor LSU. God forbid they have to play a non-night game at home. LSU was fortunate enough as it is to weasle a home game out of the ordeal. All that trash talk during the hurricane lol
Why would he agree? Because Florida wasn’t going to give you everything that the arrogant moron Alleva was childishly demanding. They begrudgingly agreed to the game, but refused to play it at night. Now LSU looks like the punk a$$es they’ve always been, refusing to negotiate this game in good faith, finally getting their way, an extra home conference game, and losing it anyway. The bill comes due next season, when LSU will have 5 conference road games, including Alabama.
Funny, did the Gators play at a later time?
This is the most pathetic excuse in the history of escuses.
*Excuses
Florida deserved to win they made very few mistakes and relied on their defense and special teams. LSU made mistake after mistake in key situations. Congratulations Florida and good luck against Bama.
That was like those old fashioned SEC games I grew up watching. Helluva game. I’d like to see Coach O get the job if Jimbo doesn’t go.
It was a good game. Wish LSU wouldn’t have been so sloppy but it happens.
It was a good game. Our D certainly lived by the bend but don’t break credo today.
If I had a heart condition, there is no way I would have survived watching that game. I certainly felt my heart skipping many a beat when LSU was driving deep.
No kidding. 3 seconds left 4th down and on the 1 yard line and can’t kick a field goal. I don’t think it could get much better than that. Well actually I take that back, had LSU scored and then the extra point was blocked and you guys ran it back for 2, i guess that would have been more exciting lol
I was not happy when McElwain called that timeout with :34 on the clock. LSU might not have had the time to get to 4th down. It’s not like we would have had enough time to do anything had LSU scored late.
I would probably have developed a heart problem if LSU scored the TD and missed the PAT. :)
Bet LSU wish they would have kept that south Alabama game scheduled
Good thing Florida was afraid to play or it might have been a blowout.
Seriously, can you imagine the LSU beatdown if we had not been scared?
You can take your ass on somewhere. All you did was complain about us getting run out of the stadium. Now you wanna gloat how about you shut the f!@k up. BANDWAGONER!
All that s*** talking LSU fans did and still lost to Florida. Good job Gators. Look forward to the matchup in Atlanta.
That makes one of us!
Dude…we are going to get rolled and you know it
Yeah I’m with you on that.
if they play that well it will be closer than anyone thinks. I mean no one gave them a chance against LSU and look what happened.
Cleveland made some great plays today. That 98 yarder showed a lot of sheer will to stay up and in bounds.
Scarlet also had a monster day and our O-line did some impressive work today.
I feel like a lot of the reason they played so well was because of the trash talking between the two over the last few weeks. Going to be hard to get that same emotion back for Bama, but after today I’m still going to think they’ll keep it within 10 at least. Appleby’s going to really need to step up his game, can’t wait to see how it ends up playing out
Just like you said we would today?
The SECCG the way it is supposed to be… Alabama-Florida!!! We are taking steps to return to glory, but of course this year most likely is not going to be the year! (understatement… but some good signs…)
As long as the SEC reclaims the national Championship this year. Assuming we lose the SECCG I will be all Tide in the playoffs!
Typical LSU fans…talking about how they lost it, and not how UF won it. Imagine this Tigers…it was a good thing UF was scared, or imagine how bad the beating would have been? LOL
By the way, the icing on the cake is the fact the Joe Alleva mortgaged the next 2 games on this one….so back to back games versus in the Swamp. That’s some shrewd negotiation, Joe!
The second game was already scheduled for Gainesville, so all UF gets is next season. This was a simple swap made very complicated by two AD”s with too much chest. The gator team and staff made Foley the winner here. That’s the part that sucks the most. Foley is definitely gloating.
I guess LSU under Orgeron was hoping for a $hit talking championship….Maybe Orgeron gets the Job. I like him.
Pitch on the final play with 1 yard to go…can’t believe that play call.
Go represent the East in ATL Gators, you earned it. I don’t have much hope for you lol but I’ll be pulling for you guys anyway.
Now, can we please please (and for extra emphasis, one more PLEASE) purge this site of all the UT fans, atleast for this year?
Have not seen such a nail-biting finish for Florida in a while and am just glad we came out on the top! And what Coach mac said at the end – sums up this year’s UF-LSU controversy perfectly.
Nope. We’re the scum that never dies
Glad to see your “Come to Jesus” moment.
Your not all scum, my lady is a Vol and shes pretty special to me.
God I love that Tennessee is on every teams comments board. Go VOLS!!!!
It’s because UT fans are on every teams comments board….
Yep, Go get those refunds for the SECCG game tickets.
Do you think they were putting the truck before the duck when they sent out the SECCG notices regarding ticket purchases
I never planned on buying tickets. I know we are not championship material. Just like every other SEC least team. Have fun getting rolled by the tide. If you lost to us, no chance of beating bama.
Awww, Voluntears.
So glorious.
welp. i wonder who the new coach will be.
I am out with the family and have only seen the one play on this site. I know I have to come back here and take my medicine. Nice win gators. Bad loss for LSU. Fire Alleva and let the new AD make the coaching hire.
Imagine if this cupcake Florida team was healthier on D
All I have seen is stats, and it looks like LSU had 10 more first downs and 150 more yards. Looks like turnovers and stuffing LSU in the redzone was key. I have it recorded, but I highly doubt I watch it once I get home. Congrats.
Yup… great stats. But we have the ones that matter…
Absolutely. Only the score matters. Congrats.
Florida put ya’ll down.It’s walk softly,and carry a big stick.Not,run your mouth,and bring a twig.
Ogeron is a joke…this is the same guy,who while at um,constantly tried to fight the players,and other coaches…on his own team.Remember they had to forcibly remove this assclown,from his office when we fired his sorry cajun ass.
Good job Florida!
What the hell is wrong with my hogs. I Mean we kick Florida’s a$$ then get our a$$ kicked by Lsu. Then Florida beats LSU. I Mean Wtf. Are team is just like our weather. Unpredictable.
Transitive property means nothing in college football