It wasn’t pretty, but LSU knocked off Florida on homecoming at The Swamp and avoided a loss that could have put the program in a free fall.

Special teams cost Florida on both sides as the Gators missed an extra point and LSU punter Zach Von Rosenberg pinned the Gators with a punt inside the 5 to preserve a 17-16 win.

LSU appeared to take control of the game early in the second half with a touchdown drive to take a 17-3 lead. Quarterback Danny Etling connected with D.J. Chark on a catch-and-run that went 47 yards to give the Tigers a first down at the Florida 17. Running back Darrius Guice and Etling kept the chains moving and on 3rd-and-goal Etling found Tory Carter wide open in the flat for a touchdown.

Down by double digits early in the second half the Gators did not back down and began to get after the LSU front seven with the run game. Lamical Perine gained 23 yards to give Florida a first down in LSU territory and Arden Key was flagged with a late hit out of bounds to put the ball at the LSU 16. Quarterback Feleipe Franks gave Florida a first-and-goal at the 4 with 12-yard scramble and two plays later Perine cashed in from 2 yards out to make the score 17-10.

After LSU went three and out, Florida went back on the attack with more running. Kadarius Toney gained 22 yards on a run and from there it was freshman Malik Davis racking up the yards. Davis rushed for 21 yards to give the Gators a first-and-goal at the LSU 5. Two plays later Perine had his second touchdown – a 1-yard plunge. However, a bad snap led to the normally reliable Eddy Pineiro missing the extra point, keeping the score at 17-16.

The Gators’ next two possessions ended in punts, and its final possession ended when Franks missed on a 4th-and-3 pass from the Gators’ 25. Franks finished 10-for-16 for 108 yards.

After a fairly uneventful first couple of possession, LSU got their perimeter running game going and began to bust off chunk plays. After Etling completed a couple of passes on third down, Russell Gage broke a 15-yard run on the outside to give the Tigers a first down at the 43. D.J. Chark added an 8-yard run to get across midfield and Darrell Williams added seven more to get near the Gators 40.

Florida defensive back Duke Dawson was flagged for a defensive holding call to set up a 30-yard touchdown run by Gage on jet sweep that gave LSU a 7-0 lead.

The Gators were able to answer with a nice drive that started with a 18-yard throw from Franks to Brandon Powell to get a first down at the 37. From there it was the two-headed monster at running back as Davis and Perine both had big plays on the ground. Perine had an 18-yard run to give Florida a first down as the LSU 41 and Davis’ 25-yard run gave the Gators a first-and-goal at the 7.

The drive stalled there however, and Florida settled for a short field goal from Eddy Pineiro and a 7-3 score.

LSU got the points back before halftime when Connor Culp knocked home a 38-yard field goal with 25 second remaining. The big play on the drive was a 21-yard pass from Etling to Foster Moreau to get the ball in Gators territory.