FINAL: Florida 27, No. 21 LSU 16

FLORIDA 27, No. 21 LSU 16

What Happened

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The return of Florida freshman quarterback DJ Lagway ignited both the underdog Gators and energized the homefield Saturday in a 27-16 upset of 21st-ranked LSU in their Southeastern Conference showdown at Spurrier/Florida Field. 

Lagway, out with a hamstring injury since the first half of the Georgia game two weeks ago, passed for 226 yards and a score and rookie classmate Jadan Baugh had a 55-yard game-sealing touchdown run with just under four minutes remaining. The Florida defense, meanwhile, was no bystander. Though Tigers quarterback Garrett Nussmeier was on the field for twice as long as Lagway and the UF offense, the Gators did a bend-don’t-break number on the visitors in holding the nation’s seventh-best passing offense (322.3 yards per game) mostly in check and sacking Nussmeier, one of the best-protected QBs in the country, seven times times for 49 yards. 

Nussmeier finished 27 of 47 for 260 yards, with a touchdown and a fumble. Lagway, who had a first-quarter touchdown strike of 23 yards to wideout Elijhah Badger (6 catches, 131 yards), completed 13 of his 26 attempts without a turnover or a sack. LSU out-gained UF in total offense 382 yards to 339 and had the ball for 41:13 to Florida’s 18:17, but the Gators made more out of their five single-digit scoring drives than the Tigers (13 of 24 on third down, 2-for-4 on fourth) did with their four scoring drives of double digits. 

LSU ran 93 plays to just 42 for Florida. 

The win snapped a five-game losing streak for the Gators in their series with the Tigers that dates to 1937. Florida’s last win against LSU was a 27-19 victory here in 2018. 

UF took the first lead of the game when Lagway lobbed a beautiful back-shoulder touchdown pass to Badger to go up 7-0. LSU matched the score with a 14-play, 84-yard scoring drive, converting four third downs along the way, including three of them of at least nine yards, with the last a 28-yard strike from Nussmeier to Aaron Anderson midway through the period. 

Both teams added field goals in the second quarter, with Trey Smack’s 49-yarder giving the Gators a 10-7 edge with 3:27 to play in the half and Damian Ramos tying the game with a 50-yard with 10 seconds to play before intermission.

The Tigers took their first lead, 13-10, on Ramos’s 45-yard field at 5:54 of the third. Nussmeir, after surviving a sack/fumble inside his 10, drove his offense 62 yards, converting two more third-and-longs and appeared to have converted a third, but his 13-yard TD pass to Anderson on third-and-9 was called back for offensive pass interference. LSU could not convert on third-and-23 and Ramos put his team momentarily in front. 

The Gators threatened on their next possession, moving to LSU 34 on a couple nice Lagway-to-Badger completions. But a holding penalty, followed by a delay penalty, put the offense behind schedule. Smack bailed the unit out with a 55-yard field goal that tied for the third-longest in program history, and tied the score at 13 with 3:07 left in the period. UF had a chance to take the lead by recovering a fumble at the LSU 34, but after a delay penalty on first down the Gators lost three yards over the next three snaps and had to punt the ball away. Field position, though, would be key. 

The UF defense, again, thwarted Nussmeier on a third-and-long, with George Gumbs Jr. coming up with a sack at the LSU 5, forcing the Tigers to punt from their end zone on the first play of the fourth quarter. On the third play of the quarter, Lagway hit Badger with a 36-yard rope to the LSU 1 and Ja’Kobi Jackson scored the go-ahead TD on the next play for a 20-13 lead with 13:58 remaining.

Nussmeier again put together a long drive (15 plays, 54 yards), but the Tigers had to settle for a third Ramos field goal, this one from 34 yards, that made the score 20-16 with 5:18 remaining. 

On UF’s ensuing possession Lagway threw a second-down completion of 19 yards to tight end Hayden Hansen. On the next play, Baugh (6 carries, 65 yards) took a handoff off Lagway’s misdirection, hit the left side of the line, got the edge and out-raced the LSU defense up the sideline for his career-long run and decisive touchdown with 3:48 to go. 

 

What it Means

The Gators, with their third win against a ranked opponent in Coach Billy Napier‘s three seasons, are one win from bowl eligibility. The victory also evened the all-time series between the two teams at 34-34-3. 

In the Spotlight

Think the freshman quarterback makes a difference?

Staggering Statistic

Coming into the game, LSU ranked fourth in the nation (and first in the SEC) in sacks allowed, having surrendered just six. Florida got that, plus one more. 

Up Next

The Gators (5-5, 3-4) will wrap up their home schedule and SEC slate with a Saturday noon date against No. 10 Ole Miss (8-2, 4-2), which remains in the thick of the College Football Playoff mix. The Rebels, who upset No. 2 Georgia last week, will be coming off a bye week when they come to town. LSU (6-4, 3-3), which dropped its third straight, plays Vanderbilt at home.

Email Chris Harry at chrish@gators.ufl.edu