LSU vs Florida: 20 Years of “Tigers Win!”
By: Tony Thomas
October 7, 2019
Every year since 1971, the LSU Tigers and the Florida Gators have battled in a war that first raged in 1937. The Gators hold a 33-29-3 advantage in the series and had won 9 straight over LSU from 1988 to 1996.
This is a look back at some of the greatest Tiger victories over the Gators in the past 20 years, starting with the 1997 season.
October 11, 1997, #14 LSU 28 – #1 Florida 21: Florida came into Tiger Stadium ranked #1 and riding a 9-game winning streak over the Tigers. But LSU came ready to play. QB Herb Tyler ran for 2 TDs and FB Tommy Banks ran for 1 TD. Florida QB Doug Johnson threw 4 INTs, one returned for a touchdown by DB Cedric Donaldson as LSU upset the top-ranked Gators 28-21.
October 12, 2002, #18 LSU 36 – #16 Florida 7: LSU held Florida to just 74 yards rushing and Gator QB Rex Grossman threw 4 INTs, 3 of those were intercepted by Corey Webster who returned one for a TD.
October 9, 2004, #24 LSU 24 – #12 Florida 21: LSU forced 3 interceptions and held the Gators scoreless in the 2nd half. Florida gained just 234 total yards.
October 15, 2005, #10 LSU 21 – #11 Florida 17: LSU overcame 5 turnovers to hold the Gators scoreless in the 4th quarter and allowed the Gators just 206 total yards.
October 6, 2007, #1 LSU 28 – #9 Florida 21: The Tigers didn’t allow a sack, held Florida scoreless in the 4th quarter and went 5 for 5 on 4th down conversions in the game. The Tiger defense sacked Gator QB Tim Tebow twice. And with Florida up 24-21 in the waning moments of the game, Tiger RB Jacob Hester scored on a 2-yard touchdown run with 1:09 remaining to win the game.
October 9, 2010, #12 LSU 33 – #14 Florida 29: The Tiger defense held the Gators to just 89 yards rushing and 12 first downs. LSU gained 20 first downs and QB Jarrett Lee threw a 3 yard TD pass to WR Terence Tolliver with 0:06 left to win the game for the Tigers. Tolliver finished with 6 catches for 111 yards and 2 TDs. The LSU defense had 3 sacks and an interception.
October 8, 2011, #1 LSU 41 – #17 Florida 11: The Gators were held scoreless in the 4th quarter and gained just 213 total yards and only 9 first downs. LSU RB Spencer Ware rushed for 109 yards and 2 TDs and WR Ruben Randle had 4 catches for 127 yards and a TD. LSU allowed only 1 sack and the defense had 4 tackles for loss.
October 12, 2013, #10 LSU 17 – #17 Florida 6: LSU held Florida to just 2 FG and the Gators gained only 240 total yards. Tiger RB Jeremy Hill ran for 121 yards. The Tiger “D” racked up 4 sacks and 8 tackles for loss.
October 11, 2014, LSU 30 – Florida 27: LSU RB Leonard Fournette ran for 140 yards and 2 TDs and the Tiger defense forced 3 turnovers.
October 17, 2015, # 6 LSU 35 – #8 Florida 28: Florida WR Antonio Callaway returned a punt return 72 yards for a TD. But the Gators were held to just 55 yards rushing, and LSU racked up 5 sacks. LSU’s offensive line did not allow a sack. LSU RB Leonard Fournette rushed for 180 yards and 2 TDs and WR Malachi Dupree had 4 catches for 115 yards and 2 TDs.
October 7, 2017, Unranked LSU 17 – #21 Florida 16: Both teams were held scoreless in the 4th quarter. WR Russell Gage scored on a 30 yard TD run. The LSU defense had 5 sacks and 5 tackles for loss.
On Saturday #4 LSU, led by QB Joe Burrow, will take the field with the #1 scoring offense (54 points/game) and the #2 passing offense (416 yards/game) and the Tigers average 155 yards per game rushing.
#7 Florida will counter with the #10 ranking in total defense, but they rank in the Top 5 in scoring defense (9 points/game) and sacks with 26, and the Gators lead the nation in interceptions with 12.
LSU is coming off their most complete game of the season with a win over Utah State. Florida is coming off a dominating defensive performance over Auburn.
The common denominator in the past games listed above is that LSU played dominating defense, especially in the 2nd half. LSU will have to play that same dominating defense on Saturday.
And the offensive line, which has allowed 9 sacks so far this season, will have to be stellar against what will no doubt will be the toughest defense the Tigers have faced this season.
ESPN College Gameday will broadcast from campus and the hype for this game will be through the roof. But the Tigers and Gators will live up to it.
Thanks for reading.
Material for this article sourced from http://collegefootballnews.com http://sports-reference.com http://cfbstats.com http://sportslogos.net http://andthevalleyshook.com http://sbnation.com
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