Florida Football Beats LSU 14-6

By: Alyssa Hayden

The tenth ranked Florida Gators football team defeated fourth ranked LSU 14 to 6 in The Swamp Saturday night.

Physical toughness was a huge factor for these two top ten teams, and Florida proved to be a little tougher on both sides of the ball.   Senior running back Mike Gillislee recorded both of Florida’s touchdowns, each on a 12 yard run.  LSU was not as succesful on the ground, rushing only 25 times total for only 42 net yards, while Gillislee alone, had a career high 34 touches for 146 yards.  Florida coach Will Muschamp says Gillislee is exactly the guy he wants.

LSU led at halftime 6-0 after hitting two field goals including one right before the half when the Tigers failed to get a touchdown with a first and goal situation.  Florida made halftime adjustments and was able to come out with a strong second half, something they have been making a habit of in most of their games.  After putting up a mere 47 yards of offense in the first half, Florida finished the game with 237 yards, including 176 on the ground against a strong LSU defense.  Sophomore quarterback Jeff Driskel was able to manage the offense efficiently, despite the fact he only threw 12 times in the game.  Muschamp says he had confidence in both the offense and defense to get it done.

Florida was able to convert third downs 7 of 14 times and the Tigers could only do so 1 out of 13 attempts. Muschamp credits strength and endurance for this number.

With this win, the Gators may have forced out any remaining images of last season’s beat down in Death Valley, but they don’t have long to celebrate as they get ready to play the Vanderbilt Commodores next Saturday in Nashville.  Kickoff is set for 6pm.