Florida Upsets No. 21 LSU Behind Seven Sacks

Florida ended a five-game losing streak to No. 21 LSU on Saturday with a 27-16 upset win.

SET IT OFF

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— Florida Gators Football (@GatorsFB) November 17, 2024

The more than 90,000 fans were bumping in The Swamp when Tyreak Sapp sacked Garrett Nussmeier with 57 seconds left in the game to put the nail in the coffin.

Despite having the ball for only 18:17, the Gators (5-5, 3-4 SEC) showed a new defensive grit and drive in their first series win since 2018.

The Gators bounced back after an embarrassing 49-17 loss to then-No. 5 Texas last weekend. LSU (6-4, 3-3 ) has lost now three consecutive games.

Keys To Game

When you look at the stat sheet, the numbers favor LSU in almost every category.

The Tigers had 92 offensive plays compared to 43 for the Gators. LSU also had 44 rushes and Florida had less than half of that with 17. And the Tigers had possession for almost 42 minutes.

The answer to a Gators win through these stats is the defense and the efficiency from the offense.

The Gators had seven sacks, six coming in the second half. LSU had only given up six all season. A stat line that the Gators did lead in was total tackles, 95 to 32.

Shemar James was a game changer with two sacks and 11 total tackles. In the past two losses, James had five total tackles combined.

Florida executed the game plan better in the second half when it allowed just two field goals, James said:

The defense looked strong. It played with tenacity and discipline. The LSU offensive line struggled to protect Garrett Nussmeier and the Florida defense put lots of pressure on the LSU quarterback by forcing him to make a lot of quick decisions. After the hard loss in Austin, the defense played as if it had something to prove.

Another key was the connection between Florida freshman quarterback DJ Lagway, who missed the game at Texas due to a hamstring injury suffered in the Georgia game, and receiver Elijhah Badger, who had six receptions for 131 yards, including a first-quarter touchdown catch of 23 yards.

First half

First Quarter

Florida scored first on the 23-yard connection from Lagway to Badger for a touchdown with 7:12 to play.

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The first quarter ended with a missed 51-yard field goal attempt from LSU kicker Damian Ramos.

Second Quarter

LSU began the second quarter with a 14 play, 84-yard touchdown drive to even the score at seven.

UF’s next possession resulted when Trey Smack nailed a 49-yard field goal to put the Gators back up 10-7

On the next LSU drive, James sacked Nussmeier on the Florida 25 for a loss of eight yards on second down. On third-and-18, James broke up Nussmeier’s pass to Mason Taylor to save a touchdown. Ramos almost matched Smack, nailing a 50-yard field goal for a 10-10 score at intermission.

Second Half

Third Quarter

With 6:04 left to play in the third, Nussmeier hit CJ Daniels for 13 yards to the end zone, but the touchdown was reversed due to pass interference on the offense. The Tigers couldn’t convert and were forced to kick a field goal to put LSU ahead for the first time at 13-10

The lead did not last long as Smack knocked down a 55-yard field goal with 3:07 left for a 13-13 tie.

The quarter ended with a LSU forced fumbled recovered by Caleb Banks on the George Gumbs Jr. sack of Nussmeier.

Fourth Quarter

Within a minute of the fourth quarter starting, Florida scored a touchdown. It was a three-play, 45-yard scoring drive. Lagway threw another beautiful 34-yard ball to Badger who got to the LSU 1. Then Ja’Kobi Jackson ran the ball into the end zone.

The offense came together on the pass to Badger, Lagway said:

Florida put the game away on a shifty 55-yard touchdown run from Jadan Baugh with 3:48 left to play to put the Gators up 27-16.

Then the sack from Sapp solidified the upset win and you couldn’t even hear yourself think in the Ben Hill Griffin Stadium noise.

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Improvements

The Gator defense was solid, but struggled on the third-down stops. The Tigers were 13 of 24 on third-down conversions and two of four on fourth-down conversions. If the Gators get that under control, it’s going to be scary for future offenses.

Florida coach Billy Napier said the improvement defensively from the last game was key:

Up Next

Florida hosts No. 10 Ole Miss (8-2, 4-2) at noon Saturday. The Rebels are coming off an open date. The Gators would become bowl eligible with a win in one of their final two games.