Florida reigns supreme in the SEC East

This was it. The game would come down to one final play.

“Guys fought the whole way, gave us a chance to win the football game. It’s probably the worst we’ve played since we started our new season”.

They could take some consolation over a successful Senior Day. It just came down to execution.

Only minutes after the emotional win in Baton Rouge, McElwain was already turning his attention to the next game – Florida State.

Florida coach Jim McElwain watched his Gators overcome injuries, an extra road game and repeated adversity in the shadow of their own goal line.

LSU’s offense was surprisingly effective: We knew the Tigers could run the ball with Fournette and Derrius Guice. Tigers QB Danny Etling has completed 58.5 percent of his passes with 7 touchdowns and 4 interceptions. Not a ton has changed in that respect (Florida is in the bottom half of the SEC in scoring, rushing, passing and total offense), yet Florida will be back in Atlanta in December. Florida notched a victory over LSU for the first time since 2012. On his final carry of the game, Fournette was unable to run through Caleb Brantley’s tackle attempt at the Florida 1, falling for a 1-yard loss early in the third quarter. The game was moved to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, as part of the agreement to reschedule, which was a contentious negotiation that included multiple threats to cancel the matchup. As Guice attempted to dive, he fumbled the ball in the process – and LSU recovered it just short of the goal line. The Tigers out-gained the Gators by 150 yards and had nearly 10 more first downs, but a couple of turnovers and other problems finishing drives saw Florida leading with no time left on the clock. The Gators responded to the tie game with a 15 play drive that took 7:41 off the clock and resulted in Pineiro’s second field goal.

LSU (6-4, 4-3 SEC, No. 16 CFP) controlled most of the game and held considerable statistical advantages, outgaining Florida (8-2, 6-2, No. 23 CFP) 423 yards to 270 and holding possession for 34:02.

The Gators were originally meant to host LSU at the Swamp, however, when negotiations between the two sides deteriorated, with the Tigers not willing to travel to Gainesville this week, Florida allowed the Tigers to host the game instead.

The Gators defense was stingy, especially in the last seconds of the game.

Florida’s victory also ended a lot of drama between the two teams that began when the originally scheduled game at Florida was canceled because of Hurricane Matthew on October 8.

Saturday, more than 102,000 fans braved a chilly fall morning and entered Tiger Stadium believing they were on the right end of an early holiday bonus.

Coach Les Miles’ LSU career ran out of time near the Auburn goal line in Jordan-Hare Stadium on September 24 in an 18-13 loss. Then holder Josh Growden fumbled a snap, and Colby Delahoussaye did not get a chance to give LSU a 10-3 lead. The Gators scored on the very next play when Austin Appleby connected with freshman Tyrie Cleveland, a four-star high school prospect and nation’s No. 2 wide receiver, for a 98-yard touchdown. Nobody has come close to beating the Crimson Tide and no played them tougher than LSU did in a 10-0 home loss. On the ensuing punt, LSU almost forced a turnover when a ball came extremely close to brushing off of a Florida player, but a replay review determined no Gators had touched the football. Jordan Scarlett and Lamical Perine’s hard running in second half helped set the Gators up for two Eddy Piñeiro field goals, which put the Gators up 16-10. Florida finished with 13.