Missed PAT helps LSU make statement

Published 8:36 pm Sunday, October 8, 2017

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — LSU had already made its point against Florida Saturday afternoon.

The Tigers aren’t soft, they’re all on the same page, Matt Canada has total control of his offense again and, most of all, these Tigers certainly aren’t dead.

Not yet — not after gutting through a 17-16 victory over No. 21 Florida in front of a rocking crowd in The Swamp.

But in the end Florida missed the point — a point-after, in fact, that turned out to be the deciding point in a victory LSU so desperately needed.

The Tigers had been buried all week at home and snickered at nationally in the wake of last week’s shocking upset loss to Troy.

“This team made the decision on Monday that they were going to win this football game under any conditions,” head coach Ed Orgeron said. “It shows what this football team can be.”

Right now they’re young — quite young — but 4-2, 1-1 in the Southeastern Conference with a lot brighter outlook on the rest of the season.

It looked kind of like One Team, One Heartbeat.

Or One Point, One Heartache for the Gators (3-2, 3-1).

“That one is tough to take,” Florida head coach Jim McElwain said.

Orgeron has been there — as recently as last week.

“It was a tough week,” Orgeron said. “Our guys showed resiliency and blocked out the noise. We believed in each other and got back to work.”

The Canada offensive trademarks that got put on hold in the loss to Troy were all back Saturday — and then some.

The jet sweep mystified the Gators early, particularly when Russell Gage sprinted 30 yards for the game’s first touchdown.

The motion, the multiple shifts, the misdirection it was all there after a one-week hiatus.

And quarterback Danny Etling, who didn’t have his most accurate throwing day, had as many key plays with his legs as his arm. That hadn’t really been seen.

“Missed a couple of throws,” Orgeron said of Etling, who was 9 of 16 for 125 yards but also missed on a couple of potential touchdown throws to open receivers. “Got to watch the video. But he showed some grit, fought hard for every yard (running). He’s a winner.”

LSU picked up 216 yards rushing with wide receivers dazzling around the ends and Derrius Guice and Darrell Williams pounding inside.

“Outstanding game plan,” Orgeron said. “We got back to playing Tiger football. “Our defense was resilient and we came up with plays when we needed to.”

The stats were almost upside down.

Wide receivers had 105 yards rushing — the running backs had 86. Running backs and fullbacks had 52 yards receiving — wide receivers had 47.

LSU, which ran that inverted offense to near-perfection for a 10-3 halftime lead, opened the second half with another impressive drive to take a 17-3 lead.

It was capped with Florida crowding the line on thirdand-goal from the 2 when Etling raised up and lofted a strike to freshman fullback Tory Carter.

“That drive was the difference in the ballgame, the temperament of our ball team,” Orgeron said.

But it didn’t look like it took.

The Gators scored on backto-back long drives, both on short runs by Lamical Perine, and with their boisterous crowd in mega-decible overdrive, had taken all of the day’s momentum and pulled to within 17-16 … awaiting the point-after.

But Eddy Pineiro’s extrapoint attempt was yanked wide left and the Tigers kept the slip, precarious lead with 1:46 to play in the third quarter. It was the first miss of Pineiro’s career.

“We were looking for a break,” Orgeron said. “The whole football team was trying so hard. That was our break.”

It still didn’t look good for the Tigers.

But the Tigers nursed home the one-point lead through the final quarter despite a thin defense running on fumes and an offense with three true freshmen forced into emergency duty in the offensive line.

“We weren’t going to be denied,” Orgeron said. “It was the mind-set of our football team not being denied.”

After throwing most of Canada’s playbook at the Gators during a first-half surge, the Tigers pounded out just enough yardage and clock in the fourth quarter to spoil Florida’s homecoming.

Florida had its moments in the fourth quarter, but never crossed midfield needing just a field goal to win.

“Coach told us to go out there and play with a lot of grit,” said linebacker Devin White, who had 13 tackles and sealed the deal when broke up a fourth-down pass at the Gators’ 24-yard line. “For me, that’s the kind of situation I want to be in.

“We knew they were a power team and wanted to hit us in the mouth. We had to respond.”

This time the Tigers did — and put a lot more distance between them and last week’s disaster.

Associated Press