13-3 Adds Up to ‘Glorious W’

Walking out of Tiger Stadium with a 10-point victory — at night, no less — is a glorious thing. This fact cannot be understated. This was a fine victory and one of the more satisfying I’ve been witness to in the past few years of championship-level Gator football. No. 1 vs. No. 4… hot damn.
Statistically, the Gators were dominant; the kind of dominance that directly translates into Ws if not, in this case, tons of points. Florida’s 327 yards nearly doubled LSU’s 162; the Gators were 5-12 on 3rd down versus the Tigers’ 1-9; time of possession dramatically favored the Gators, at 36:30 to 23:30. LSU was also held to a total of 44 yards in the second half. As we have come to expect from Charlie Strong’s defense, Florida’s half-time adjustments and defensive intensity led to 3rd and 4th quarter clampdowns that kept the Tigers from even contemplating attempting another field goal.
I believe it’s safe to assume several facts in evidence:
1) Florida fields the best defense in the nation, hands down. Holding LSU to 3 points? In Death Valley? At night? YGTBFKM. The best, yes. Not only is this true in a statistical sense, but man, this is a nasty stop squad. LSU’s biggest play, a 26 yard pass from QB Jordan Jefferson to WR Brandon LaFell (the LSU stadium announcer called him ‘Jojo’, by the way) only occurred thanks to a mismatch with sub Markihe Anderson. No way that pass is completed against Joe Haden, who had an awesome outing along with the rest of the defensive starters. The DBs were hitting hard and drawing accurate beads on their targets. It was clear that LSU receivers were hearing footsteps in the second half. It had to be frustrating for Jordan Jefferson to face such a stingy defense.
(more…)

It wasn’t unexpected, and losing the way we did wasn’t a surprise.
Gator fans are still basking in the glory of Florida’s 51-21 victory over LSU two weekends ago. While the Gators tripped up earlier this season against Mississippi at home, one cannot underestimate the benefit of playing a home game in a big time college football matchup. LSU players definitely felt the effects of having to play a big night game against
It wasn’t just the crowd that fed the team, Florida was a team looking for redemption when facing the Tigers.
Florida trounced LSU. so some of the minor officiating issues in this game are going to be forgotten, being that they are now moot. Nonetheless I find myself troubled and dissatisfied about the out-of-bounds kickoff late in the second quarter. As a result of the ruling, LSU started at their own 40-yard line and managed to drive down the field for a TD in under one minute.

There was a time — a time not long ago, in fact — when Georgia was penciled in as a ‘W’, Tennessee was a nailbiting early-season test of our team’s toughness, and Florida State was the November crucible which either opened or closed the doors to Florida’s national title hopes.
Not a bad time to be enjoying the fruits of Urban Meyer’s renaissance of Florida football. Not a bad time at all.













