DJ Lagway threw for touchdown and set up with long completion in his return from a strained left hamstring and Florida upset No. 21 LSU 27-16 on Saturday to give Gators first series victory since 2018.
Lagway provided big plays on offense for Florida. Most of the past two losses with injury he connected with Elijah Badger for 23 yard score in first quarter.
Lagway never scrambled but mobile enough to create extra time by moving around pocket.
Jadan Baugh 55 yard scoring scamper with 3:48 remaining sealed it and put the Gators on verge of becoming bowl eligible.
Florida had dropped eight in a row against top ranked teams and was 1-10 under coach Billy Napier in rivalry matches.
Former Florida coach Steve Spurrier said all week that fans should rush the field name after him if Gators win. But it did not happen.
Florida defense sacked Garrett Nussmeier seven times one more than LSU 6-4,3-3 had allowed in its first nine matches combined.
The game started to turn in Florida favor when TJ Searcy sacked Nussmeier late in third quarter.
Nussmeier fumbled one of his linemen scopped it out of the air then fumble again.
Caleb Banks recovered in what was one of huge plays for defensive tackle.
LSU dominated time of possession in first half and doubled up Florida in plays. Nussmeier struggled to find time in second half.
He completed 27 of 47 passes for 260 yards with touchdown and fumble and Gator defense frustrated him in bouncing back from subpar effort the week before defeat at Texas.
Defeats three consecutively to Alabama, Texas A&M and now Florida makes it impossible for LSU coach Brian Kelly to continue his streak for 10 win season which will end at seven.
Kelly won double digit games in each of last five season at Notre Dame and extended it with consecutive 10 win campaigns in Baton Rouge.
“You have got to be a tough guy and you got to be up for the challenge” Napier said.
“This group has proven they are up for that it is harder than ever in my opinion.
These guys could have pointed fingers and splintered a long time ago. That’s what I am most proud of”
“This is a simple exercise of do you want to fight or not” Kelly said after the defeat.
“Do you want to fight and take responsibility as coaches and players that we are not playing well and we are struggling right now?”
Jalen Milroe ran down field one last time Saturday night in Death Valley.
Alabama football quarterback completed his post match interview he raced toward Crimson Tide fans at LSU’s Tiger Stadium.
LSU had no answer for Milroe. The first drive of game he broke loose finding position in Tiger defense and rushing 39 yards down the field for his first score.
The redshirt LANK sign he assisted make last season jumped the purple wall in end zone basking with Crimson Tide faithful form moment.
Milroe said after 42-13 win
“I m definitely proud to get win on road”
“Its not an easy task to go on road and play a tough opponent in LSU and get victory so we got to appreciated the win”.
He add another score in second quarter from 10 yards out. Another from 19 in third.
Milroe capped it off with 72 yard touchdown run in fourth well LSU had much hope of comeback.
“Obviously he has got a superpower when it comes to running the football” De Boer said of Milroe
“You can see him not just be a guy that gets first downs but finishes in end zone”.
LSU coach Brian kelly said
“If you are watching the game you are like what did these guys do for two weeks?”
“We have scheme to stop the quarterback We did not get that done”.
LSU coach Brian Kelly blamed himself for 42-13 defeat to Alabama on Saturday night defeat ended any hope of college Football Playoff berth for Tigers.
LSU had time to prepare for matchup against Alabama struggled to slow down quarterback Jalen Milroe and costly mistakes on attack that permitted the game to get out of reach.
Milroe has run through LSU defense in consecutive campaign now rushing for 185 yards and four touchdowns on Saturday after rushing for 155 yards in 42 -28 win over Tigers past season.
Milroe finished with rushing yards than passing yards this time.
The Tigers have are in jeopardy to contain rushing quarterbacks this season.
Defeat against Texas A&M last time out backup quarterback Marcel Reed replace Conner Wiegman and ran for 62 yards and three touchdown for Aggies to lead comeback victory.
They dropped to 6-3 overall and 3-2 in SEC play Kelly acknowledge they face difficult task if they desire any shot at conference title.
When asked how he and team will approach past three weeks of regular season knowing a CFP berth is now long shot Kelly said.
“We are disappointed in way we performed. These guys are not like, Hey we are out of the playoffs.
They are disappointed And I m disappointed that we did not live up to standards of LSU football. That affects us more than the damn playoffs.”
“If you are watching the game you are liken, What did these guys do for two weeks” Kelly said of his team.
“We have scheme to stop the quarterback. We did not get that done so I take responsibility for it. But we have to put our players in right position too to take advantage of what they are capable of doing. So we own it together and we have got to get it fixed. because it has been a couple of weeks now”.
“We are not reinventing the wheel when it comes to defending the quarterback” Kelly said
“There is only a couple of ways to defend them. We have to be able to get our players. we are not trading any of them.
There is no waiver wire. We are not bringing anybody up from the demo squad. We have got to come up with the right answers on what works best for the guys that we have and it has not worked very well these last couple of games”
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