Game Notes: Gators Travel to Death Valley to Face No. 1/2 LSU
Wednesday, October 5, 2011 | Football
The Florida Gators (4-1, 2-1 SEC) hit the road for the second time this season, traveling to Baton Rouge, La., to face the No. 1-ranked LSU Tigers (5-0, 2-0 SEC). The Gators are coming off their first loss of the season, a 38-10 defeat by No. 3 Alabama. The Tigers remained unbeaten in 2011 with a 35-7 victory over Kentucky last Saturday.
Florida will be facing a top-three ranked opponent for the second week in a row. Kentucky was the last school in the nation to face top-three ranked teams in consecutive weeks during the regular season in 2009, according to AP Poll records. No. 1 Florida defeated Kentucky 41-7 (9/25/09) and No. 3 Alabama defeated the Wildcats 38-20 (10/2/09).
The Gators faced two top-three ranked opponents in consecutive games, defeating No. 1 Alabama, 31-20, in the 2008 SEC Championship Game in Atlanta and beating No. 2 Oklahoma, 24-14, in the 2009 BCS National Championship in Miami.
Florida has had a history of success against LSU, leading the overall series, 30-24-3. UF also leads the series when playing in Baton Rouge, holding a 16-13 edge on the Tigers' home field. The last time the Gators traveled to LSU was in 2009. In front of a Tiger Stadium record-crowd of 93,129, No. 1 Florida pulled out a 13-3 victory over No. 4 LSU. The Tigers have not lost a home game since, winning 13-straight games.
Florida head coach Will Muschamp is very familiar with Tiger Stadium, having coached in 29 games there as an assistant coach. In four years as an assistant coach at LSU, Muschamp compiled a 24-4 record in Baton Rouge. He was 0-1 at Tiger Stadium in his lone trip as the defensive coordinator at Auburn. In two games against LSU as the defensive coordinator at Auburn, Muschamp went 1-1. In 2006, No. 3 Auburn defeated No. 6 LSU, 7-3, in Auburn and limited them to just 42 rushing yards on the day. No. 5 LSU beat No. 18 Auburn, 30-24, in Baton Rouge in 2007.
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