Gators Stop Tigers With For-the-Ages Goal-Line Stand

Saturday, November 19

Baton Rouge, LA

1 pm

Florida Gators

8-2 , 6-2

LSU

6-4 , 4-3

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Florida

LSU

The Florida defense smothers LSU tailback Derrius Guice on the goal line as time expires to preserve Saturday's 16-10 win

Gators Stop Tigers With For-the-Ages Goal-Line Stand

Saturday, November 19, 2016 | Football, Chris Harry

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Florida's 16-10 victory clinched the SEC East Division title.

By: Chris Harry, Senior Writer

BATON ROUGE, La. — All it took to win the Southeastern Conference East Division title was the greatest goal-line stand in Florida football history.

The UF defense stuffed LSU tailback Derrius Guice on fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line as time expired Saturday to give the No. 21 Gators a pulsating 16-10 road victory at Tiger Stadium and send UF to a second straight SEC Championship Game.

"Savage mode," sophomore defensive end Cece Jefferson said in describing how his unit stymied one of the nation's most dominant and physical rushing attacks with the game on the line. "Straight-up savage mode."

UF tailback Jordan Scarlett rushed 22 times for 108 yards, quarterback Austin Appleby threw a 98-yard touchdown pass to freshman wideout Tyrie Cleveland and Eddy Pineiro kicked three field goals, but the story of this game — the story of the day, as opposed to the tired narrative from six weeks ago — was how the Florida defense manhandled the Tigers at the point of attack and bowed up big-time to preserve a win as a two-touchdown underdog.

The victory booked the Gators (8-2, 6-2) a spot in the SEC title game against currently top-ranked Alabama (11-0, 7-0) on Dec. 3 at the Georgia Dome.

Not bad for not only an injury-ravaged bunch, but a team that was called out by LSU fans and players — and amazingly, even its athletic director — for supposedly looking for ways to avoid playing the Tigers when the game, originally schedule for Oct. 8 in Gainesville, was postponed amid the threat of Hurricane Matthew.

The Gators didn't look too scared Saturday.

"Oh, we were [scared]. Terrified," UF junior cornerback Teez Tabor said with a straight face. "I guess out of fear, we fought back."

And then he smiled.

"Our guys played physical and our young guys played old," said UF coach Jim McElwain, who became the first coach in conference history to go to the league title game in his first two seasons at a school. "It just shocks me that someone would question the Gators. They way I look at it, [LSU] got what [it] deserved. It should have been more."

Or as Appleby put it: "We let them do the talking. We did the playing."

After the second of two fourth-quarter Pineiro field goals gave the Gators a 16-10 lead with just 3:25 remaining, the Tigers began their final possession at their 25 and moved 74 yards over the next 13 plays, converting a big fourth-and-10 along the way when quarterback Danny Etling hit wideout D.J. Chark for 32 yards to the UF 15 with 1:53 left. Four plays later, LSU had a third-and-goal at the 1, but UF's defensive front smothered fullback D.J. Moore for no gain with 25 seconds left.

The Tigers let the clock run down to three seconds and called their final timeout.

On the other side of the stadium, the entire Florida team huddled on the field for a show of unity.

"We said, it's us against the world," Appleby said. "We're all we got and we're all we need."

As far as what was coming, "We knew it was going to be run," Jefferson said. "As soon as they started contact, we had to start driving our feet. We were able to get initial knock-back at the line of scrimmage and force Derrius Guise, a good running back, to stop and think."

Indeed, on fourth down, LSU went with the "power toss" -- and old and favored staple of former coach Les Miles' regime -- but Guise, with the backward pitch and running start, found nothing in the middle of the UF line as he vaulted for the goal line and was met by a combination of Caleb Brantley, Jordan Sherit, Taven Bryan and Marcell Harris. The ball squirmed free. The Tigers recovered, but the ball was short of the goal line as time ran out.

"To win the East on a goal-line stand, that's crazy," Brantley said. "That was special. Total team effort, too."

Especially with the likes of Jarrad Davis, Alex Anzalone and Marcus Maye back at home.

"A lot of build-up coming into the game," junior cornerback Quincy Wilson said. "The East was in our hands. The hurricane. We were scared. … Well, we came in and took care of business."

He paused for effect.

"Clearly, we were scared."

The Tigers (7-3, 5-3) outgained the Gators in total offense 423-270, but had a couple crucial mistakes in the red zone, including a fumble by Guice at the UF 12 and a botched snap on a field-goal attempt on the second half's opening possession with a chance to build on a 7-3 lead. Guice, the sophomore tailback who last week rushed 21 times for 262 yards at Arkansas, was held to just 83 yards on 19 carries and scored the Tigers' lone touchdown of the game, a 1-yard run that ended the Tigers' opening drive. Leonard Fournette, a one-time Heisman contender, nursing a sore ankle, had just 40 yards on 12 carries.

"The turnovers. Not executing at the right time. Poor red-zone play," LSU interim coach Ed Orgeron said, ticking off the ways his team self-destructed against an inspired UF squad. "Give them credit. That's a good defense."

The Gators trailed 7-3 at halftime, managing only 60 yards of offense and a 36-yard Pineiro field goal, to show for the first half. The Tigers, meanwhile, had 160 yards, including 100 on the ground but the Guise fumble kept UF close.

LSU opened the second half by driving to a third-and-goal at the UF 2, where the Gators, playing to what would be a theme, walled up and forced a field-goal attempt. The center/holder exchange was fumbled by Josh Growden, whose impromptu pass into the end zone fell incomplete, for a second red-zone visit with nothing to show for it.

Florida took over at its own 2. Not exactly ideal field position for a unit that averaged 2.1 yards on 28 first-half plays.

Yet, just like that, the Gators had the lead 13 seconds later.

Appleby, with no pressure from his own end zone, hoisted a deep pass up the right sideline, where Cleveland, facing man coverage, out-fought cornerback Donte Jackson for the ball at the 35, then zipped the distance untouched, putting the Gators up 10-7 and sending a jolt of momentum across the UF sideline.

"We had to get something going," said Appleby, who went 7-for-17 for 144 yards and engineered an offense that did not turn the ball over. "In a defensive battle like this, where field position is so important, you have to get out to manageable situations where you're not always punting."

That was a good way to do so.

"The guy was a five-star coming out of high school, a big-time player," Jefferson said of Cleveland. "Wasn't he the No. 1 receiver [recruit] in the country?"

No. 2, actually.

"Well, he acted like No. 1 today."

The Tigers tied the game early in the fourth period when Colby Delahoussaye kicked a 22-yard field goal. LSU had a first down at the UF 4, but a 9-yard sack by Jefferson helped the Gators force a game-tying kick and turned away the Tigers' chance to take the lead.

Next, Pineiro hit the first of his two late fourth-quarter field goals to cap a 15-play, 70-yard drive for a 13-10 lead. Scarlett did most of the damage, but the Gators were thwarted on a third-and-goal from the LSU 1 when Appleby's pitchout to true freshman tailback Lamical Perine was muffed. The go-ahead field goal came with just 4:37 to go.

LSU, though, fumbled the ensuing kickoff, with UF freshman Vosean Joseph recovering. The Gators, with a chance to blow the game open, went just four yards on their next three plays, using only 1:05 on the clock, with LSU burning a timeout. Pineiro was good from 34 yards with 3:25 to play to make it 16-10.

Then came the frantic finish.

"It's the greatest feeling in the world," Brantley said. "We felt disrespected. You're going to tell us we're scared when y'all didn't want to come to Gainesville? You feel me? So, we'll just come whip y'all in your own stadium. Straight like that."

The reward: Alabama.

Brantley smiled.

"We'll worry about that when we get there," he said. "And guess what? We won't be scared."