GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The first six LSU drives went for touchdowns, all of them marches of at least 73 yards, while Florida found the end zone on just three of its first seven drives.
Do the math.
The Tigers, behind a deadly efficient performance from quarterback Jayden Daniels, went up and down the field against the Gators' defense, cranking out 528 yards of offense in jumping to a three-touchdown lead before needing a late field goal to hold off a comeback from the home team. When it was over, LSU left Spurrier/Florida Field with 45-35 victory, the Tigers' fourth in a row in the series between the long-time Southeastern Conference rivals, and left UF with plenty to work on as the team heads to its midseason bye week.
It doesn't get any easier from here, either. The Gators (4-3, 1-3), after their open date, get No. 1-ranked Georgia (7-0, 4-0) in Jacksonville in two weeks.
"There's lots of things that we can do better," UF coach Billy Napier said. "Nothing fun about losing."
Daniels, the transfer from Arizona State, completed 23 of 32 passes for 349 yards — the most-ever by an LSU quarterback against UF — for three touchdowns, while rushing 14 times for 44 yards and three more TDs, and did it all without turning the ball over. His counterpart, UF redshirt sophomore Anthony Richardson, had a decent enough night. He hit 15 of 25 passes for 185 yards and led the team in rushing with 109 yards, including a spectacular 81-yard touchdown dash to start the fourth quarter. But a stretch of five possessions that bridged the halves ended with four of them scoreless and allowed Daniels and the red-hot Tigers (5-2, 3-1) to take command.
"I liked the rhythm we had and we were just having fun," Daniels said.
LSU didn't punt until 13 minutes remained in the game.
"I don't know that that's one of our better days from a tackling perspective," Napier said. "Individual matchups, they won their fair share tonight. We got the [QB]. We are all over the guy a lot of times and the guy out runs us or breaks the pocket. I think that, when we look at it, we'll see a combination of things. We're going to see a lot of things that we can do better schematically. I think we are going to see things that we can do fundamentally better. I think there are going to be opportunities for guys to make plays."
The first quarter-plus was a back-and-forth affair. After UF freshman Trevor Etienne returned the opening kickoff 47 yards to the Florida 48, Richardson needed just two plays to put the Gators in front 7-0. He dropped, and with plenty of time, heaved a 51-yard scoring strike to wideout Justin Shorter just 59 seconds into the game.
Gators wideoutJustin Shorter hauls in a 51-yard touchdown pass from Anthony Richardson on the game's second play from scrimmage.
The Tigers weren't as sudden in tying the game, but they were every bit as efficient. And tone-setting. Daniels led them on a 12-play, 75-yard march, along the way converting third downs of eight and six yards, plus completing a 14-yard pass on third-and-15 that led to a fourth-down conversion. Daniels' 4-yard scoring toss to tailback John Emery Jr. made it 7-7 halfway through the quarter.
Back came the Gators, who churned out a 10-play, 75-yard drive of nothing but runs, with the longest of the first nine plays a 9-yard gain. But then Johnson hit the left side, found a crease and the sideline and raced for a 39-yard touchdown and 14-7 advantage with two more left in the first period.
And then it was tied again. The Tigers hit a couple third downs, the second a third-and-8 from the UF 17 that netted a 13-yard Daniels-to-Jaray Jenkins to 4. Daniels scored on a 1-yard run two plays later at the 11:55 mark of the second quarter.
On Florida's third possession, the LSU defense forced the first punt of the game after a three-and-out. Jeremy Crawshaw's 50-yarder, however, was muffed by return man Jack Bech, with long-snapper Rocco Underwood falling on the ball at the Tigers' 13. A 10-yard scramble by Richardson set up a first-and-goal, with Johnson scoring his second TD on a 2-yard run on third down at the 8:13 mark.
As for the LSU punter, he again was not needed, as Daniel hit tight end Kole Taylor on a 26-yard seam route on third-and-10, got a 13-yard run from Josh Williams to the UF 24, then threw a 24-yard scoring strike to Brian Thomas Jr., who jumped over cornerback Jalen Kimber for the score and 21-21 tie with the clock just under six minutes before halftime.
The Tigers weren't as generous on the Gators' second punt. UF went three-and-out, kicked it away, with LSU taking possession at its 17. Emery ran up the middle for 10 yards. Daniels hit wideout Mike Nabers for 17 to the LSU 44. And on third-and-8, Daniels bombed a 54-yard touchdown down the right sideline to Jenkins, who raced past redshirt freshman cornerback Jaydon Hill, last week's hero against Missouri, and brought in the perfectly thrown ball.
"We wanted him to be more assertive with the football, pushing it down the field," LSU coach Brian Kelly said of Daniels. "He's seeing it better. This is a new offense and it's slowing down for him. He ran for three and threw for three. He showed his ability to move this offense."
That score was particularly hurtful, especially when Florida failed to counter on the half's final possession, because LSU — which gained 306 yards, went 6-for-7 on third down and scored TDs on all four of its possessions — was due the second-half kickoff.
And guess what?
On the Tigers' first offensive play, tailback Williams went up the gut of the Florida defense, ran through four different tackle attempts and sped 50 yards to the UF 25. Two plays later, Daniels scooted out of the pocket and weaved to a 12-yard touchdown run and 35-21 lead less than two minutes into the period.
The Gators played catch-up the rest of the night and never caught up, falling behind 42-21 before Richardson scored on an 81-yard run to start the fourth quarter and give the folks in the "Swamp" some momentary hope. Sure enough, the Gators' defense forced the first LSU punt of the game and Florida answered with an 11-play, 80-yard march that Etienne finished off with a 1-yard yard.
It was 42-35 with 7:39 remaining and the UF defense needed another stop — and appeared to get one. Gervon Dexter Sr. busted up the middle with pressure that forced Daniels to chuck a bad throw down the middle of the field. The ball was picked off by Florida cornerback Jason Marshall Jr., but Dexter was flagged for roughing the passer, giving the Tigers a first down at the UF 46.
Damian Ramos' season-long 47-yard field goal with 1:52 left put the game away.
