Florida Gators

What Happened

BATON ROUGE, La. — LSU safety Dashawn Spears returned one of DJ Lagway's career-high five interceptions 58 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter to break open a close game, as the third-ranked Tigers went on to a 20-10 defeat of the visiting Florida Gators in the Southeastern Conference opener for both teams Saturday night at sold-out Tiger Stadium. 

Quarterback Garrett Nussmeier passed for 220 yards and a touchdown, but it was the LSU defense that dictated and determined the outcome. The Tigers thoroughly frustrated and confused Lagway, the sophomore who repeatedly made ill-advised throws either under duress or into double- or triple-coverage. The Gators also undermined themselves with another night of costly penalties, committing seven for 57 yards (all through the first three quarters), including three holding penalties, one of which cost UF an 87-yard touchdown pass. 

The UF defense played admirably, holding the Tigers to just 316 yards, 10 first downs and came up with an interception four minutes into the fourth quarter when the Gators, trailing by 10, sorely needed to make a play. Lagway, though, after working the offense into LSU territory, forced a deep pass into triple coverage down the middle on the third-and-9 from the 36. The ball was intercepted in the end zone by defensive back Tamarcus Cooley with 6:26 remaining.

The Gators' defense, though, forced a punt and Lagway, after starting at his 15, moved UF to the LSU 39, and in reasonable field-goal range, to possibly make it a one-score game late. But under pressure, Lagway danced in the backfield and tried to make a desperation, cross-field throw into heavy coverage. That one was picked off at the LSU sideline by defensive back DJ Pickett with 2:07 to go. 

Three plays later, on third-and-1 from the LSU 46, tailback Caden Durham ripped off a 51-yard run to the Florida 3, where the Tigers ran out the clock. 

Lagway, who missed virtually the entire offseason and most of preseason practice dealing with shoulder and calf injuries, finished 33 of 49 for 287 yards, one touchdown, the five picks (the first four all on third down), and was sacked three times. The Gators out-gained the Tigers on the night, finishing with 366 yards (only 79 rushing) and had 23 first downs, but the turnovers and penalties killed them.   

Both teams mostly struggled during a first half that ended with LSU's Damian Ramos drilling a 45-yard field goal as time expired to lead 13-10.

The Gators took a 3-0 lead in the first quarter on a 45-yard Trey Smack field goal and — for a moment — thought they had jumped ahead 10-0 on an 87-yard touchdown strike from Lagway to tailback Jadan Baugh. Instead, the play was called back for holding and UF had to punt from its end zone; the third TD called back by penalty in the last two games (the previous four quarters, in fact). LSU tied the game on a Ramos' 47-yarder on the ensuing possession.

The Tigers took the lead when Nussmeier hit wideout Zavion Thomas for a 23-yard scoring strike to cap a 10-play, 76-yard drive with 7:33 to go in the half. The Gators, though, matched it with a near-identical 10-play, 75-yard drive, with Lagway lofting a perfect pass to Aidan Mizell for a 10-yard score on third-and-9 that tied the game at 10 with 3:25 to go before intermission.

That's where it should have stood at halftime, but Lagway tried to force a pass to freshman wideout Vernell Brown III for his second interception, with the Tigers taking over at the UF 40. Aided by a pass-interference call (and despite a false-start penalty), Ramos was able to give LSU a 13-10 lead on the final play of the half. 

The only score after the break was the game-sealing pick-6. 

For the second consecutive week, the Florida defense gave up just one touchdown in a loss.   

What it Means

More noise. More adversity. More pressure. And more great opponents on the immediate horizon (read on).   

In the Spotlight

The LSU secondary had a bead on Lagway all night. With good pressure up front, the Tigers' DBs sat back and locked in on the Gators' QB as he stared down his receivers. 

Staggering Statistic

Lagway became the first Florida quarterback to throw at least five interceptions in a game since Shane Matthews threw five in a 30-6 loss at Mississippi State in 1992. The last UF quarterback to throw at least four in a game was Rex Grossman in a 36-7 home loss to LSU in 2002. The last time LSU intercepted at least four passes in a game occurred in 2021, when the Tigers picked off four passes (two each from UF's Emory Jones and Anthony Richardson) in defeating the Gators 49-42 at Baton Rouge. 

Up Next

Florida (1-2) continues its harrowing run of ranked opponents with a road date at No. 5 Miami (3-0), which destroyed 18th-ranked South Florida 49-12 Saturday at Miami Gardens, a week after the Bulls came the Swamp and did their well-chronicled damage in handing the Gators a stinging 18-16 loss. The prime-time UF-UM showdown will mark the Gators' first road date against the Hurricanes since 2013 (a 21-16 loss) and likely the last regular-season meeting between the two programs for a long time, given the SEC's expansion to a nine-game league schedule starting next season.   

Email senior writer Chris Harry at chrish@gators.ufl.edu