It was a crushing blow to fans with LSU Tigers tickets, as their beloved Bayou Bengals suffered their first loss of the season at the hands of SEC rival Florida, as the Gators defeated the head coach Les Miles and the Tigers, 14-6, in a crucial conference battle in Gainesville. The inconsistencies LSU showed in the first month of the season, especially on the offensive side of the ball, finally caught up to the defending SEC champs. QB Zach Mettenberger was not able to take any of the pressure off the running game, which seems to have been the Gators’ focus throughout the game. Mettenberger connected on just 11-of-25 passes for 158 yards and an interception, and he was never able to establish a consistent rhythm with his receivers. Even the Tigers’ biggest offensive play of the game came with a price, as Florida safety Matt Elam stripped the ball from LSU receiver Odell Beckham after a 56 yard reception. With the Gators crowding the line of scrimmage, LSU running backs Kenny Hilliard, Michael Ford and Spencer Ware could not find any running room, and totaled just 51 yards on the ground.

Despite holding the Gators to just 47 yards in the first half, the LSU defense was unable to carry that success over to the second half, as Florida turned to the running game for the vast majority of its yardage after the break. By taking the ball out of QB Jeff Driskel’s hands in the second half, Florida kept LSU’s ferocious pass rush from taking over the game. UF running back Mike Gillislee had the most productive game of his career against the Tigers, totaling 34 carries for 146 yards and two touchdowns. While LSU linebacker Kevin Minter also had a career day on the defensive side of the ball, with a whopping 20 tackles and two sacks, but too much of his production was after Gillislee had picked up positive yardage. While the Tigers need to regroup quickly after the defeat to the Gators, their season is not lost, and the team still has the talent to put it all together in a short period of time.

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