LSU 24, UF 21: The Gators' two-touchdown lead turns into their second conference loss, making a title game appearance unlikely.
By ANTONYA ENGLISH
Published October 10, 2004
[Times photo: James Borchuck]
Florida's Cory Bailey can't stop Joseph Addai from scoring the winning touchdown for LSU.
GAINESVILLE - Following its last-second loss to Tennessee last month, Florida swore it would do everything in its power to avoid that feeling again.
After nearly blowing a 38-7 lead against Arkansas last week, the Gators promised they wouldn't put themselves in that position again.
Saturday night, Florida was there again, clinging to a late lead, holding on for dear life. Last week, it worked out fine.
Not this time.
In the final 2:06, Joseph Addai rushed for 34 yards and caught a 10-yard touchdown pass from Marcus Randall that gave No.24 LSU a 24-21 come-from-behind victory over No.12 Florida at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.
"Coach (Nick) Saban just told us to believe in ourselves," said Addai, who had 10 carries for 93 yards and four receptions for 26 yards. "We've run through that play a lot during practice. We've practiced that play so much, I just kept thinking it was practice."
With the loss, the Gators are 3-2 overall, 2-2 in the SEC and yet again must rely on other teams to reach the SEC title game. Florida led by as many as 14. "We were in a situation where we could win the game, and we didn't get it done," said solemn Florida coach Ron Zook, who has lost six home games, one more than former coach Steve Spurrier in 12 seasons. "We have to get that fixed. We have to ... be able to keep drives going. The time of possession is the answer. They had the ball 36 minutes. We had the ball 23 minutes.
"Offensively, we couldn't keep drives going."
The offense that was so prolific last week (more than 400 yards) struggled against LSU, which has one of the conference's best defenses. The Gators were 6-of-14 on third-down conversions, rushed for just 94 yards and had just 236 yards of total offense.
Quarterback Chris Leak, who had his first 300-yard game last week, was 15-of-33 for 142 yards. The Gators were held scoreless in the second half, in which Leak was 8-of-17.
"Chris is a phenomenal player, and all great players won't have great games all the time," said receiver Chad Jackson, who had one reception for 13 yards. "People probably will think he didn't live up to his name, but Chris is still a great player.
"We just didn't have a big play this week to make an impact in the game."
Actually, Florida had its share of big plays. It intercepted three passes, two that led to touchdowns. Two punts pinned the Tigers on their 1. And Travis Harris blocked a field goal.
LSU freshman quarterback JaMarcus Russell made his first start, but it was less than stellar and much shorter than the Tigers anticipated.
Russell threw two interceptions. On first down from the LSU 18, Russell was intercepted by sophomore Dee Webb, who returned it 20 yards to the 18. It was Webb's first career interception.
Two plays later, Ciatrick Fason's 5-yard run gave the Gators a 7-0 lead 4:42 into the game. Russell's final mistake came when safety Jarvis Herring intercepted a pass and returned it 7 yards, setting up a 3-yard touchdown pass from Leak to freshman tight end Tate Casey.
With 2:14 remaining in the first quarter, Russell was sacked by freshman Brandon Siler and sustained a sprained ankle. He walked off with help but did not return, finishing 6-of-10 for 56 yards.
Despite the mistakes, LSU trailed by just 21-14 at halftime.
With senior Marcus Randall replacing Russell, the Tigers rallied, going on a 13-play, 80-yard drive that ended with a 1-yard run by Alley Broussard to pull within 14-7.
Florida took a 14-point lead on an 18-yard touchdown pass from Leak to O.J. Small with 1:39 remaining in the first half.
But LSU refused to lay down before the half ended. Randall led the Tigers on an 80-yard drive, culminating with a 15-yard pass to Early Doucet with 12 seconds left. LSU scored on Chris Jackson's 47-yard field goal to pull within 21-17 with 7:22 left in the third quarter. Florida had a chance to close out the game with 2:16 remaining. But Leak's 5-yard run fell 1 short of a first down, and the Gators were forced to punt.
That was all the opportunity LSU needed.
"I can't tell you how proud I am of this team," Saban said.
