College football: LSU 21-Florida 17

Loss makes Meyer Ol' Bawl Coach

Florida's offense falters again, pretty much ending its SEC title hopes.

By ANTONYA ENGLISH
Published October 16, 2005

	[Times photo: Stefanie Boyar]
	Chris Leak leaves the field after the Gators' second loss of the season. Coach Urban Meyer said Leak was "bawling his eyes out" after the game.

BATON ROUGE, La. - Urban Meyer refused to quantify where Florida's 21-17 loss to LSU ranks among his 10 career losses, but his reaction Saturday said it all.

Meyer wept with his players in the locker room. Then he shed more tears in his postgame interview 25 minutes after the game ended.

Tears for his players' pain and how he finally believes they've bought into the program he's trying to build. And tears for the realization that the hard work won't be enough.

Florida's four-point loss to No. 10 LSU in front of 92,402 at Tiger Stadium essentially ended the Gators' SEC title hopes and further brought into question if Meyer's offense can work in the SEC.

It was just the third time since 1981 the Tigers beat the Gators in Baton Rouge, and it hit the Gators hard.

"We were all sitting there together, and the whole (defensive) line was crying," said defensive end Joe Cohen, who had four tackles, one interception and one sack. "(Meyer) came in and saw us, and it kind of overwhelmed him."

"Last year, I kind of got used to losing," defensive tackle Marcus Thomas said. "This year, it hurts real bad because I wasn't expecting it. We were on a roll (4-0). ... Then we lost to Alabama, and that really hurt, too. I wasn't expecting us to lose again."

What most likely will haunt the Gators (5-2, 3-2 SEC) about this one was the missed opportunities.

LSU (4-1, 3-1) took the lead for good on a 12-play, 75-yard drive that ate 6:27 off the clock. The Gators' final four possessions went: three plays for 1 yard, six for 16, four for zero and five for 10. The third included a Dallas Baker's 33-yard catch negated by one of Florida's 10 penalties. "We're not very good on offense right now," Meyer said.

Florida's offense was nearly inept against the Tigers, who entered allowing 18.5 points a game. Chris Leak was 11-of-30 for 107 yards, was sacked four times and again spent much of the day scrambling. The junior was 5-of-18 for 29 yards in the first half and attempted just one pass in the third quarter.

"We just didn't take advantage of the opportunities we had," said Leak, who was characterized by Meyer as "bawling his eyes out" after the game. "We made too many mistakes. Guys played their hearts out, but we just didn't make enough plays."

Florida forced three fumbles and two interceptions, which led to all of its 17 points. Still, it wasn't enough.

And yet the Gators were in the game until the end, which didn't sit well with LSU coach Les Miles.

"On offense, we cannot sustain the mistakes we made," Miles said. Florida trailed 14-0 on a 43-yard pass from JaMarcus Russell to Bennie Brazell 3:18 in and a 27-yard pass to Dwayne Bowe with 1:10 left in the first.

Kestahn Moore's 32-yard run midway through the second quarter pulled Florida within seven. But the Gators let a chance get away after Jarvis Moss sacked Russell and caused a fumble with 26 seconds left in the half. Florida went three plays for minus-10 yards, including a sack. "That was big," Meyer said.

Florida took its only lead on a 1-yard run by DeShawn Wynn (set up by Cohen's interception) with 4:02 left in the third. "It was very emotional. Everybody was torn up," Wynn said of the team after the game.

"We put everything into this game, and we were hoping to give our all before the bye week. It's tough. We know where we stand now in the SEC, but the thing you can't forget is that you've got to keep going no matter what. It's a tough conference. You never know what's going to happen. We've got to try to finish strong."

Earlier in the week, defensive end Jeremy Mincey said losing to LSU would be akin to the Gators walking the plank in the SEC East. He said the pain after the game was unbearable.

"It hurts bad," he said. "We had the game in our hands for awhile. The team really wanted it. The heart is there. Our team never gave up."

Ironically, that's what was a welcome sight for Meyer.

"I said that if you take one little glimpse of bright spot out of this, it's the fact that I saw people care," Meyer said. "I shouldn't say it like that, but I've got to. There are times I wondered. I'd look at some people's faces and say, "What?' This is why we train so doggone hard."

[Last modified October 16, 2005, 01:32:18]