Swamp helps propel Gators to win
GAINESVILLE — The then-No. 22 Florida Gators pushed for an emotional 27-19 win over then-No. 5 LSU Saturday. Check out the top three things we learned from the UF victory:
1. The Swamp could be back: Once the ultimate home-field advantage in college football, the Swamp had lost its soul in recent seasons.
On Saturday, Florida’s fan base made up for lost time, helping carry the Gators to their first win against a top-5 team since 2015 against Ole Miss.That night, the Swamp was lit as the Gators routed the Rebels 38-10. The game also was the last SEC sellout on Florida’s home field prior to the LSU game.
With Tim Tebow and the 2008 national-title team in town to be celebrated, the Gators and their fans rode a wave of emotion from start to finish. Waiting in the tunnel with his players prior to kickoff, coach Dan Mullen implored fans to pump up the volume — and they obliged.
After sophomore safety Brad Stewart’s pick-six of LSU QB Joe Burrow sealed the upset win, the Swamp was in a full-throated frenzy.
“Shoutout to Gator Nation because we couldn’t hear a thing after that interception or the drive after that,” Stewart said.
The Gators gave their fans plenty to cheer, but also its share of moments to groan.
LSU momentarily sucked the life out of the Swamp when the Tigers took the opening kickoff and quickly drove 75 yards to take a 7-0 lead. Jachai Polite’s strip-sack of Burrow in UF territory a series later re-ignited the crowd, and the energy did not wane the rest of the game.
When the Gators answered another quickstrike LSU touchdown with a nine-play, 75-yard scoring drive for the go-ahead score, Florida fans carried their team home.
“It was super loud,” Franks said “At one point I had the headset on and couldn’t hear Coach Johnson talking. Usually I can hear him really well. I said at the top, our fan base was crazy tonight. That’s always a good thing. It always helps, when they do things like that like I said earlier, it’s super hard to play in our stadium when you have fans screaming and going crazy like that.
“We love them and every game we need to have that. When we have that, it’s almost like a unbelievable place.”
Back in the days of Tebow or Steve Spurrier, the Swamp was like few places in college football. That electric atmosphere seemed to be a thing of past ... until Saturday.
2. Dan Mullen continues to distinguish himself as a play caller: For the second consecutive week, Mullen’s sense of timing and sense of the moment carried the Gators to victory.
UF beat Mississippi State last week with a doublepass from Franks to Kadarius Toney to Moral Stephens. Against LSU, a throwback pass from tight end Lucas Krull to Franks set up a 2-yard run by Lamical Perine for the gamewinning score.
The visor-wearing Mullen’s offense has a long way to go to resemble the explosive attacks that defined Florida football. But the 46-year-old’s trick plays and willingness to take risks late in games harken to the days of Spurrier.
“He’s a great play-caller. He’s smart,” Perine said of Mullen. “As the game goes, the defense comes out and runs stuff that we didn’t know they were going to run, he changes it up.”
Mullen is finding ways to get the best out of his players, beginning with Franks. On the winning drive, Franks had a 26-yard completion to Van Jefferson, a 12-yard run on third-andseven and a 15-yard reception from Krull. The 6-foot-7 Krull, a former pitcher at Arkansas, is a big left-hander with a fastball that hummed in the mid-90s. On a night when Tebow, the greatest lefthander QB in college football history, was in town, Krull was on the money.
Afterward, Krull gave credit to Mullen.
“He’s got every trick in the bag,” Krull said. “He knows when to call what play at the right time and he’s tremendous at what he does. He’s a great coach.”
3. The Gators are tougher than everyone, including their own coach, thought a few weeks ago: After losing 27-16 to Kentucky and allowing 303 rushing yards, Mullen called his team soft. Since then, the Gators have proven their coach wrong.
LSU arrived in town looking to unleash a power running game and a talented front seven on UF. Instead, the Gators more often beat the Tigers to the punch.
Florida’s defensive front swarmed Burrow and eventually rattled him into his first two interceptions of 2018. The Gators finished with 11 tackles for loss, five of them sacks. This included Polite’s pivotal strip-sack that changed the game’s momentum.
LSU managed just two tackles for loss and did not sack Franks a season after putting him on the ground five times.
“He’s a heck of a player, we got beat a lot by him,” LSU coach Ed Orgeron said of Polite. “It just didn’t seem like we had the answer.”
Meanwhile, UF finished game with 215 rushing yards to 180 for LSU and averaged 5.0 yards per carry, compared to just 4.4 for the Tigers.
Even so, Mullen still is not completely sold on his offensive line. At times, the unit failed to create enough push and too often continues to have drive-killing penalties, including two false-start penalties on Martez Ivey.
Asked about his O-line’s success Saturday, Mullen was diplomatic.
“Success is a tricky word to use right there with our offensive line play tonight,” he said. “I don’t know that success is the right word there. I think they battled. There’s a lot of things I think we need to do to get better up front.
“But, that being said, we battled. We fought. We toughed it out.”