Las Vegas Review-Journal (Sunday)
Sack time? LSU denies Florida
No. 5 Tigers’ ‘O’ line protects QB Burrow vs. No. 7 Gators’ ‘D’
BATON ROUGE, La. — Joe Burrow passed for 293 yards and three touchdowns, and fifth-ranked Louisiana State scored three straight touchdowns after falling behind early in the second half to emerge with a 42-28 victory over No. 7 Florida on Saturday night.
Facing a Florida defense that came in leading the nation in interceptions and leading the Southeastern Conference in sacks, the Tigers (6-0, 2-0 SEC) totaled 511 yards without giving up a sack or committing a turnover.
“What can we say about our offense?” said beaming LSU coach Ed Orgeron, declaring that holding Florida’s defense without a sack was “the biggest stat of the night.”
The few times LSU’s line was breached, Burrow escaped and finished with 43 yards rushing.
“I don’t think we were able to get pressure on him, and when we did, he did a god job of scrambling,” Florida coach Dan Mullen said.
Ja’Marr Chase had 127 yards receiving and the last of his two touchdowns was a 54-yarder to give LSU a two-score lead with 5:43 left. Justin Jefferson caught 10 passes for 123 yards and a touchdown.
Burrow, meanwhile, went 21 of 24, meaning he had the same number of touchdown tosses and incomplete passes.
“When you have a quarterback like Joe, you just believe when he gets the ball in his hands you’re going to score a touchdown,” Orgeron said. “Once we protect the quarterback, I feel confident in us moving the football.”
Clyde Edwards-Helaire rushed for 134 yards and two scores on 13 carries.
The Tigers still have yet to score fewer than 42 points in a game this season.
“Their ability to run the ball was a big difference,” Mullen said.
Kyle Trask was 23 of 39 passing for 310 yards and three touchdowns for Florida (6-1, 3-1), but was done in by freshman Derek Stingley Jr.’s interception in the LSU end zone in the fourth quarter, when the Gators were trying to tie the game. Soon after, Burrow spotted Chase running free down the right sideline, and a Tiger Stadium crowd of more than 100,000 strong was in delirium.
Florida led 28-21 after opening the second half with an eight-play, 75yard scoring drive that ended with Van Jefferson’s second touchdown catch of the game.
But LSU tied it less than four minutes later on Edwards-Helaire’s 5-yard run. Tryron Davis-Price put the Tigers back in front with a 33yard run on LSU’s next possession.
The first half was played to a 21-all tie with Florida using methodical drives to answer each of the first three touchdowns scored by LSU’s high-octane attack.