'Penalties, Mental Errors' Lead to 19-7 Loss to Florida
10/11/03

By Chris Macaluso
Special to LSUsports.net

BATON ROUGE -- Two simple statistics told the story of why most of the 92,077 fans in Tiger Stadium walked away frowning Saturday afternoon. LSU had 14 first downs. LSU committed 13 penalties. Those two numbers combined with a strong Florida defensive attack added up to an upsetting 19-7 loss for the sixth-ranked Tigers. 

The win improved Florida's record to 4-3 overall, 2-2 in the SEC while LSU falls to 5-1 overall 2-1 in conference play. 

The Tiger defensive squad put forth another fantastic effort, sacking young Florida quarterback Chris Leak six times and holding the Gators to 310 yards on offense -- including 62 yards on a rush when the game was in-hand for Florida. But Leak was able to find open receivers in long-yardage situations throughout the game while avoiding interceptions after throwing seven picks in his first six games.

Tiger starter Matt Mauck was not as fortunate, however, throwing two interceptions and no touchdown passes. Mauck finished the game with 19 completions on 33 attempts for 231 yards. Leak finished 18-of-30 for 229 yards and two touchdowns.

"We knew we were playing a very dangerous team," said Tiger head coach Nick Saban. "You have to give (Florida) a lot of credit for the intensity they played with. We are obviously very disappointed in the way we played." 

The Tigers won the toss and received the opening kick but appeared rusty in their initial drive. Skyler Green shook off some of that rust, however, by taking Florida's first punt through the Gator coverage for an 80-yard score giving the Tigers a 7-0 advantage with 11:51 to play in the first quarter. Green's return, combined with his 62-yard punt return for a touchdown against Arizona earlier this season, made him the first Tiger to have two punt returns for scores in the same season since Todd Kinchen had two in 1991. 

Florida wasted little time in recovering from Green's explosive run with an impressive 80-yard drive capped by a 22-yard touchdown pass from Chris Leak to tailback Ran Carthon with 6:51 to play in the quarter. The point after tied the score at 7-7. It was the first touchdown surrendered by the Tiger defense in the first half this season.

It appeared as if the Tiger defense would surrender another touchdown three minutes later with some help from a 44-yard interception return by Gator cornerback Keiwan Ratliffe from the Mauck's arm giving Florida a first down inside the LSU 30. But the defense stiffened on three straight plays from the Tiger 10-yard line and held Florida to a 29-yard field goal with 3:17 left in the first quarter.

Mauck and the rest of the Tiger offense struggled mightily in the first half against what was supposed to be a decimated Florida defense. LSU ran just 27 plays on offense before halftime, amassing a mild 103 yards and six first downs. 

The Gators appeared poised to score another touchdown early in the second quarter after Leak led his team from its own 26 to the LSU 1-yard line. But Florida tailback DeShawn Wynn fumbled while trying to leap into the endzone. Linebacker Adrian Mayes recovered the ball at the five giving the Tiger offense a chance to move the ball beyond the shadow of its own goal line.

After the Tiger offense fizzled again, Gator place kicker Matt Leach drilled a career-long 50-yard field goal with 5:37 left in the half to cap a six play, 32-yard drive and give Florida a 13-7 advantage. 

LSU's offensive woes continued early in the second half. Penalties and poor passes knocked the Tigers back while starting tailback Joseph Addai sat on the sidelines with an injured knee. 

Meanwhile, Florida managed to find just enough holes in the Tiger defense to continue to score. The Gators scored first in the second half as Leak found a wide open Ciatrick Fason over the middle of the field for a 35-yard touchdown with 5:21 left in the third capping a six-play, 48-yard drive. The try for two failed giving the Gators a 19-7 lead. 

LSU drove the ball inside the 50-yard line early in the fourth quarter but that drive stalled at the Gators 39 as the Tigers turned the ball over on downs after Mauck was stopped a yard shy on an option run on fourth down.

The Tigers had another chance with 8:00 left in the game to move the ball into scoring range as Mauck completed consecutive passes for first downs to move the ball past midfield. But Ratliff ended that threat with his second interception of the game giving the Gators the ball at their own 37-yard line.

LSU had one more opportunity late in the fourth to score but wideout Devery Henderson fumbled at the Florida 31-yard line after hauling in a 42-yard pass from Mauck. Leak ended the game by taking a knee inside the LSU 30-yard line.

"The players will respond to this in the right way," Saban said. "It's too bad you have to have something bad happen to get you moving in the right direction but hopefully our willingness to learn and responsibility that everyone needs to take to become a good football team will be how we respond to this."