The chess game began when LSU called time out with 7:13 remaining in the third quarter. Momentum on their side, thanks to a 12-play, 80-yard touchdown drive that cut Florida’s once formidable three-score lead to 20-14 on the first possession of the second half, the Tigers needed a stop. A three-and-out on the heels of their end of the first half score and their answer the bell third quarter drive had the potential to totally deflate the Gators so time was called to get the right personnel in the game.
Third and three on the Florida 40. On previous third downs, the Gators were pass, pass, pass so the Tigers sent in extra defensive backs. Surely the Gators wouldn’t challenge that LSU front four.
Would they?
“We saw them actually substitute into a dime defense and I thought okay they’re going to dime blitz us, so I thought let’s put the same personnel grouping on the field and go with a run,” said Florida offensive coordinator Dan Mullen after 12th-ranked Florida shocked third-ranked LSU, 51-21, before a Ben Hill Griffin crowd of 90,684 at The Swamp Saturday night.
In the first half Urban Meyer said the Gators were “pass, pass, pass, pass” on third down, almost as if they were afraid to challenge the LSU defensive line. The Gators bolted out in front 17-0 in the first quarter not by challenging the Tigers up front but by going over the top. Florida scored on the game’s first possession on a 70-yard Tim Tebow to Percy Harvin touchdown pass and the Gators got their second touchdown on a seven-yard connection between Tebow and Harvin with 1:09 left in the first half.
Those were the success stories. There were some not so successful third down plays that if converted could have stretched Florida to a 28-0 or 35-0 lead before the half. On Florida’s second possession of the game, the Gators drove from their own 20 to the LSU three where a third down pass failed and they ended up settling for a field goal that made it 10-0. They went with a pass on third and three in the second quarter and ended up punting, squandering a golden scoring opportunity after the Gator defense forced a fumble near midfield. Near the end of the half, the Gators drove from their own 20 to the LSU 21 where on third and six, they threw again and settled for another field goal that made it 20-0.
So there in the third quarter, the last thing the Gators could afford was another third down misfire. They knew they had to have an answer on this drive.
“Whether they scored or not we thought that was going to be one of the key drives of the game, us coming out and getting a great drive to start the third quarter,” said Mullen.
During the time out, the Florida brain trust burned up the headsets. The discussion between Mullen and Meyer along with offensive line coach Steve Addazio and tight ends coach John Hevesy was how could the Gators get the job done by taking the ball straight up the gut on a defense that came into the game giving up only 69 yards a game on the ground?
The discussion went back and forth but there was agreement on how to attack. Everybody got on the same page with a call to show pass but run straight at the heart of the LSU defense.
When the Gators lined up over the ball, selling pass with their personnel package, LSU was somehow tipped off that the Gators weren’t going to throw. The Tigers smelled run so they shifted the defense quickly, leaving the defensive backs out on an island while everybody else stacked the line.
“They checked their defense and we looked down there and said that’s not the same defense,” said Mullen.
This is where the Gators could have panicked. They could have called a time out or they could have hastily signaled in an audible but there was no lack of confidence, either in the booth, on the sidelines or on the field.
“We got after them on that play,” said Mullen. “We’re running it right here for the first down. We needed it … it’s a big play. They buckled down, got the job done and Tim got the first down for us.”
Buoyed by that first down, the Gators took charge of the game. Three straight running plays netted 17 yards. Tebow did the human play fake and fired down the east sideline to Louis Murphy for 37 yards to the LSU two. On the next play, Tebow took one step to his right then circled back left, outrunning two LSU defenders into the end zone with 4:16 left in the third quarter.
From a shaky 20-14 to the breathing room of a 13-point lead, the Gators became like sharks smelling blood in the water. The defense did a three-and-out on LSU and the Gators turned that into a four-play, 60-yard scoring drive that concluded with a 42-yard touchdown run by Jeffrey Demps on an option to the left side with 1:02 left in the third quarter.
That was just the beginning of an onslaught that sent the LSU faithful scurrying for their cars to get a head start on the long drive back to Baton Rouge.
The defense, which forced three turnovers and held LSU’s powerful running game to 80 net yards, got in on the act. Brandon Spikes jumped a route on the first play of the fourth quarter for his second interception of the game. Spikes broke on the ball for the pickoff then headed to the east sideline where he outraced everyone 52 yards for a touchdown. He celebrated by punting the ball into the stands.
“I never took a pick to the house ever in my football career and the passion for the game kind of took over,” said Spikes, who said Gator punter Chas Henry told him, “you kind of shanked that thing,”
Later in the fourth quarter, Jonathan Phillips kicked his third field goal of the game to make it 44-14 and Kestahn Moore got a chance to avenge last year’s fumble in Baton Rouge by powering in for a touchdown from two yards out to end a drive that was jump started by a 37-yard run by Demps.
For the Gators, this was a statement game. They wanted to prove they can play physical, tough football on both sides of the ball and they showed they were more than equal to the task. The defense held LSU’s Charles Scott, the leading rusher in the SEC to 35 yards on 12 carries and 18 of those yards came on the final play of the game.
Offensively, they wanted to prove they could play power football and knock a big, strong defensive line off the ball. All week long, the Gators had been hearing LSU this and LSU that.
By game time, Tebow and his teammates had heard enough.
“You try not to listen to stuff that everybody says,” said Tebow. “I think if you can use it as a good thing then do it. We used the criticism of our offensive line that we can’t block their front four and their defense is so good and we can’t stop their run and all that stuff. We’ve got a few scholarships on our team too and I think we had a little chip on our shoulder going into the game.”
And it was that chip on the shoulder that turned what everyone expected to be a slug it out down to the last possession game into a rout.
“The film doesn’t lie,” said Meyer. “The team that we were getting ready to play … when you see the defensive line that you’re getting ready to play, if you don’t play with a chip on your shoulder you’re going to get drilled. You could possibly get hurt. That’s how good their personnel is.”
But the only team that got drilled was LSU. Florida stuck it to the Tigers for 475 yards of total offense with 265 coming on the ground. Florida ran for 152 yards in the second half and the Gators were so effective on the ground that they needed only four second half passes, all of them completions.
“I thought we put together a full game today,” said Mullen. “Our guys have taken some criticism that we’ve been herky-jerky on offense and had some turnovers and made some mistakes but our guys on that offensive unit fired 11 strong today and everybody, every position clicked and executed.”
On this day, the Gators put it all together and played like the team that had folks talking SEC and national championships just six weeks ago. If the Gators go on and play for a championship, they can look back at that third and three in the third quarter as the turning point.
The Chinese philosopher Lao-tzu once said, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with one single step.” This wasn’t the first step on the journey for the Gators Saturday night, but it might prove to be the most important.