LSU’s annual showdown with Florida is usually the first Saturday in October, but this year it falls after a tough loss to Alabama.
The Tigers were eliminated from SEC West Championship contention last Saturday with the loss in Tuscaloosa.
“Just because our goals are not the same anymore doesn’t mean we don’t have anything to play for, we still have LSU to play for, the state of Louisiana to play for, a ton of stuff to play for,” said offensive guard Garrett Dellinger.
The big question entering Saturday night’s game in Tiger Stadium against the Gators is whether quarterback Jayden Daniels will play.
The Heisman candidate did not practice Tuesday as he’s in concussion protocol, but he's been cleared to practice on Wednesday.
Even though Daniels’ status is a question mark, LSU is still a two-touchdown favorite to beat Florida.
The Gators have a quality win against Tennessee this season, but they are coming off a bad overtime loss to Arkansas at home. The Razorbacks jumped out to a 14-point lead and seemed like they wanted the game more.
Florida is in jeopardy of not playing in a bowl game. They need six wins, and they are sitting at five victories with LSU, Missouri and Florida State remaining on their schedule.
The Gators are a decent team on offense, averaging 29 points a game. They have the potential to score more than 30 against LSU’s suspect defense.
Quarterback Graham Mertz has played well. He’s thrown for 2,409 yards, 17 touchdowns and only 2 interceptions. He’s completed nearly 74% of his passes as Mertz throws a lot of passes to receivers running short and medium routes.
Ricky Pearsall, a former teammate of Daniels’ at Arizona State, is the Gators leading receiver with 55 catches for 773 yards and four touchdowns.
Mertz is not a running quarterback and plays behind a shaky offensive line, which is a blessing for LSU. The Tigers have had trouble with quarterbacks who can make things happen with their legs, most recently failing to corral Jalen Milroe, who went for 155 and 4 TDs on the ground in last week’s loss.
Florida’s leading rushers are former De La Salle star Montrell Johnson and Trevor Etienne of Jennings. The two have combined to rush for over 1,000 yards and each one has four touchdowns.
Florida has several injuries on defense. Leading tackler Shemar James is done for the season with a dislocated kneecap.
Florida’s nose tackle Cam Jackson did not play last week and Tyreak Sapp also missed last week. Jackson and Sapp are good run stoppers.
The Gators only have 16 sacks in nine games and the secondary has not played well the last few games. Florida only has three interceptions.
And they are a mess on special teams.
Five times this season, they’ve had less than 11 players on the field for a special teams play. You may remember in the season opener against Utah, they had two players wearing the same number on the field at the same time, which is against the rules.
These types of gaffes have caused the Florida fan base to question whether second-year head coach Billy Napier is the guy.
Napier had the reputation of a detail-oriented person at UL Lafayette, who learned a lot while working on Nick Saban’s staff.
But so far it has not translated into a lot of success on the field, but Napier is recruiting at a high level. According to 247 sports, Florida’s 2024 recruiting class is ranked as the third best in the country. LSU is ranked 10th.
