Saturday’s only top 10 NCAA matchup saw the No. 5 LSU Tigers emerge with a 42-28 win against the No. 7 Florida Gators, but the 14-point margin of victory (just above the LSU -13.5 spread) felt much higher than a lot of the game would suggest. Florida even took a 28-21 lead late in the third quarter, but LSU scored 21 unanswered points after that. However, that game was in doubt late in the fourth quarter, with the Tigers up just 35-28 and the Gators putting together a giant drive from their own eight to the LSU 16, where they were in a third-and-one situation with just under eight minutes left. Florida opted to throw there, though, and Tigers’ freshman defensive back Derek Stingley Jr. (who had been burned on some plays earlier in the day) came up with a huge interception:
Defensive Back University 😤 pic.twitter.com/4UKHkRpZk7
— ESPN (@espn) October 13, 2019
And not that long after that, LSU put together a four-play, 80-yard touchdown drive. That started with Joe Burrow finding Ja’Marr Chase for 15 yards, and it ended with Burrow again hitting Chase, this time for 54 yards. (Burrow’s post-play celebration with Tigers’ head coach Ed Orgeron is seen at the top of this post.)
Great design by LSU but a tough look for CJ Henderson. Ja’Marr Chase is awesome. pic.twitter.com/G11i4WJbrt
— Bobby Football (@Rob__Paul) October 13, 2019
Chase finished the night with seven catches for 127 yards and two touchdowns, while Justin Jefferson had 10 grabs for 123 yards and a touchdown. And Burrow finished with 21 completions on 24 attempts (a 87.5 percent completion rate) for 293 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions, plus six carries for 43 yards. Clyde Edwards-Helaire also collected 134 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 13 carries, 10.3 yards per rush, so the LSU offense was clicking for most of the night. But it was the Tigers’ defense that created perhaps the turning point here with Stingley Jr.’s interception, and Burrow and Chase then made the most of that to really seal this one.
[ESPN]
