| |
|
EVENTS Fantasy Central Inside Game Multimedia Central Statitudes Your Turn Message Boards Email Newsletters Golf Guide Cities Work in Sports
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE |
BATON ROUGE, Louisiana (Ticker) -- When horrible weather grounded the passing game, seventh-ranked Florida responded with running, special teams and defense. Robert Gillespe ran for 108 yards and two touchdowns and Bo Carroll returned a kickoff 100 yards for a score as the Gators rebounded from their stunning home loss to Alabama last weekend with a 31-10 beating of Lousiana State in a Southeastern Conference matchup. Florida drilled LSU for minus-7 rushing yards and held the Tigers to 165 yards of offense while putting up 345. "I'm proud of the defense," Florida coach Steve Spurrier said. "They played their hearts out, they had good plays. Coach (Jon) Hoke, we had a little different scheme today than we've been attempting the last few weeks. I really thought we played well. The Gators (5-1, 3-1 SEC East) kept pace in the divison and are tied with Tennessee and Georgia for first, but defeated the Volunteers. Florida has won 17 of its last 19 games that followed a loss under Spurrier, who was not proud of the offensive effort. "Obviously happy we won the game, not very happy with the way we played," Spurrier said. "This could be one of the most undisciplined teams we've ever had in the 10 years we've been at Florida. Hopefully we can find the stupid penalty guys and get rid of them or check the tapes or something to give us a chance. Obviously we were in good shape and almost blew the game out there." LSU (2-3, 0-3 West) fell to 2-8 in its last 10 games at Tiger Stadium against the Gators and the home team dropped to 8-11-1 in this series since 1980. Florida has won 11 of the last 12 games between the schools. Spurrier matched former Oklahoma coach Barry Switzer for the most wins in the first 10 years at a Division I-A school, 98. Switzer won 98 games from 1973-82. Gillespe ran seven yards for a touchdown 19 seconds into the game after Doug Johnson hit Darrell Jackson with a 73-yard pass. "We wanted to try and make something big happen on the first play and they came out and did exactly what we thought they would do," Johnson said. "Darrell ran a great route and we were able to score in two plays. That's huge, when you come into a stadium and get off in a good start." Jeff Chandler, whose errant extra point cost the Gators the game last week, kicked a 22-yard field goal to cap a seven-play, 32-yard drive and give Florida a 10-0 lead 4:16 later. LSU sustained some offense en route to John Corbello's 22-yard field goal that made it 10-3 with 12:13 left in the half. It capped a 51-yard march that took 11 plays. But Carroll undid all of that work by taking the kickoff six yards deep in the end zone and surprising everyone on the field by coming out. He ripped through the field and found the end zone for a 17-3 lead. Johnson completed 17-of-29 passes for 227 yards and one touchdown with one interception. Jackson had 111 yards on four catches. "That was a wet game out there and the balls are real slippery," Johnson said. "So that's when you really need to concentrate on holding on to the ball." "It should have worked to our advantage because they like to throw the ball," LSU defensive tackle Johnny Mitchell said of the foul weather. " Johnson took advantage of a botched punt attempt with 84 seconds left in the first half, throwing a 27-yard scoring pass to Alex Willis for a 24-3 halftime lead. The six-play, 34-yard drive came after Carroll fumbled away the ball. "Well, the first play of the game wasn't a good way to start out," Tigers coach Gerry DiNardo said. "The kickoff (return) and the (muffed snap on the) punt jump out at me the most." LSU got back into the game with 3:14 left in the third quarter as Josh Booty threw a 10-yard scoring pass to fullback Robert Royal, cutting it to 24-10. The Tigers hung around until the final minutes. Booty was intercepted by Daryl Dixon, who had two picks, at the Florida 19 and returned the ball 50 yards to the 31. With 45 seconds left, Gillespe bulled through the middle for a 20-yard touchdown run that made the final margin and pushed him over 100 yards. Gillespe ran for all 31 yards on the drive. "I was fortunate to start and fortunate to have teammates tip the ball," Dixon said. "That's how those interceptions came. Just fortunate to be in the right place at the right time." DiNardo addressed the Tigers' trouble running the ball. "In college football, your sacks count in your rushing, in the pros it doesn't; not that we rushed the ball well," he said. "We're not a dominant run team and anyone who expected us to run up and down the field today, I could have told them to stay home. We're struggling running the football, there's no doubt about it, so stats don't make any difference. The stats are somewhat distorted, but we're not a good run team." Booty was 18-of-42 for 172 yards and one touchdown with three interceptions. Rondell Mealey had an exact repeat of his numbers from last weekend's 23-22 loss at Georgia, running for only 25 yards on 18 carries. "Tough day running the football," Mealey said. "The weather wasn't really a factor." "The crowd tried to rally the team in the second half," Booty said. "It's hard against a team like Florida to get down early."
|
