LSU 17, Florida 6
BATON ROUGE, La. -- Jeremy Hill rushed for 121 yards on 19 carries and a revived LSU defense kept Florida out of the end zone to power the 10th-ranked Tigers to a bruising 17-6 victory over No. 17 Florida on Saturday.
After taking a 14-3 halftime lead, LSU saw Florida gets its running game untracked in the second half and the Gators drew within to 14-6 three minutes into the fourth quarter.
But after Colby Delahoussaye extended LSU's lead to 17-6 with a 31-yard field goal with 7:58 left, the Tiger defense came up big against Florida quarterback Tyler Murphy.
The Gators drove to the LSU 20, but Murphy was sacked on his final two plays to end the threat. The final hit by freshman linebacker Kendell Beckwith came from the blindside on fourth-and 26, and Murphy fumbled the ball away.
LSU is to 6-1 overall and 3-1 in the SEC West division. Florida fell to 4-2 overall and 3-1 in the conference.
The Gator defense was allowing only 217.0 yards per game, second best in the nation, but LSU rolled up 200 yards and 14 first downs in the first half en route to its 14-3 lead.
The Tigers harassed Murphy, who was making his first SEC start on the road. He completed only 4-of-9 passes for 42 yards in the first half, but it could have been worse because LSU defenders got their hands on three potential interceptions, only to drop them all.
Florida took its only lead on a 44-yard field goal by Francisco Velez on an impressive 14-play, 60-yard opening drive. But the Gators managed only 34 yards in total offense the rest of the half.
LSU took a 7-3 lead on fullback J.C. Copeland's one-yard dive on the first play of the second quarter.
The big play on the 70-yard drive was Zach Mettenberger's 25-yard pass to Odell Beckham Jr., and LSU picked up 15 more yards when linebacker Darious Cummings was called for hitting Mettenberger after he released the pass.
Another Florida penalty, pass interference against Marcus Roberson, allowed LSU to convert a third-and-two, and LSU went up, 14-3, on backup quarterback Anthony Jennings' one-yard sneak 5:14 before halftime.
LSU wasted another scoring opportunity when Mettenberger allowed the ball to slip from his hands while attempting a first-down pass at the Florida 25.
The Gators recovered the fumble, but did nothing with the only turnover of the half.
NOTES: LSU averaged 15 first-quarter points in its first six games, but was shut out in the opening quarter for the first time this season. ... J.C. Copeland broke the ice with a one-yard, third-down dive on the first play of the second quarter. Florida coach Will Muschamp was irate because he felt right guard Trai Turner of LSU moved early and should have been called for a false start. ... Florida gained only 34 yards on 15 plays, a 2.2-yard average, in the second quarter. ... LSU honored 60 members from its 2003 BCS National Championship team at halftime.
