LSU struggled again to find much offensive consistency Saturday against Florida.
But the No. 3 Tigers’ salty, opportunistic defense not only shut down the Gators (1-2, 0-1) — highlighted by five interceptions — but also chipped into the scoring to help seize control and seal up a 20-10 victory in the teams’ SEC opener.
“This is a journey, this is a long time,” LSU coach Brian Kelly said early in what quickly became a spirited postgame press conference. “Do we want to clean up things? Absolutely. But, again, holding somebody to 10 points that has talented players on the offensive side of the ball and then finding a way to win the game, really proud of our group.”
After three straight three-and-outs to start, LSU (3-0, 1-0) scored on back-to-back possessions with a 47-yard Damian Ramos field goal and 23-yard strike from Garrett Nussmeier to Zavion Thomas.
The Gators answered late in the second quarter with a beautiful over-the-shoulder throw-and-catch from D.J. Lagway to Aidan Mizell, adding to an earlier Trey Smack field goal to tie the game, 10-10.
Florida forced another quick punt to position itself for a lead, whether before the half or with the opening possession of the third quarter.
The Tigers would shut their visitors out the remaining two-plus quarters, though.
Instead, transfer safety A.J. Haulcy read and jumped a throw over the middle of the field for an interception, his first at LSU, to set up a Ramos 45-yarder.
Then sophomore safety Dashawn Spears (McBryde), already with his first career interception in the first half, snatched another midway through the third quarter and housed it 58 yards up the sideline to a 20-10 advantage.
“We practiced it in practice, I went over it and watched it in the hotel and I knew it was coming,” said Spears, the former Denham Springs star. “If you watch it back, I was creeping towards it. So I knew the slant was coming for the boundary, and I just made the play.”
When the Gators got their best second-half look at the end zone, transfer safety Tamarcus Cooley tracked down his own first LSU interception in the end zone to shut down the threat midway through the fourth quarter.
And freshman cornerback D.J. Pickett joined the first-career interception party just before the two-minute warning to allow Nussmeier and company to wind down the remaining clock.
“He came out of the third row, didn’t he?” Kelly said. “I mean, that’s length. And, look, he’s got great instincts. The guys were excited that he made the play, and I’m excited for him as a freshman to make that kind of play. But P.J. (Woodland) played great, anticipating slant routes that we gave up last year and just being there. Mansoor (Delane) continues — I don’t even know why you’d throw over there. He’s in great position.
“So I just think it was great coverage on the back end. Really disruptive up front, that D.J. (Lagway) was moving most of the time trying to make those throws.”
Florida finished with 366 yards, including 287 through the air. But nearly every time the Gators threatened, the secondary came away with a highlight-reel takeaway.
The five interceptions marked the program’s most since a 53-48 defeat of Ole Miss on Dec. 19, 2020.
“Those are my dogs,” Spears said of Cooley and Haulcy. “We break it out in the safety room, ‘Headhunters.’ We’ve all just been manifesting it, and it came today.”
Junior linebacker Whit Weeks, one of the stars of the Tigers’ unit, was ejected for targeting just over two minutes into the game.
But Davhon Keys and older brother West Weeks more than rose to the occasion with 14 and 12 tackles, respectively, including one for loss each.
“Just really, really pleased with our guys and the way they handled things,” Kelly said. “You lose arguably our best defensive player in the first series, then his brother goes down, but we’ve got a third Weeks. So we brought in the third Weeks. Not sure he knew exactly what was going on, but he’s game, which is great. And that’s what I love about this group. They just kept battling.
“Where a lot of teams would’ve been deflated in the way that went against us early on, they kept playing and believed that they were gonna win. And sometimes, I think, as fans you’ve gotta understand there are ways to lose that game if you’re not smart. And I thought we were very smart in the way we managed the game.”
Defensive tackles Jacobian Gullory (Alexandria) and Dominick McKinley (Acadiana) each recorded a sack, and linebacker Harold Perkins Jr. and Delane and Woodland were credited with hurries as LSU kept Lagway moving — though often successfully — throughout the night.
Nussmeier finished 15-for-27 (56%) for 220 yards with a touchdown and an interception, with wide receiver Aaron Anderson (Edna Karr) and tight end Bauer Sharp accounting for 75 and 71 receiving yards, respectively.
Sophomore running back Caden Durham moved his total to 93 yards with a 51-yard near-breakaway on the final, clock-killing possession.
Kelly called punter Grant Chadwick “our weapon on offense today” with his seven kicks for 353 yards, an average of 50.4 yards per punt with four for 50-plus yards and four downed inside Florida’s 20-yard line.
“This week at practice he actually came up to me and said to be ready to make an impact this weekend, and I was ready,” Chadwick said. “I tell Nuss before every game keep me off the field tonight, but know I have his back if he can’t do that.”
