LSU beats Florida 35-28 thanks to late fake field goal
Never trust LSU to be predictable.
A fake field goal provided the winning points for the Tigers against Florida on Saturday in a 35-28 win. And it came with the game tied at 28-28 in the fourth quarter.
The conservative call would be to kick a field goal and take the three-point lead. LSU coach Les Miles did not want to be conservative. The three-point lead became a seven-point lead as kicker Trent Domingue took what was officially a lateral 16 yards for a touchdown.
After the game, Miles was asked about the fake. He said “we had it” and said Domingue had successfully executed the fake all week. And, accurately, he said that seven points was more than three. With both players on the right side of Florida’s field goal block unit crashing down on the line, the left side of the field was wide open for the junior kicker.
Florida had two shots late in the game to tie it up. But Treon Harris threw four straight incomplete passes on the first chance and his last-ditch Hail Mary sailed out of bounds on the second. The Gators’ undefeated season was officially toast thanks to some creative special teams.
And let’s be honest, it was the first time LSU had to be exceptionally creative. The Tigers had minimal issues moving the ball on Florida’s vaunted defense. All-world RB Leonard Fournette rushed for 180 yards and two touchdowns on 31 carries while QB Brandon Harris was 13-of-19 passing for 203 yards and two touchdowns.
On the other side, Treon Harris played well in his first complete game as the Gators’ starting quarterback. Pushed into the starting role after Will Grier’s positive test for a banned substance, Harris finished 17-31 for 271 yards and two touchdowns through the air. He did all of that without much support from Florida’s run game either. The Gators finished with 31 carries for 55 yards.
The win means LSU, the lone undefeated team in the SEC, is on a crash course – yet again – for a top-10 showdown with Alabama in early November as all that stands between the Tigers and the Tide is a game against Western Kentucky. While Alabama doesn’t control its own destiny the SEC West, the winner of the game may likely be the one that represents the West int he SEC Championship Game.
And for Florida, well, the margin of error in the East is now back down to one game. The Gators entered the weekend with a two-game lead on its competition. With Georgia’s ugly win against Missouri, the Bulldogs gained a game on the Gators with two weeks to go before they meet on Halloween in what’s probably a winner-take-all game for the division title.
For more Florida news, visit InsideTheGators.com.
For more LSU news visit Tigerbait.com.
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Nick Bromberg is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
