Jelani Jenkins finally got back on the football field during Florida’s 14-6 win against LSU on Saturday. However, he quickly returned to the sidelines.
The junior weakside linebacker, who was playing with a cast on his fractured right thumb, suffered a left hamstring injury against the Tigers and exited the game during the second quarter. He did not return.
“He was running out there on that perimeter run on [LSU’s] sideline and tweaked it a little bit,” Gators coach Will Muschamp said. “We expect him possibly back within two to three days. I’ll know more Monday.”
Jenkins, who injured his right thumb during Florida’s 20-17 win against Texas A&M on Sept. 8, underwent surgery on Sept. 10. He missed UF’s wins against Tennessee and Kentucky.
Gators safety De’Ante Saunders left the game due to dehydration during the first half, but he returned and made an impact against the Tigers. Saunders recorded two tackles and a fumble recovery on Saturday.
UF released an update on the condition of Ronald Powell’s rehabilitation from an ACL tear in his left knee. Powell had “a revision on his previously reconstructed ACL.”
Muschamp said Powell’s second surgery served mainly to clean up the junior’s knee and will not force Powell to restart rehab. Muschamp is expected to release another update on Monday.
Driskel has quiet day: Florida gained 237 yards of total offense against LSU. Only 61 yards came courtesy of Jeff Driskel’s arm. It was lowest total by a UF quarterback in a single game since at least 1996.
On Saturday, the sophomore signal caller completed 8 of 12 attempts, which were both season lows.
“Obviously, [my] stats, they’re not the best stats,” Driskel said. “But the only stat that matters is the win.”
During the second half, Driskel threw only four passes.
The Gators ran the ball on their final 25 offensive snaps, including every play in the fourth quarter.
“If you’re running the ball like that, why do anything else?” Driskel said.
While the Oviedo native did not do much on Saturday, he made several mistakes.
Driskel held onto the football too long on certain occasions, including a crucial second-quarter fumble that gave LSU possession on UF’s 7-yard line.
Fortunately for Driskel, the Gators defense held, and the Tigers only managed a field goal. The score put LSU ahead 6-0 near the end of the first half.
“A good defense and a good run game [are] a quarterback’s best friend,” Driskel said. “Luckily for me, we have both.”
Clutch Christy: Kyle Christy was the Gators’ offense during the first half on Saturday.
While Florida tallied just 47 yards on 32 offensive plays during the first 30 minutes, Christy had three of his four punts spotted inside LSU’s 10-yard line. On those three drives, the Tigers went three and out, racking up just 14 yards on nine plays.
For the game, Christy had seven punts for 344 yards and a touchback. His long was 61 yards.
The Swamp: Muschamp said the sixth-largest crowd in school history played a significant role in No. 10 Florida’s 14-6 upset win against fourth-ranked LSU.
For the first time since 2008, Florida defeated a top-10 team at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.
The last instance was a 51-21 win against then-No. 3 LSU.
“It was alive in there tonight,” Muschamp said. “There’s no question our fans made a difference in that football game. They energized our football team.”
Said safety Josh Evans: “It’s probably the loudest I’ve ever heard [the UF crowd] since I’ve been here. They definitely helped us out there. The more juice they had, energy they had, motivated us even more to go out there and play my hardest for them.”
Contact Joe Morgan at joemorgan@alligator.org.
Sophomore Kyle Christy (4) punts in Florida's 14-6 victory against LSU on Saturday in Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. Christy helped UF win the field position battle by pinning LSU inside their 10-yard line three times.
