BATON ROUGE, La. — Les Miles has a made a habit throughout his career of coming up with trick plays.
And on Saturday night against the Gators, The Mad Hatter struck again as No. 6 LSU used a fake field with the game tied at 28 in the fourth quarter to give the Tigers a 35-28 lead. It was a lead they would not surrender as the No. 8 Gators (6-1, 4-1 Southeastern Conference) lost for first time under coach Jim McElwain.
“They made a hell of a play,” McElwain said of the fake field goal. “It’s a heck of a call. It’s a gutsy call after what would have been a long third and 10 or more.”
Playing in a hostile environment in Death Valley, the Gators drew first blood, albeit with the help of mistake by LSU (6-0, 4-0 SEC).
Punt returner Tre’Davious White muffed a punt after Florida’s opening drive, Nick Washington jumped on the fumble and UF started at LSU’s 18-yard line.
Four plays later, quarterback Treon Harris, who filled in for Will Grier, found Jake McGee in the back of the endzone on fourth-and-1 to give Florida an early 7-0 lead.
Harris finished the game with 271 yards passing and two touchdowns, both to McGee.
The Gators held the lead until the second quarter where LSU (6-0, 4-0 SEC) scored 28 points.
Leonard Fournette and the Tigers tied the game up at seven when Fournette found the back of the endzone after lining up in a Wildcat formation.
Nine plays before his score, Fournette fumbled the ball after being stripped by Vernon Hargreaves. Bryan Cox, Jr. looked to have recovered the ball inbounds, but after review, officials confirmed the original call on the field that the ball went out-of-bounds.
From there, it was all Tigers in the second quarter as Brandon Harris would find Malachi Dupre in the corner of the endzone to give LSU a 14-7 lead.
Miles and offensive coordinator Cam Cameron dug into their bag of tricks as Harris connected with Dupre on a flea flicker.
“Honestly the flea flicker was in his mind,” Miles said of Cameron. “He was looking at it and said this is the time. He made a great decision on how to run it. The timing of the call was perfect.”
Fournette capped the drive with a 6-yard touchdown run.
UF cut the lead to 21-14 after Treon Harris found McGee in the end zone for the second time of the night, this time a 19-yard touchdown after McGee found himself open after a wheel route that was set up by a 40-yard, one-handed juggling catch by wide receiver Antonio Callaway.
But the Tigers pounced on the Gators once more before the break.
Brandon Harris found Dupre for a 50-yard touchdown strike with 15 seconds left. The LSU quarterback escaped a tackle by Jordan Sherit and fired the ball downfield to Dupre, who caught it and ran into the endzone.
“We pretty much just kept telling everyone to keep fighting,” UF running back Kelvin Taylor said. “We had faith in our guys, we always have faith in our guys and we just kept fighting until the end of the game was over.”
Florida’s defense made adjustments in the second half as they held the Tigers to just 119 yards of total offense and limited Fournette, who hit the century mark in the first half.
The Gators once again overcame the deficit, tying the game up at 28 when Callaway returned a punt 72-yards for a touchdown, becoming the first true freshman in Florida’s history to return a punt for a touchdown.
Callaway finished the game with three catches for 100 yards, his second 100 yard receiving game this season.
“Man, Callaway, he’s a helluva player,” Taylor said. “He’s great. A really great young receiver, he’s gonna keep getting better and better every game. And he’s an explosive player, he’s gonna be a big part of our offense.”
But Miles once again caught Florida sleeping with the fake field goal with just more than 10 minutes remaining in the game.
Miles said he wouldn’t have run the play until the holder, Brad Kragthorpe, would perfect the pass in practice.
“If you don’t throw it well, better than what has been thrown, I am not throwing it unless you master it,” Miles said.
The Gators had a chance to tie the game with their final two drives, but Treon wasn’t able to make the necessary passes to facilitate a comeback. He went 2-for-10 for 40 yards in the final 3:47, with his final pass to Callaway falling out-of-bounds as the clock struck zero.
However, even with the Mad Hatter delving into his bag of trick to stun the Gators, McElwain said they’ll use the loss as motivation.
“It’s kind of a badge of honor,” McElwain said. “They think they’ve got to fake one to beat us. It’s all right.”
Follow Luis Torres on Twitter @LFTorresIII
UF quarterback Treon Harris attempts to elude LSU linebacker Kendell Beckwith during Florida's 35-28 loss to LSU on Oct. 17, 2015, at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
UF wide receiver Brandon Powell (4) reaches for an overthrown pass during Florida's 35-28 loss to LSU on Oct. 17, 2015, at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
