BATON ROUGE, LA - The Gators entered Death Valley listening to the screams of 92,910 fans.
But when they left the field and ambled into their locker room - it was silent.
BEverybody was just thinking about how did that happen?C cornerback Joe Haden said. BHow did we just do that?C
UF (4-2, 2-2 Southeastern Conference) fell in the closing minutes for the second consecutive week in a 28-24 loss at No. 1 LSU. It?s the Gators first losing streak since 2004 when UF lost back-to-back against Mississippi State and Georgia.
After leading 24-14 going into the fourth quarter, it appeared the Gators were on the verge of the upset. The Tigers were doing everything they could to shoot themselves in the foot as the normally reliable Colt David - who was 8 for 10 coming into Saturday - missed two field goals.
Whenever LSU was able to punch it in, UF rebounded. A 4-yard touchdown run by Keiland Williams was quickly answered by the Gators with a five play, 76-yard touchdown drive capped by a 37-yard Tim Tebow laser to a wide open Cornelius Ingram.
But, once again, UF folded in the final minutes.
After Jacob Hester scored the eventual winning touchdown, UF had one last shot with 1:09 left, but the Tigers? defense held strong.
BWe just wanted thirty more seconds,C Tebow said. BIt wasn?t quite our game. Just fought and did everything we could.C
With any shot at defending a national title gone, the Gators have only one place to go, and that?s up.
BI don?t make guarantees,C UF coach Urban Meyer said. BI don?t know if I?ve ever done this, but I can guarantee we?ll be back. The Florida Gators will be back smokin?.C
While UF probably has little to no shot at defending its national title, it is still possible to represent the East Division in the SEC Title game. If The Gators defeat South Carolina and Kentucky in the coming weeks, they should be in the driver's seat.
B(LSU is) going to be there and that?s our goal - to get there,C Tebow said. BWe can still make it to Atlanta and win the SEC Championship. We have to still believe in each other and the coaches and fight the rest of the season.C
But in the mean time, the Gators? bye week couldn?t have come at a better time. This one hurts bad.
BLeading the whole entire game and then coming up short in the end - that hurts,C said Haden, who had 10 tackles as well as two tackles for losses. BEverybody laid their heart out on the field. We gave everything we had, it just didn?t fall our way this time. It?s not going to happen like that all the time. It can?t.C
