The ball was tilted, sure. Leaning slightly to the left. The hold was a bit awkward, and the kick could have been straighter, and the score could have been different. But they weren’t.
And so, late on Saturday afternoon, Eddy Pineiro’s kick sailed left of the goal posts. Whether it was his fault or the place holder’s fault didn’t seem to matter to Khairi Clark.
After the game, the defensive lineman walked into Florida’s locker room and found it quiet. There was no talk of a missed extra point. Just silence.
“LSU?” Clark said after the game, almost in disbelief, his voice slightly more hushed than usual. “We never want to lose to them.”
Never, Clark said, but especially after Florida came so close to winning, engineering a 13-0 scoring run beginning at the 7:39 mark in the third quarter. Especially after Florida’s defense forced three LSU punts in the final quarter, holding the Tigers scoreless to give UF’s offense a sliver of hope. And especially after Florida took possession of the ball with about four minutes left deep in its own territory, an opportunity to win the game and keep an otherwise sweet Homecoming weekend from turning sour.
Instead, on fourth-and-3 from UF’s own 25-yard line, quarterback Feleipe Franks couldn’t quite fit the pass between two defenders and into Brandon Powell’s hands. It was swatted down by LSU linebacker Devin White, and the Gators (3-2, 3-1 SEC) lost 17-16 to the Tigers (4-2, 1-1 SEC), losing their top-25 ranking for the first time this season.
“It hurts. Guys are hurting in that locker room,” coach Jim McElwain said. “And they should hurt.”
But the hurt wasn’t just emotional. It took a physical form, too. Florida’s star receiver, Tyrie Cleveland, had already been ruled out before Saturday’s game with a high-ankle sprain, and after the loss, McElwain could only sigh as he began to read from his extensive injury list:
Starting safety Chauncey Gardner hurt his right ankle, special teams standout Garrett Stephens hurt his knee, freshman playmaker Kadarius Toney hurt his shoulder and his shin, redshirt senior safety Nick Washington hurt his shoulder, starting left guard Brett Heggie underwent concussion protocol and linebacker Jeremiah Moon hurt his ankle.
McElwain was unclear about how much time, if any, they will miss. But after the game, the message he delivered to his team was plenty clear.
“After a loss, you know, little nicks, injuries, things like that, sometimes take a little longer to heal,” McElwain said. “We don’t have time to let it heal.”
The Gators will face Texas A&M this week and No. 4 Georgia soon after that. They will try to salvage whatever is left of a regular season with two losses and six games still to go. They will continue to develop Franks and hope he steadily improves week by week.
“We have a long season ahead,” Franks said. “I don’t think you can let one or two losses define us.”
Maybe not. Maybe Saturday’s loss won’t define the Gators. That’s what Gardner told himself after the game on Saturday night, his voice steady and his eyes focused and his confidence seemingly unshaken.
“You can say maybe (LSU) won, but they really didn’t. We beat ourselves,” he said. “But we’re going to bounce back.”
You can follow Ian Cohen on Twitter @icohenb, and contact him at icohen@alligator.org.
Chauncey Gardner, Jr. tackles LSU running back Derrius Guice during Florida's 17-16 loss against the Tigers on Saturday at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.
