BATON ROUGE, La. — Kyle Trask picked an inopportune time for his biggest mistake of the season.
Trailing the heavily favored Tigers by a touchdown late in the fourth quarter, coach Dan Mullen elected to gamble. On third and one from the LSU 16, Trask loaded up and looked to the end zone.
But any chance at tying the game with one throw was lost when Trask underthrew the ball, sending the pass directly into the hands of LSU cornerback Derek Stingley.
The Tiger Stadium crowd — a full-house at 102,321 — reached fever pitch after the game’s only turnover, and the Gators surrendered the momentum for good.
UF fell short in the upset bid, 42-28, spoiling the undefeated season and its best start since 2015.
No. 5 LSU took over after the interception, and just a few plays later, quarterback Joe Burrow found a wide-open Ja’Marr Chase. The one-time Florida commit did the rest, torching the No. 7 Gators for a 54-yard touchdown that put the game out of reach.
Mullen said after the game that the Gators made too many mistakes to win.
“The margin for error in big games is really small,” Mullen said. “You can’t come away with two empty red zone possessions in the fourth quarter.”
The costly turnover marred an otherwise stellar night for Trask and the Florida offense. Aside from the pick, he threw for 310 yards and three touchdowns on a career-high 39 attempts.
UF utilized a two-quarterback system to a degree, situationally subbing in redshirt freshman Emory Jones. He had his most impressive outing in a Florida uniform, throwing a touchdown and finishing second in rushing with 36 yards.
“I think (Jones) has grown a lot throughout these games, and he’s becoming more confident,” redshirt senior receiver Van Jefferson said. “I think when he gets out there, he’s just in his comfort zone, doing what we see every day in practice.”
Running back Lamical Perine led the team with 65 yards on 17 carries, the best piece in the ground game which totaled 146 yards.
But the UF defense struggled against the Tigers (6-0, 2-0 SEC). Florida (6-1, 3-1 SEC) allowed 511 total yards, the biggest offensive output from an opponent this season by more than 100 yards. The unit — which totaled 26 sacks entering the game — failed to bring down the opposing quarterback for the first time this season.
“We weren’t able to get pressure on (Burrow),” Mullen said. “When we did, he did a good job of scrambling.”
Edge rusher Jonathan Greenard (the team’s sacks leader with four) exited the game after the first possession. Mullen said after that he had been injured all week and wasn’t ready to go. His counterpart, Jabari Zuniga, hadn’t played since spraining his ankle against Kentucky. Zuniga injured the same ankle he sprained against Kentucky and didn’t return.
Without these pieces, the Gators couldn’t force mistakes from Burrow. Only three of his 24 passes hit the turf, and he totaled 293 yards and three touchdowns. He also had 43 yards scrambling.
However, the big surprise for LSU was running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire. UF had no answer for him, allowing 134 yards and two touchdowns on only 13 carries, including a 57-yard run.
“People really get nervous about (LSU’s) pass game,” Mullen said. “Their back’s pretty good. He finds seams, finds holes. I thought their ability to run the ball really made the difference.”
Florida’s stayed in the game for nearly 60 minutes, but even the Gators’ most productive offensive performance of the season wasn’t enough to keep up with an LSU attack that proved to be as formidable as advertised.
UF, however, has little time to linger on what could have been. Next week, it heads to Columbia, South Carolina, to take on a Gamecocks squad that upset No. 3 Georgia on Saturday. That bout begins a stretch of four-straight SEC East games.
Seniors like center Nick Buchanan know the importance of making a quick turnaround from a loss when the team is in the driver’s seat of the division.
“We control our own destiny,” he said. “If we come out and win the rest of our games, we’re right in Atlanta.”
Follow Tyler Nettuno on Twitter @TylerNettuno. Contact him at tnettuno@alligator.org
UF quarterback Kyle Trask had over 300 yards passing, but Florida still suffered its first loss of the season at LSU.
