LSU’s defense swamped Florida all night Saturday, forcing 5 interceptions on its way to a 20-10 victory in Baton Rouge.
For LSU (3-0, 1-0) it was the same story we’ve seen in all of its first three games - sloppy offense with a suffocating defense to secure the win.
Surprisingly, Florida (1-2, 0-1) outgained LSU 366-316 and had 23 first downs to LSU’s ten. However, when your quarterback throws a quintet of balls to the wrong team, that explains almost any loss regardless of the yardage output.
Florida quarterback DJ Lagway’s nightmare evening consisted 33 completions on 49 attempts for 287 yards, a touchdown and five interceptions.
His favorite target was LSU safety Dashawn Spears with two interceptions, including one he returned 58 yards for a touchdown to cap off the 20-10 margin.
LSU linebacker Dahvon Keys was forced into action early after starting linebacker Whit Weeks was ejected for a targeting call. He ended up being LSU’s leading tackler with 14 tackles.
On the other side of the ball, it wasn’t nearly as pretty a story for the Tigers, but for the third time in as many tries, they did walk away victorious.
"You've got to understand there are ways to lose that game if you're not smart,” LSU coach Brian Kelly said of LSU’s modest offensive output. “I thought we were very smart in the way we managed the game."
LSU quarterback Garrett Nussmeier’s struggles continued as he was only able to connect on 15 of his 27 passes for 220 yards with a touchdown and an interception.
His favorite target was receiver Aaron Anderson with four catches for 75 yards.
He wasn’t helped out much by LSU’s running attack, which averaged 3.8 yards per carry. However, it was LSU running back Caden Durham who put the game on ice with a 51-yard run on the final drive, setting up LSU to call every coach's favorite play - the kneel down.
However, outside of that run, LSU was only able to muster 45 yards running on 24 carries.
