GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Two Florida freshman, quarterback Rex Grossman and Jabar Gaffney burned LSU for three touchdowns as the Gators dominated the Tigers, 41-9, Saturday afternoon before 85,385 at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium at Florida Field.
Grossman threw touchdown passes of 26, 9 and 59 yards to Gaffney as Grossman threw for 276 yards in the win.
The Tigers had some moments in the first half to keep pace with the Gators and early in the third quarter to get back in the game, but couldn’t keep pace with Florida, who rebounded on all cylinders both running and passing after losing at Mississippi State the week before.
Grossman was filling in for Jesse Palmer, who had a bad ankle, and only saw limited action late in the fourth quarter.
LSU drops to 3-3 and 1-2 going into next week’s 7 p.m. game at Tiger Stadium against Kentucky, while Florida improves to 5-1 and 3-1 in the league.
The Tigers were three and out on their opening possession of the game, before Florida with decent field possession went to work, quickly getting a first down on three running plays.
With Grossman at the helm, the Gators would pick up one more first down before being forced to punt, the 11th consecutive game in which LSU has held the opposition without an opening possession touchdown dating back to the Kentucky game last season.
LSU appeared to have an advantage late in the first quarter when punter Donnie Jones put a 47-yard punt down inside the 10-yard line and the Tigers downed the ball on the Florida one-yard line.
But from there Grossman made quick work of the Tigers, moving the Gators in precision fashion on just five plays, all completed passes, including the final play a 26-yarder to Gaffney, who sprinted away from the defense to the end zone to give Florida a 7-0 advantage.
Grossman threw for 103 yards in the opening 15 minutes. The five-play drive took just 1:56 and was the first touchdown LSU had allowed in the opening quarter since the Houston game last year came with just 54 seconds to go in the stanza.
LSU moved the ball to the LSU 43 on a couple of plays, including a seven-yard run by Rohan Davey as the quarter ended.
The drive continued at the start of the second quarter as LSU was able to move successfully down the field with big catches by Josh Reed and Reggie Robinson, who caught a pass for the 23rd consecutive game. Davey also moved the team forward on what appeared to be called scrambles by the junior quarterback. The drive stalled near the end zone thanks to a holding and illegal procedure call, but the Tigers almost got a great break on a long pass into the end zone to Reed in the back of the end zone.
Reed dove for the ball, appeared to have it briefly and the official closest to the play signaled touchdown. The ball quickly popped out of Reed’s hands, however, and two other officials (probably correctly) came over and changed the call to incomplete. The Tigers had to settle for a 40-yard field goal by John Corbello to close the Florida lead to 7-3 with 10:19 left in the first half. The drive was 45 yards on 12 plays.
The Gators then marched right back down the field on a 16-play, time consuming drive with Grossman again getting the big completions to keep the drive alive. The Tigers defense finally stiffened inside the 15 yard line and the Gators had to settle for a 28-yard field goal by Jeff Chandler to give Florida a 10-3 advantage with 4:03 to go in the half.
LSU was three and out on its next possession and Florida had a chance to do more damage in the waning moments of the second quarter. This time instead of the Grossman passing, it was the running plays, which got LSU in trouble, most notably a 37-yard draw over missed LSU tackles at the line of scrimmage from Robert Gillespie, which put Florida with a first and goal at the eight with 1:04 to play.
The Tigers looked to be about to survive the threat when the third down shotgun snap sailed over Grossman’s head. But with LSU defenders bearing down on him, Grossman lofted a pass to the left corner of the end zone where Gaffney had beaten Demetrius Hookfin for the nine-yard TD and a 17-3 Florida led with 29 seconds to go before halftime.
The Tigers appeared ready to make a rally early in the third quarter when Domanick Davis took a punt back 31 yards to give LSU its best starting field position at the Florida 32. But on the first play, Rohan Davey under threw Tommie Banks on the left sideline and the ball was picked off by Mike Nattiel. It was Davey’s first interception in his last 71 attempts.
From there, the Gators wasted little time putting another score up going 85 yards on four plays. Again, Grossman’s passing target was Gaffney, who was open some 10 yards behind the Tiger defense and he raced untouched to complete a 59-yard touchdown strike and give Florida a 24-3 lead with 10:31 to go in the third.
The lead increased to 27-3 with 3:20 to go in the third quarter on a 44-yard field goal by Chandler.
Josh Booty took over at quarterback for the Tigers and he hooked up with Davis for a 54-yard pass and run play and the Tigers were on the verge of scoring as the third quarter ended with a first and goal at the Florida five yard line.
On first down, there was no gain. A second down pass to a covered Robert Royal was incomplete. A third down pass to Jerel Myers in the left corner was wide. On fourth down, Booty took a quick three step drop from under center and dumped it over the middle to Royal who fell in to the end zone to cut the margin to 27-9 with 14:43 to play. The two-point conversion failed. LSU went 80 yards in nine plays for its first touchdown of the game.
Florida just continued to add to the LSU misery in the fourth quarter, as the Gators scored twice on the ground, on runs of 2 and 5 yards, only the second and third rushing touchdowns of the season allowed by LSU.
Statistically, Florida outgained the Tigers 473-341, with the Gators getting 298 through the air to LSU’s 249. On the ground, Florida outgained the Tigers, 186-102.
Grossman completed 18-of-28 for 276 yards and the three touchdowns. Davey was 4-of-12 with one interception for 65 yards, while Booty completed 15-of-24 with three interceptions for 184 yards and one touchdown.
Gaffney led all receivers with eight catches for 128 yards and the three scores. For the Tigers Josh Reed and Reggie Robinson each had four catches, Reed for 50 yards, Robinson for 49 yards.
Gillespie was the leading rusher for Florida with 120 yards on 19 carries, while LaBrandon Toefield led LSU with 13 carries for 41 yards.
The loss was LSU’s ninth consecutive SEC road loss.
LSU Game Notes for October 7, 2000
- LSU wins the toss and elects to take the ball for the first time this season, instead of deferring. Captains were Tommy Banks, Kareem Mitchell and Robert Royal.
- LSU opens with one tight end and two receivers, Banks and Toefield in the back field. Rohan Davey opens his second straight game at quarterback.
- The Tigers forced Florida to punt on its opening possession, marking the 11th consecutive game LSU has held the opposition without an opening possession score, dating back to the Kentucky game, 1999.
- The Florida touchdown with 54 seconds remaining in the first quarter was the first opening quarter score surrendered by LSU since the Houston game last season (the 10th game of the 1999 season)
- Reggie Robinson’s second quarter reception marked the 23rd consecutive game to have caught a pass. Josh Reed has now caught a pass in nine straight games since moving from running back to receiver. Jerel Myers would later catch a pass to extend his receiving streak to 17 straight games.
- The 17 points is the most the Tigers have given up in the first half this year.
- Domanick Davis’ 31-yard punt return was the longest of his career (early 3rd quarter). It was the longest punt return by a Tiger since Larry Foster returned one for a touchdown 50 yards against Idaho in 1998.
- The interception of Rohan Davey on LSU’s opening play of the third quarter was the first interception thrown by the quarterback in 71 attempts.
- The 59-yard touchdown pass from Rex Grossman to Jabar Gaffney was the longest given up by LSU since a 73-yard pass completion in last year’s Florida game in Baton Rouge. That was a Doug Johnson to Darrell Jackson pass completion.
- The Josh Booty to Domanick Davis pass and run which covered 54 yards was the Tigers’ seventh this season of 45 yards or more this season. Longest catch yardage for Davis this season.
- For Robert Royal it was his third touchdown of the year for Royal, tying the most since Kyle Kipps (when he was still a tight end) in 1998.
- The two-yard touchdown run by Florida’s Earnest Graham in the fourth quarter (11:17) was at that time the second rushing touchdown allowed by LSU so far this season.
- The loss to Florida marks LSU ninth straight SEC road defeat.
- LSU plays host to Kentucky next Saturday night at Tiger Stadium at 7 p.m. CST. There will be no television in Louisiana for the contest.
LSU Head Coach Nick Saban
Opening comments…
“I though Florida played a pretty good football game today. Not to take any credit away from them, I didn’t think we played very well at all today. I thought we started out okay in the game, but as the game wore on, we didn’t play with the kind of intensity and the kind of toughness. We didn’t execute the way we needed to on either side of the ball. We lost some players out there that kind of hurt us a little bit. But there’s still no excuse for some of the lack of execution that we had. We went into this game with the idea that we have a lot to prove as a football team. One game does not make a team. We need to play with consistency as a team wherever we go to play and whoever we play. I was very, very disappointed today that we didn’t play that way. All we can do now is learn from the mistakes that we made out there today and try to get better and get ready to play the next one. This was disappointing, and that’s to take nothing away from Florida and the job that their players did, because I think they played very well in the game.”
On LSU’s dropped touchdown pass and Florida’s touchdown that followed…
“I think that chain of events right before the half was really tough, because we get a break in the fact that the guy snaps the ball over his head. It looked like (LSU WR) Josh Reed caught the ball, and he fumbled when he hit the ground. I never saw a replay, so I can’t say whether it was a good call or a bad call, and I’m not trying to second-guess it, but that was big, because that would’ve been a score for us. And then anytime a team scores a touchdown right before you go in at halftime, I think it’s a little bit of a momentum boost for them and a little deflating for you. . . That was a big swing there, because we got three and they got seven, and it very easily could’ve been the other way around.”
On LSU’s offensive and defensive execution…
“We started out in the second half, and we stopped them and got pretty decent field position. We’d take a shot and throw an interception, put a drive together, go back down there and throw another interception. We moved the ball well enough to score more points than we did, and we didn’t. And we didn’t execute well enough on defense to probably beat anybody today. That’s something we’re gonna have to get a lot better at if we’re gonna play the way we’d like to down the stretch here.”
LSU Players
Fullback Tommy Banks
“It’s really been an up and down few weeks for us. We had a tough loss two weeks before Tennessee and then that big win at Tennessee. I think if we’d played today like we played last Saturday, we would have had a better chance at beating Florida.”
“We can make all the excuses we want, but we needed to move the ball better.”
“When Florida gets a lead, they run with it. We went into the half with them up by 14 points, and we never really recovered from that.”
Cornerback Robert Davis
“I think (the high snap at the end of the first half) was a big turning point.”
“There is nothing that we didn’t work on in practice. Florida had great coaching, that’s what happens.”
Offensive Tackle Louis Williams
“Once we got behind, we started playing their game. We lost control.”
“We had a bunch of missed opportunities. Today is a big disappointment, from top to bottom.”
“Once you get behind a team like Florida, it really hurts you.”
Quarterback Josh Booty
“This was a tough game. We’d like to come out as a team and play solidly. If we can’t do that, we’d like to play for 60 minutes.”
“We need to get more consistent on a week-to-week basis. Last week was a great win for us, but next week, we’ll be coming off a loss. We’ll need to come out and get a win.”
Running Back LaBrandon Toefield.
“We got behind and some people just quit, we didn’t play for a full 60 minutes.”
“Florida is good, but they’re not great; they’re beatable. We could’ve come in and made a few big plays, and gotten into it, but we weren’t able to.”
“There’s still a lot we need to learn.”
Quarterback Rohan Davey
“Florida didn’t do anything that we didn’t go over in practice, we should’ve been more ready.”
“We got behind early. Florida plays great when they’re ahead, and we let them get ahead. Naturally, too, we’re going to have to change our game plan once we’re down.”
“They played well, but we definitely didn’t play as well as we are capable of playing.”
“I don’t think we came out with as much energy, as much emotion, as we did last week.”
On his injury…
“When you get in the game, your adrenaline gets going and you just want to play, you don’t really think about hurting.”
Florida Team Notes
- Florida’s defense has now turned 22 turnovers into 93 points this season.
- Florida now holds a +74 point advantage relative to turnovers this season. Last year, after six games, The Gators were +19 in turnover scoring.
- The Gators are now +13 in turnover margin in 2000.
- Florida’s 99-yard touchdown drive in the first quarter, capped off by a 26-yard pass from Rex Grossman to Jabar Gaffney, was its longest of the season. The Gators’ last 99-yard drive was Nov. 4, 1995 against Northern Illinois. Jacquez Green caught a 96-yard pass from Eric Kresser to end the drive. Like Grossman, it was Kresser’s first career start.
- The last time Florida had a receiver catch three touchdown passes was Oct. 2, 1999 against Alabama when Darrell Jackson achieved the feat.
- The Gators’ first quarter touchdown was the first scored against LSU this season.
- LSU’s 54-yard pass play in the third quarter is the longest pass completion against Florida this season.
- Florida wore its white jerseys for the second home game this season and the second consecutive game against LSU.
- Florida has now started 44 different players this season in the first six games (20 on offense, 24 on defense)
- Florida is now 81-7 when it scores first since 1990.
- Since 1990, Florida is now 62-1 when it rushes for 150 or more yards.
- Florida is now 96-6 when it rushes for at least 100 yards since 1990.
- The Gators are now 100-4-1 when leading at the half since 1990.
- Since 1990, Florida is now 87-1 when it holding its opponents to less than 21 points.
- Florida is now 60-1 when a back rushes for over 100 yards.
- The Gators now hold a 25-19-3 series advantage over LSU and have won 12 of the last 13 matchups.
- Steve Spurrier is now 10-1 against the Tigers.
- In 23 games against LSU that have been held at Florida Field, the Gators are 12-8-3.
- Florida holds an 18-10-2 advantage over LSU since 1971 when the series started to be played on an annual basis.
- Florida now holds a 61-4 record at Florida Field since 1990. Included in that is a 35-2 record against SEC foes.
- Florida is now 73-1 against unranked opponents under Steve Spurrier.
- Florida’s school-record run of consecutive games without being shutout is now at 147 games. The last game in which Florida was shutout was a 16-0 setback to Auburn in 1988. Florida has never been shutout under Steve Spurrier. Over that span, the Gators’ defense has recorded nine shutouts.
- Florida has now passed for over 200 yards in 111 of the last 121 games.
- Since Steve Spurrier took over the coaching reigns, Florida has thrown for a touchdown pass in 126 of 131 games, including 63 of 65 games in Gainesville.
- Florida has now scored 30 or more points in 66 of the past 94 games.
- Florida is now 24-8 against SEC Western Division opponents since divisional play began in 1992.
- Today is the 69th consecutive sellout at Florida Field.
Florida Head Coach Steve Spurrier
“This is the best game we’ve played all year offensively, defensively and on special teams. Maybe we got the right chemistry in there or the right scheme. We came to run the ball today. When you get away from that, bad things happen. I’m proud of our guys. The guys feel good about this game.”
On The Defense
“Our defense came ready to play. We’ve played two good defensive games now ? this one and Middle Tennessee State. It helped that our offense stayed on the field in the second quarter because it got to be a hot day. I watched our defensive line in practice and asked them why they didn’t play like they practiced. Maybe they decided the ol’ coach knew what he was talking about. We had guys turn it loose. We were flying around and just playing the game.”
On Rex Grossman
“Rex (Grossman) is a beautiful passer. He throws it right where you can catch it. He did great things. I hope he can build on today and so some more great things. He’s got a knack for hitting guys right in the numbers. When he has played, Rex has played well?not extremely well, but well.”
On Starting Grossman
“Jesse’s (Palmer) ankle wasn’t terrible, he just didn’t practice much this week. It came down to us deciding to give the young man a chance and see what he can do. Rex (Grossman) will start next week. We’ll give him a shot at Auburn.”
On The Busted Play in the Second Quarter
“That Rex Grossman to Jabar Gaffney play is one of the all-time greatest plays in the Swamp. Gaffney was supposed to run under the goalpost. (Gaffney) said he saw the snap and so he came in and broke left. I had just hoped it wouldn’t be so far away we couldn’t get a field goal. I looked up and Rex (Grossman) slung it out there and he (Gaffney) had it.”
On Jabar Gaffney
“Our receivers just caught everything. Jabar Gaffney had the big game with all the touchdown catches. He is a big time receiver. It took us to the sixth game to start him, so we’re still learning who our best players are.”
On Robert Cromartie
“Robert Cromartie came in and made some tackles. He hurt his ankle and all and we almost forgot about him. He’s a good solid player and he played a good
Florida Players
QUARTERBACK REX GROSSMAN
ON THE OFFENSE OVERALL
“We had a good game plan going into the game and I think we executed everything well. We mixed up the run and pass well today and we had a good day.”
ON GETTING HIS FIRST COLLEGIATE START
“I was a little shaky the first couple of series. But Coach Spurrier came up and gave me a little pep talk and I went back in there, everything felt good and it just started to click.”
ON HIS THROWS TO JABAR GAFFNEY
“Yeah, he had a great game last week. He was probably our feature receiver this week and had another great game. He gets open and makes good catches and can run with it after the catch. I was definitely looking for him to get open and he did.”
ON THE TOUCHDOWN PASS AFTER THE SNAP OVER HIS HEAD
“I saw it was a high snap and tried to turn around and catch it, but I got a good hop on it. I was going to try to just throw it away, but I saw Jabar break over there and I threw it in his general direction and he made a great play on it.”
RUNNING BACK ROBERT GILLESPIE
ON THE RUNNING GAME
“It feels good any time when the offense goes out there and dominates on the line. We talked about it all week that we had to establish a running game for the offense to get clicking. Coach Spurrier stuck with the run and we just ran the ball. Coach Spurrier is always preaching that the running game has to be established. In the past when we run the ball well, we win.”
ON THE RUNNING BACKS AS A GROUP
“Earnest (Graham) feeds off me, I feed off Earnest and Ran (Carthon) feeds off both of us. When one of us is out there, if someone needs a breather, we just try to play it like that.”
ON COMING BACK FROM LAST WEEK
“It feels great. It was a complete turn around. We came out with a victory and everybody was hyped and the atmosphere was totally different from last week.”
OFFENSIVE LINEMAN MIKE PEARSON
ON THE OFFENSE AS A WHOLE
“The whole week, we came out with the mind set to run the ball and we just came out and did it. It just makes the passing game that much easier. Rex did a great job today. We’ve just got to keep running the ball.”
ON THE PASS PROTECTION
“When you can run the ball effectively, it opens up the passing game that much more, the defensive lineman have to play more honest, instead of just coming after the quarterback.”
DEFENSIVE END KENNARD ELLIS
ON HIS PLAY IN GENERAL
“We just when out there and had fun today. I think that’s the main thing, we just went out there and had fun.”
ON DEFENSIVE PRESSURE
“We were all getting pressure and it resulted in a couple of interceptions.”