BATON ROUGE — The nation’s leading rusher will be up against his stiffest challenge to date when Leonard Fournette and fifth-ranked LSU hosts No. 8 Florida in a Top 10 battle between two undefeated teams on Saturday night in sold out Tiger Stadium.
Kickoff between the Tigers and Gators is scheduled for 6 p.m. on ESPN with Brad Nessler (play-by-play), Todd Blackledge (analyst) and Holly Rowe (sideline reporter) on the call.
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The game will also be broadcast on the LSU Sports Radio Network with Hall of Famer Jim Hawthorne calling the action in what is his 33rd and final season as the Voice of the Tigers. Hawthorne is joined in the booth by former LSU great Doug Moreau along with former LSU letterwinner and special teams sensation Gordy Rush reporting from the sidelines.
LSU goes into the game with a 5-0 overall mark, which includes a 3-0 record in conference play following last week’s 45-24 win over South Carolina in Tiger Stadium. After opening the year at No. 13 in the USA Today/Amway Coaches Poll, the Tigers have climbed to No. 5 in the nation and stand as the highest ranked team in the SEC.
LSU is 47-5 in night games in Tiger Stadium, which includes a loss on a Monday night in September of 2005 to Tennessee.
Florida, under first-year coach Jim McElwain, opened the year unranked and jumped into the Top 25 following its 38-10 win over then-No. 3 Ole Miss two weeks ago in Gainesville. The Gators stand atop the SEC Eastern Division standings at 4-0 with other league wins over Kentucky (14-9), Tennessee (28-27) and Missouri (21-3).
LSU, which has won two straight and four of the last five against the Gators, used a Colby Delahoussaye 50-yard field goal with three seconds left to beat Florida, 30-27, last year in Gainesville.
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GameDay Info #6 LSU vs. #8 Florida Saturday, Oct. 17 GameDay Forecast Times of Interest 8:30 a.m. 4:10 p.m. Recognitions and Presentations | 2015 Football Promotions Pregame First Quarter/First Timeout First Quarter/Second Timeout Halftime: SEC Network Replay |
LSU and Florida serve as permanent cross-divisional conference opponents and have played every year since 1971.
“It’s going to take a full team effort against Florida,” LSU coach Les Miles said following Thursday’s practice. “Florida has a very talented team so we are going to have to be at our best. Special teams is going to have to play well; our defense is going to be challenged and our offense will need to continue to do the things that we’ve done through the first five games of the season.”
This year’s game between the Tigers and Gators features an LSU offense that leads the SEC and ranks No. 3 nationally in rushing yards per game with a 346.4 average. The Tigers have racked up 411 rushing yards in a September win over Auburn and then churned out 396 last week against South Carolina.
Leading the way for the Tigers is Fournette, a sophomore who joined a group of just 11 other players that have reached the 1,000-yard mark just five games into a season. Fournette currently leads the nation in rushing yards (1,022), rushing yards per game (204.4) and rushing TDs (12). He goes into the Florida game riding a streak of seven straight 100-yard games, which includes three consecutive 200-yard outings in wins over Auburn, Syracuse and Eastern Michigan.
Fournette isn’t the only offensive threat for LSU as last week rookie Darrius Guice led the Tigers in rushing with 161 yards and a TD on 16 carries. Guice leads all freshman in the SEC in rushing with 263 yards and an average of 9.1 yards a carry.
LSU’s third running back – sophomore Darrel Williams – has rushed for 244 yards and pair of TDs as the Tigers have accumulated 1,732 rushing yards and 18 rushing TDs as a team just five games into the season.
Quarterback Brandon Harris is coming off his best passing outing of the season, connecting on 18-of-28 passes for a season-best 228 yards and a pair of TDs in the win over the Gamecocks. In five games, Harris has completed 57.3 percent of his passes (51-of-89) for 610 yards and four scores. He’s also added 146 yards and three TDs on the ground.
Harris’ top targets in the passing game include junior Travin Dural (14 rec., 229 yards, 1 TD) and sophomore Malachi Dupre (14 rec., 196 yards, 2 TDs).
The Tiger offense will face a Florida team that has held its four SEC opponents to a combined 49 points. The Gators are also one of the best in the SEC against the run, allowing 99.2 yards a game. Two weeks ago, Florida held the high-scoring Ole Miss offense to just 69 rushing yards and 328 total yards in its win over the Rebels in Gainesville.
Defensively, LSU is expected to get a boost on Saturday with the return of safety Jalen Mills, who missed the first five games of the season with an ankle injury. Prior to his preseason injury, Mills had started all 39 games of his career and remains as LSU’s active leader in tackles with 186 even though he hasn’t played a snap all season.
The Tiger defense is allowing just 291.4 total yards per game, which includes 99.6 on the ground and 191.8 through the air. LSU has given up just three first quarter points all season.
Linebacker Kendell Beckwith leads the Tigers with 33 tackles, while linebacker Deion Jones follows with 31 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss and a pair of interceptions, one of which he returned for a TD against Eastern Michigan.
Defensive end Lewis Neal leads LSU in sack with four to his credit, while defensive tackle Davon Godchaux has 18 tackles, 5.0 tackles for loss and 3.0 sacks thus far.
The Tiger defense will face a balanced Florida offense, one that is averaging 138.7 rushing yards and 246.0 passing yards a contest. The Gators will be without the services of quarterback Will Grier, who was suspended earlier this week. Grier took over as the starter against East Carolina and had led Florida to five consecutive wins.
In the absence of Grier, Florida will go with dual-threat Treon Harris at quarterback. In two years at Florida, Harris has rushed for 401 yards and three TDs and thrown for 1,288 yards, 11 TDs and just four interceptions.
Harris and the Florida offense will rely on the running of Kelvin Taylor, who has rushed for 438 yards and seven TDs this year. His best outing came in the win over Tennessee with 102 yards and a pair of TDs in the 28-27 Florida win.
“It’s going to be a great game day environment,” Miles said. “We are going to have 102,000 people inside Tiger Stadium and probably another 20 or 30,000 outside tailgating and enjoying the game from the parking lots.
“This is the type of environment and just the type of game that you want to be part of. There’s nothing like a Saturday Night in Tiger Stadium.”