Can the LSU Tigers stop Florida Gators QB D.J. Lagway and other burning questions ahead of Saturday's pivotal SEC matchup
The LSU Tigers are taking a journey to The Swamp on Saturday afternoon to take on the Florida Gators. This is a contentious rivalry over the years where both teams have won three National Championships in the last 30 years with the Tigers winning in 2003, 2007 and 2019 and the Gators winning in 1996, […]
The LSU Tigers are taking a journey to The Swamp on Saturday afternoon to take on the Florida Gators.
This is a contentious rivalry over the years where both teams have won three National Championships in the last 30 years with the Tigers winning in 2003, 2007 and 2019 and the Gators winning in 1996, 2006 and 2008.
There have been some very memorable moments in this rivalry, including the Gators getting a goal line stand at the end of the 2016 matchup, the Tigers being perfect on fourth down in a 28-24 win over defending National Championship Gators and the infamous shoe game in 2020 that cost the Gators a potential chance to make the College Football Playoff. The game will also be huge for recruiting as the Gators are hosting two five-star cornerbacks, including LSU commit D.J. Pickett.
Can the Gators get the win against an LSU team coming off of a brutal 42-13 loss to Alabama? We spoke to the managing editor of the college football section at A to Z Sports Travis May to get some answers.
If D.J. Lagway gets the nod on Saturday, can LSU stop him? They have had massive struggles against LaNorris Sellers, Marcel Reed and Jalen Milroe.
LSU’s biggest problem on defense has been stopping the mobile quarterback, as they’ve allowed 88, 62, and 185 rushing yards to just the three quarterbacks you mentioned. Jalen Milroe and Marcel Reed absolutely destroyed the Tigers all game thanks to their explosive athleticism and running tendencies. Sellers is probably the best comparison to Lagway given his thicker frame and build-up speed, but he needed quite a bit of space to break off his one 75-yard touchdown run against LSU. Lagway likely finds some easy open run lanes to help the chains moving, but I wouldn’t expect huge long runs that LSU has given up against slightly more explosive and faster mobile quarterbacks.
The Gators have an experienced offensive line. Can the Tigers get pressure to pressure the quarterback with consistency?
LSU is averaging nearly 20 pass rush pressures per game this season. The only two teams who figured out how to even remotely slow down LSU’s pass rush (led by star edge rusher Bradyn Swinson) were Alabama and Nicholls State. Nicholls simply got rid of the ball in under 2.1 seconds per dropback–which is 99th percentile in time to throw–intentionally just taking quick-hitting underneath routes and screens. Alabama stacked play action with heavy screen usage, utilizing one or the other on 15 of 20 dropbacks, and that did the trick. The Gators need to do the same.
Florida's biggest weakness on defense is stopping the run. Does LSU have enough juice in the run game to make an impact?
LSU ranks outside the Top 100 among FBS schools in rushing yards per game. Their pass blocking is a strength. The run blocking is not. And offensive coordinator Joe Sloan is too addicted to the pass to allow his offense to gain any chemistry or momentum in the run game. Florida shouldn’t have any problem slowing them down, just like most every other team on LSU’s schedule has so far. True freshman running back Caden Durham possesses elite sprinter though. If he gets to the edge of the defense he’s likely off to the races.
