Player participation: UF used 55 players in the game. For the second straight game UF used only 7 offensive linemen. Jarred Davis and Kelvin Taylor made their first start of the season. Speaking of Taylor he must be deep in some coach's dog house. Against Bama 4 carries for 11 yards, Tenn 3 carries 1 yard and vs LSU 2 carries for 0 yards (in a game where Jones was in street clothes for the second half). Three games 9 carries 12 yards from a guy who ran for over 500 last year behind a patchwork OL. Dunbar's streak of catching a pass in consecutive games came to an end.

For the season so far 17 scholarship players have not seen the field. Thirteen of those are true freshman so most likely red-shirt for them. 4 scholarship players have appeared in only one game (2 because of injury), and 9 scholship playes have appeared in only 2 games. On the flip side 39 scholarship players have played in all 5 games.

Turnovers: Obviously a big factor in the game UF was -3 on the night after being very successful in this area. LSU scored 10 points off the turnovers. Two fumbles hit the ground and UF got one of them.

Red Zone: The other key in this game. LSU made 4 trips into the red zone and scored a TD each time (UF had been holding opponents to 4 out of 11 red zone TD before this game). The Gators also made 4 trips to the red zone but got only 2 TDs and 2 FGs.

Field Position. UF average was the UF 30, LSU average was the LSU 28. Net punting UF 37.5 and LSU 31.0. Christy boomed a few punts but a couple got in the end zone for touchbacks. Debose and the punt return team pretty much dominated their part of the game, scoring once and setting up another. LSU's last punt went out of bounds which set the Gators up nicely until...nevermind.

On third down LSU went 7-16 and 1-1 on 4th down. UF went 2-12 on third down and 2-2 on 4th. Very odd that a defense that excels in standard down situations looks many times so bad on third down. Makes you wonder how UF would look against a spread team that went 4 wides all the time and threw a lot. This looked like a good match up for the Gators but LSU won the LOS and ran the ball, their freshman RB well he is good too.

Total plays LSU 72 UF 57. TOP UF only 23:23.

One of the promises made in the off season was that UF would play at a quicker pace on offense. There hasn't been much benefits, but UF is playing quicker. Last year UF was dead last in pace but this year they rank #31. UF has averaged 77.5 plays, running the ball 51.3%. For comparison Mizzu runs 70.4 plays per game with a run percentage of 52.6%. LSU has 70.3 plays but runs the ball 64.5% of the time.

Efficiency:

Defined as at least 4 yards on first down, 50% of the yards needed on 2nd down, and picking up the first on third or forth down.

UF was successful on 25-57 plays versus LSU. Running the ball UF was 13-32 and passing the ball 12-25.

On first down UF ran 14 times and threw 10 passes. First down success 5-14 running and 5-10 passing. UF's 14 first down runs gained 67 yards (35 from Debose on a jet sweep).

LSU ran the ball on first down 26 friggin times and gained 133 yards.

How do you defend UF on first and ten? First find the QB the guy behind center in the pistol. Next there should be a guy next to him either Jones or Taylor (but mostly Jones). Lastly find #11 put a guy on him with some deep help- almost always to the outside. Not counting the EMU game, UF has run 115 first and ten plays and 88 of them have been Driskel runs, handoffs or short passes to Jones or Taylor, or a pass attempt to Robinson. 76.52% of the time if you key on that you will be correct Mr. Defensive Coordinator. You can ignore the other guys and even if they make a play they won't exactly burn you for a big gainer.

UF did look reasonably sharp for awhile against LSU. The high water mark was probably UF leading 14-7 with a first and ten on the LSU 18. The Gators first 19 plays from scrimmage featured 12 successful plays and 128 yards. For the Gators this is high level stuff over 6 yards a play!

From there UF went middle run, middle run, and a pass behind the line of scrimmage. UF kicked a FG for a 17-7 lead. LSU then scored a TD on their next possession.

In a game of head scratchers, just before the half the Gators had a first and ten at their own 10 with 1:24 to go. LSU had one time out. UF was cleary not trying to score and the Tigers could only stop the clock once. UF decided to go from the shot gun and run the ball, why? On top of that they ran a gimpy Matt Jones twice in this series. With so little at stake in this situation why did they run Jones twice? If, and I don't know the answer, if Jones was available for some action why not save him for a high leverage situation like I don't know... first and goal from the 3 in the 4th quarter. Jones ended up not playing in the second half- I hope these late meaningless carries weren't the reason.

Lastly, UF had the ball on the LSU 45 with a first and ten with 30 seconds left in a tie game... and lost...in regulation.