Post by Deleted on Nov 20, 2016 12:23:49 GMT -5
BATON ROUGE, La. – The game had been over for more than a half-hour and Death Valley had emptied other than for a few stragglers.
One of those hangers-on, presumably fueled by his favorite game-day beverage, barked from high above the field in the south end zone at Tiger Stadium.
"Get out,'' he yelled in the direction of Florida kicker Eddy Pineiro.
The man continued to offer incoherent taunts as Pineiro answered questions from reporters following Florida's 16-10 win over LSU on Saturday, a momentous win that clinched the Gators their second consecutive SEC East title.
Seemed a perfect ending to this unexpected trip to the Bayou.
After all, for six weeks the Gators endured aimless jabs on social media and in the mainstream media after Hurricane Matthew came ashore on the state's east coast in early October and forced the cancelation of the Florida-LSU game scheduled Oct. 8 at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.
LSU fans, Tennessee supporters and more than one Tigers player called the Gators "scared" for not immediately hopping on a plane and playing the game in Baton Rouge the weekend Matthew swept ashore.
"Obviously you hear it,'' Florida quarterback Austin Appleby said. "You take it personally. They disrespected us. We let our play do the talking."
Did they ever.
None more so than on the game's final two plays and Tiger Stadium about to explode with LSU facing third-and-goal from the Gators' 1.
Six-foot-6, 357-pound Florida offensive lineman David Sharpe, who wasn't sure he would even play until Thursday due to a leg injury in last week's home win over South Carolina, nearly closed his eyes.
"I was about to throw up,'' he said. "I barely could look."
Running back Jordan Scarlett, who rushed for 108 yards and 22 carries to outshine LSU's much-heralded duo of Derrius Guice and Leonard Fournette, had an uneasy-yet-confident outlook with the game on the line and more than 102,000 fans on their feet.
"I know my defense,'' Scarlett said. "I know they're a hard group of guys to get past. I wasn't too worried. I knew running straight downhill wasn't going to get in there."
All-American cornerback Teez Tabor was on the field, one play away from agony or ecstasy.
When he saw Guise hesitate on a power pitch on the game's final snap – Florida stopped fullback J.D. Moore for no gain on third-and-goal – a burst of energy and excitement took over.
"I kind of knew that once he started chomping his feet … I'm not a fan of that,'' Tabor said. "I like when a running back gets it and go. When he started chomping his feet, I said, 'oh, we've got a shot.' We had more than a shot."
The Gators converged on Guice like a swarm of bees. Marcell Harris and Jordan Sherit grabbed his legs from behind. Taven Bryan and others formed a wall at the goal line.
No gain. Game over. SEC East champs. And pandemonium.
"This one feels good,'' Tabor said.
Gators from Palatka to Pahokee, from Miami to Monticello cheered along with those dressed in all orange, whether inside Tiger Stadium or in their living room.
What the No. 21-ranked Gators did Saturday felt bigger than just another win, improving to 8-2 and finishing 6-2 in the Southeastern Conference. In Jim McElwain's first season as head coach in 2015, the Gators defeated Ole Miss and Tennessee at home and clinched their first SEC East title in six years with a last-minute win over Vanderbilt. Three lopsided losses at the end dampened some of the enthusiasm.
Recent past aside, to go to LSU as a 13.5-point underdog, to beat the Tigers at their own game, and to get the last word in a six-week conversation that bordered on absurdity much of the time, the Gators earned perhaps their most important victory since the 2008 BCS national title against Oklahoma.
And they did it with something called Hippo Diamond Stick, a goal-line package used on the final play.
"It's amazing what at like 12:30 in the morning, 1 o'clock in the morning, some of the names you can come up with for stuff,'' McElwain said.
In those tantalizing final seconds, Sharpe never threw up. He raced onto the field to join the party.
"It was a lot of personal business going on with the game,'' he said. 'They were talking. We definitely had to come and make a statement."
The Gators spoke loud and clear, much the way McElwain did afterward.
Two weeks ago Florida, ranked 10th at the time, boarded their plane from Arkansas following a deflating 31-10 loss to the Razorbacks. While the Gators remained atop the SEC East, they needed to beat South Carolina and win at LSU to control their own destiny.
Few gave them a chance to sweep the two games, especially against the up-and-coming Tigers who were rejuvenated under interim head coach Ed Orgeron.
The Gators flopped a year ago down the stretch. Not Saturday at LSU. They won and for longtime Florida fans watching with their fingernails in their mouth, it seemed a little like old times.
"It's just a credit to the program and the organization and the people that believe,'' McElwain said. "The way I look at it, we came in with a purpose, we played the way we needed to play, and it wasn't pretty.
"I'm happy for the Gator fans that, you know, don't think we're very good but all we do is end up back in Atlanta,'' he said. "This time of year is pretty in Atlanta. This will be the second year we'll go and see it."
A rematch with No. 1-ranked Alabama awaits. The Gators will once again be heavy underdogs. After Saturday, however, don't count them out just yet.
What lesson did the diminutive Pineiro, whose three field goals played a huge role Saturday, take from Florida's first win over the Tigers since 2012?
"Don't let anybody boss us around,'' the kicker said.
That belligerent fan never had a chance.
One of those hangers-on, presumably fueled by his favorite game-day beverage, barked from high above the field in the south end zone at Tiger Stadium.
"Get out,'' he yelled in the direction of Florida kicker Eddy Pineiro.
The man continued to offer incoherent taunts as Pineiro answered questions from reporters following Florida's 16-10 win over LSU on Saturday, a momentous win that clinched the Gators their second consecutive SEC East title.
Seemed a perfect ending to this unexpected trip to the Bayou.
After all, for six weeks the Gators endured aimless jabs on social media and in the mainstream media after Hurricane Matthew came ashore on the state's east coast in early October and forced the cancelation of the Florida-LSU game scheduled Oct. 8 at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.
LSU fans, Tennessee supporters and more than one Tigers player called the Gators "scared" for not immediately hopping on a plane and playing the game in Baton Rouge the weekend Matthew swept ashore.
"Obviously you hear it,'' Florida quarterback Austin Appleby said. "You take it personally. They disrespected us. We let our play do the talking."
Did they ever.
None more so than on the game's final two plays and Tiger Stadium about to explode with LSU facing third-and-goal from the Gators' 1.
Six-foot-6, 357-pound Florida offensive lineman David Sharpe, who wasn't sure he would even play until Thursday due to a leg injury in last week's home win over South Carolina, nearly closed his eyes.
"I was about to throw up,'' he said. "I barely could look."
Running back Jordan Scarlett, who rushed for 108 yards and 22 carries to outshine LSU's much-heralded duo of Derrius Guice and Leonard Fournette, had an uneasy-yet-confident outlook with the game on the line and more than 102,000 fans on their feet.
"I know my defense,'' Scarlett said. "I know they're a hard group of guys to get past. I wasn't too worried. I knew running straight downhill wasn't going to get in there."
All-American cornerback Teez Tabor was on the field, one play away from agony or ecstasy.
When he saw Guise hesitate on a power pitch on the game's final snap – Florida stopped fullback J.D. Moore for no gain on third-and-goal – a burst of energy and excitement took over.
"I kind of knew that once he started chomping his feet … I'm not a fan of that,'' Tabor said. "I like when a running back gets it and go. When he started chomping his feet, I said, 'oh, we've got a shot.' We had more than a shot."
The Gators converged on Guice like a swarm of bees. Marcell Harris and Jordan Sherit grabbed his legs from behind. Taven Bryan and others formed a wall at the goal line.
No gain. Game over. SEC East champs. And pandemonium.
"This one feels good,'' Tabor said.
Gators from Palatka to Pahokee, from Miami to Monticello cheered along with those dressed in all orange, whether inside Tiger Stadium or in their living room.
What the No. 21-ranked Gators did Saturday felt bigger than just another win, improving to 8-2 and finishing 6-2 in the Southeastern Conference. In Jim McElwain's first season as head coach in 2015, the Gators defeated Ole Miss and Tennessee at home and clinched their first SEC East title in six years with a last-minute win over Vanderbilt. Three lopsided losses at the end dampened some of the enthusiasm.
Recent past aside, to go to LSU as a 13.5-point underdog, to beat the Tigers at their own game, and to get the last word in a six-week conversation that bordered on absurdity much of the time, the Gators earned perhaps their most important victory since the 2008 BCS national title against Oklahoma.
And they did it with something called Hippo Diamond Stick, a goal-line package used on the final play.
"It's amazing what at like 12:30 in the morning, 1 o'clock in the morning, some of the names you can come up with for stuff,'' McElwain said.
In those tantalizing final seconds, Sharpe never threw up. He raced onto the field to join the party.
"It was a lot of personal business going on with the game,'' he said. 'They were talking. We definitely had to come and make a statement."
The Gators spoke loud and clear, much the way McElwain did afterward.
Two weeks ago Florida, ranked 10th at the time, boarded their plane from Arkansas following a deflating 31-10 loss to the Razorbacks. While the Gators remained atop the SEC East, they needed to beat South Carolina and win at LSU to control their own destiny.
Few gave them a chance to sweep the two games, especially against the up-and-coming Tigers who were rejuvenated under interim head coach Ed Orgeron.
The Gators flopped a year ago down the stretch. Not Saturday at LSU. They won and for longtime Florida fans watching with their fingernails in their mouth, it seemed a little like old times.
"It's just a credit to the program and the organization and the people that believe,'' McElwain said. "The way I look at it, we came in with a purpose, we played the way we needed to play, and it wasn't pretty.
"I'm happy for the Gator fans that, you know, don't think we're very good but all we do is end up back in Atlanta,'' he said. "This time of year is pretty in Atlanta. This will be the second year we'll go and see it."
A rematch with No. 1-ranked Alabama awaits. The Gators will once again be heavy underdogs. After Saturday, however, don't count them out just yet.
What lesson did the diminutive Pineiro, whose three field goals played a huge role Saturday, take from Florida's first win over the Tigers since 2012?
"Don't let anybody boss us around,'' the kicker said.
That belligerent fan never had a chance.