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The Florida Gators will head out on the road to face off against the LSU Tigers at 7:30 p.m. ET on Saturday at Tiger Stadium. Coming off a loss in a game Florida was expected to win, they now face the more daunting task of proving themselves against unfavorable odds.
While it was all tied up 17-17 at halftime, Florida was not quite Arkansas' equal in the second half on Saturday. Florida fell just short of Arkansas by a score of 39-36. It was the first time this season that Florida let down their fans at home.
Even though the team lost, they still had their share of impressive performances. One of the most dominant came from Graham Mertz, who threw for 282 yards and three touchdowns. Trey Smack did his part by putting the 'special' in special teams, booting in three field goals and three extra points.
Even if they lost, Florida's defensive line sure didn't make it easy: Arkansas' QB was sacked five times before it was all said and done. Arkansas' QB won't forget Princely Umanmielen anytime soon given Umanmielen sacked him twice.
Meanwhile, after a string of three wins, LSU's good fortune finally ran out on Saturday. They received a tough blow as they fell 42-28 to Alabama.
Jayden Daniels put forth a good effort for the losing side as he rushed for 163 yards and a touchdown on only 11 carries, and also threw for 219 yards and two touchdowns. Malik Nabers was another key contributor, picking up 171 receiving yards and a touchdown.
The losses dropped Florida to 5-4 and LSU to 6-3.
Not only did the pair lose their last games, but neither team managed to cover the spread. Looking forward, LSU is the favorite in this one, as the experts expect to see them win by 13.5 points. Anyone thinking of taking Florida against the spread should keep this in mind: the team hasn't covered the last three times they've played LSU.
Florida came up short against LSU in their previous matchup back in October of 2022, falling 45-35. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of LSU's Daniels, who threw for 349 yards and three touchdowns while completing 71.9% of his passes, and also punched in three touchdowns on the ground. Now that Florida knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
