Jayden Daniels Makes Big Statement With Six Touchdown Night In 45-35 Win Over Florida

After coming off a blowout 40-13 loss to top ten ranked Tennessee at home, the LSU Tigers get the biggest win of the Brian Kelly era with a 45-35 victory on the road against the Florida Gators. The Tigers got the win behind the brilliant performance of Jayden Daniels, who put on a show in the best game of his LSU career with 349 yards and three touchdowns through the air plus 44 yards and three touchdowns on the ground. The Arizona State dual threat transfer accounted for 393 total yards and all six touchdowns in the game for the Tigers.

With all of the talent in LSU’s wide receiving core, it was only a matter of time before the talent would be showcased in a big performance on the national stage. Kayshon Boutte had his best game by far this season with six catches for 115 yards while John Emery Jr., Jaray Jenkins, and Brian Thomas Jr. all caught touchdowns during the game. Daniels completed passes to nine different receivers throughout the night. Josh Williams also added a career night on the ground with 106 yards on 14 carries getting the game ball by Kelly at the end of the game. Overall, the Tigers had 535 total yards of offense and scored touchdowns on its first six drives.

The game started off looking like it would be an offensive night as on the second play from scrimmage, Florida opens the game putting points on the scoreboard quickly with a 51 yard touchdown strike from Anthony Richardson to Justin Shorter to put the Gators up 7-0 just a minute into the football game.

LSU has struggled throughout the season in starting games fast, but the offense clicked early on as the Tigers’ first drive was just a preview of what kind of game it would be for their offense when Daniels hit Boutte for a 40 yard gain. LSU would take that positive momentum and would tie the football game up when Daniels completed his first touchdown pass to Emery from seven yards out to complete a 12 play, 75 yard drive.

Florida regains the lead again at 14-7 on its second drive getting its running game going, which has averaged up to close eight yards per carry heading into this football game with a 39 yard touchdown run from Montrell Johnson Jr. It was a 10 play, 75 yard drive for the Gators.

While it has been LSU’s defense over the first couple of games picking up the slack for its offense, it was the other way around to start this game. The Tigers’ offense answered the call and evened the scoring once again on its second drive of the football game. LSU has another long efficient drive this time covering 73 yards on 12 plays. The drive was capped off by a Daniels’ one yard touchdown run.

After LSU’s defense forces its first punt of the night, the special teams mistakes come back to bite the Tigers as Jack Bech muffs the punt and gives the Gators great field position at the Tigers’ 13 yard line. From there, the Gators offense takes advantage with Johnson’s second touchdown of the night. The Gators would regain the lead for the third time at 21-14. After the muffed punt, Bech would not play the rest of the game and was on the sidelines in street clothes due to a lower back strain.

LSU’s offense would continue to catch on fire scoring on its next four drives. Overall, LSU had one of the most impressive scoring drive streaks in the SEC this season scoring touchdowns on its first six possessions. LSU kept on battling through adversity on the road after the disastrous special teams play and tied the game at 21 with a 24 yard touchdown pass from Daniels to Brian Thomas Jr. It was the Walker, Louisiana native’s second touchdown reception of the season.

After Micah Baskerville sacks Richardson on third down and forces Florida to punt, LSU’s red hot offense gets its first lead of the football game at 28-21 when a confident Daniels hit Jaray Jenkins in stride from 54 yards out for the touchdown. It was the fourth time that these two connected for touchdowns this season as the Tigers went into halftime with a seven point lead.

In the second half, LSU carried on its explosive offensive performance from the first half to the second half when Josh Williams had a powerful 50 yard touchdown run breaking through multiple tackles and setting the offense inside the Gators’ 25 yard line. Two plays later, Daniels keeps it for his second rushing touchdown of the game extending the Tigers lead to 14 points at 35-21.

Florida’s offense tries to answer back as their offense marches down the field 63 yards, but the drive stalls when the Gators roll the dice on fourth down and do not convert at the Tigers’ 12 yard line. From there, Daniels and the offense gets cooking again on a 13 play, 88 yard drive. Daniels hits big play completions to Nabers, Boutte, and Kyren Lacy. With a couple of more runs to put the Tigers once again in the red zone, the Tigers’ complete their sixth consecutive touchdown scoring drive with Daniels’ third touchdown run of the night. 28 unanswered points by the Tigers looked to put the game out of reach at 42-21, but heading into the fourth quarter, the Gators had new life after Tom Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down” was blaring in the loud speakers at “The Swamp.”

Just seconds into the fourth quarter, Anthony Richardson shows off his freakish athletic ability on an 81 yard touchdown run that will be played on highlight reels in years to come for Florida fans breaking multiple tackles form LSU defenders and outrunning the rest of the Tigers’ defense for six points.

The Tigers certainly looked like they were in for another successful drive when it looked like Daniels hit Thomas for a big gain, but the officials reviewed the play and reversed it to an incompletion. That allowed Florida’s defense to get some new life and force a stop. Forcing Jay Bramblett to punt for the first time the entire game ended the Tigers’ scoring streak and gave the Gators a lot of momentum.

The Gators were putting the Tigers on its heels on another long drive and a personal foul penalty by LSU’s Jay Ward after a eleven yard play put the Gators inside the Tigers’ 20 yard line at the 16. Three plays later, Florida’s other standout running back Trevor Etienne scores from the one yard line to narrow the once wide gap by LSU to only seven at 42-35 with 7:39 left to play in the game.

The pendulum has swung to the Gators’ side at this point of the football game. It looked like that the Tigers were in trouble when it looked that Florida’s Jason Marshall intercepted Daniels, but a roughing the passer penalty by Gervon Dexter Sr. gave LSU the ball back. The Tigers would run another eight plays and another three minutes off the clock forcing Florida to burn the rest of their timeouts. When LSU had a third down and two at the Gators’ 17 yard line, the offense made back to back mental mistakes on false starts to put the Tigers in a third down and 12 situation. After LSU lost yards on a quarterback draw, it would put all the way back to the 29 yard line. Despite the poor special teams play throughout the season, it was its special teams that would put the nail in the coffin for the Gators’ hopes when Damian Ramos nailed a 47 yard field goal to give the Tigers the breathing room they need at 45-35 with 1:57 left to play.

It looked as though the Tigers’ standout freshman linebacker Harold Perkins called game on a strip sack, but while under review, the call was reversed to an incomplete pass. However, LSU’s defense would hold forcing a turnover on downs and thus, running the rest of the clock out.

With both first year head coaches in LSU’s Brian Kelly and Florida’s Billy Napier trying to turnaround both of these proud SEC programs, it was Kelly that got the better of Napier in the new version of the LSU/Florida rivalry.

It was a big bounce back win for the Tigers and it now puts them back in the thick of the SEC West race improving to 5-2 overall and 3-1 in the conference. With this win, the Tigers are now only behind Ole Miss and Alabama in the standings. Kelly knows what this game means to the program and how big of a win it was for the program.

“I just felt like our guys deserved to win that game so when something went right, my emotions showed a little.”

LSU Head Coach Brian Kelly on Florida win

This also marks LSU’s fourth straight win in the series against Florida as the Gators’ last win against the Tigers came in 2018.

The Florida Gators drop to 4-3 overall and 1-3 in conference play. Next up, the Gators will have a bye before playing against number one Georgia in two weeks.

For the LSU Tigers, they will host a big game with a lot of SEC West implications on the line against number nine Ole Miss.

Check out all of the stats from tonight’s game below.

Offensive Cumulative Stats:

STAT	LSU	Florida
NET TOTAL YARDS	528	395
NET RUSHING YARDS	179	210
Rushing Attempts	38	33
Average Per Rush	4.7	6.4
Rushing TDs	3	4
Yards Gained	192	222
Yards Lost	13	12
NET PASSING YARDS	349	185
Completion-Attempts	23-32	15-26
Completion Percentage	72%	58%
Avg Per Completion	15.2	12.3
YAC	134	107
Passing TDs	3	1
Drops (%)	2 (06%)	0 (00%)
TOTAL 1ST DOWNS	26	19
Rushing 1st Downs	11	9
Passing 1st Downs	14	8
Penalty 1st Downs	1	2
TOTAL PLAYS	70	59
Avg Yds/Play	7.5	6.7
Rushing-Passing	38-32	33-26

Offense Efficiency Comparison:

STAT	LSU	Florida
RED ZONE ATTEMPTS	5-5	2-3
Red Zone Points	31	14
RZ TDs Rush-Pass	3-1	2-0
RZ FG Made-Att	1-1	0-0
RZ Turns	0	1
3rd Downs	8-12	7-12
4th Downs	2-2	0-3
Penalties	5-30	5-35
Fumbles-Lost	1-1	0-0
Pts Off Turns	0	0
POSSESSION TIME	31:47	28:13

Special Teams Comparison:

STAT	LSU	Florida
Punts-Avg	1-40.0	2-56.0
Inside20	1	1
Field Goals	1-1	0-0
Kick Returns	1-27	3-100
Punt Returns	2–6	0-0

Defensive Comparison:

STAT	LSU	Florida
TACKLES	51	66
Solo Tackles	35	38
Tackles for Loss	2	3
TFL Yards	-7	-11
Pass Breakups	2	1
QB Hurries	4	4
Sacks	1	1
Sacks Yards	-6	-8
Takeaways FR-INT	0-0	1-0
Forced Fumbles	0	0
Fumble Recoveries	0	1
FR Yards	0	0
Interceptions	0	0
INT Yards	0	0
TDs INT-FR	0-0	0-0

LSU Passing:

#	PLAYER	C-A	YDS	TD	I	C%	RTG
5	DANIELS,J	23-32	349	3	0	72	194.4

LSU Receiving:

#	PLAYER	NO	YDS	TD	LNG	AVG	TGT	C%	YAC	DR
7	BOUTTE,K	6	115	0	40	19.2	8	75	36	1
8	NABERS,M	4	48	0	19	12	6	67	21	0
4	EMERY JR.,J	3	24	1	11	8	4	75	21	0
10	JENKINS,J	2	67	1	54	33.5	2	100	21	0
87	TAYLOR,K	2	33	0	26	16.5	2	100	14	0
11	THOMAS JR.,B	2	31	1	24	15.5	4	50	0	1
2	LACY,K	2	17	0	13	8.5	3	67	4	0
27	WILLIAMS,J	1	8	0	8	8	2	50	11	0
86	TAYLOR,M	1	6	0	6	6	1	100	6	0
	9 RECEIVERS	23	349	3	54	15.2	32	72	134	2

LSU Rushing:

#	PLAYER	ATT	YDS	TD	LNG	AVG
27	WILLIAMS,J	14	106	0	50	7.6
5	DANIELS,J	14	44	3	12	3.1
4	EMERY JR.,J	8	31	0	10	3.9
	3 RUSHERS	38	179	3	50	4.7

LSU Punting:

Punter	NO	YDS	AVG	LNG	I20	50+
BRAMBLETT,J	1	40	40	40	1	0

LSU Field Goals:

Kicker	Time	Dist	Result
D.Ramos	4th-01:52	47	GOOD
TOTAL	1-1	LONG OF 47

LSU All Purpose Yards:

Player	Tot	Rush	Rec	KOR	PR	IR-FR	TDs
BOUTTE,K	115	0	115	0	0	0	0
WILLIAMS,J	114	106	8	0	0	0	0
JENKINS,J	67	0	67	0	0	0	1

LSU Defense:

#	Player (Starter)	TotTk	Solo	Sack	TFL	Int	BrUp	QBH	FF
23	M.Baskerville (LB)	11	7	1	1	0	1	0	0
30	G.Penn III (LB)	6	3	0	0	0	0	1	0
40	H.Perkins Jr. (LB)	5	5	0	0	0	1	1	0
5	J.Ward	4	4	0	0	0	0	0	0
24	J.Bernard-Converse (CB)	4	4	0	0	0	0	0	0
35	S.Jones	4	1	0	0.5	0	0	0	0
2	M.Garner (DB)	3	2	0	0.5	0	0	0	0
3	G.Brooks Jr. (S)	3	2	0	0	0	0	0	0
18	B.Ojulari (DE)	3	2	0	0	0	0	2	0
13	J.Foucha (DB)	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
92	M.Wingo (DL)	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0
99	J.Roy (DL)	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0
11	A.Gaye (DE)	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
31	N.Dibert	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
	TOTALS	51	35	1	2	0	2	4	0

LSU Punt Returns:

Returner	NO	YDS	AVG	LNG	TD
CLAYTON JR.,G	1	2	02	2	0
BECH,J	1	-8	-08	0	0
TOTAL	2	-6	-03	2	0

LSU Kick Returns:

Returner	NO	YDS	AVG	LNG	TD
BECH,J	1	27	27	27	0

LSU Team Stats By Quarter:

	1st	Rush	Pass	CAI	TotY	Avg	3rds	Pens
1st	4	9-17	7-78	6-7-0	95	5.9	3-4	0-0
2nd	10	9-37	11-174	8-11-0	211	10.6	3-3	0-0
3rd	7	10-102	7-61	5-7-0	163	9.6	2-2	1-0
4th	5	10-23	7-36	4-7-0	59	3.5	0-3	4-30
Total	26	38-179	32-349	23-32-0	528	7.5	8-12	5-30

LSU Scoring Summary:

Qtr	Clock	Score	Type	Play	Drive	Score
1	07:46	TD	PASS	J.Emery Jr. 7 yd reception thrown by J.Daniels PAT kick by D.Ramos (GOOD)	12/75/6:15	7-7
2	11:55	TD	RUSH	J.Daniels 1 yd rush PAT kick by D.Ramos (GOOD)	12/73/4:55	14-14
2	05:55	TD	PASS	B.Thomas Jr. 24 yd reception thrown by J.Daniels PAT kick by D.Ramos (GOOD)	7/75/2:18	21-21
2	02:24	TD	PASS	J.Jenkins 54 yd reception thrown by J.Daniels PAT kick by D.Ramos (GOOD)	5/83/1:55	21-28
3	13:17	TD	RUSH	J.Daniels 9 yd rush PAT kick by D.Ramos (GOOD)	4/75/1:43	21-35
3	01:07	TD	RUSH	J.Daniels 9 yd rush PAT kick by D.Ramos (GOOD)	13/88/5:51	21-42
4	01:52	FG		D.Ramos 47 yd Field Goal	12/46/5:47	35-45

Florida Passing:

#	PLAYER	C-A	YDS	TD	I	C%	RTG
15	RICHARDSON,A	15-25	185	1	0	60	135.4
2	JOHNSON JR.,M	0-1	0	0	0	0	0
	PASS TOTALS	15-26	185	1	0	58

Florida Receiving:

#	PLAYER	NO	YDS	TD	LNG	AVG	TGT	C%	YAC	DR
3	HENDERSON,X	4	42	0	12	10.5	6	67	54	0
4	SHORTER,J	3	71	1	51	23.7	4	75	4	0
1	PEARSALL,R	2	49	0	29	24.5	4	50	19	0
2	JOHNSON JR.,M	2	5	0	4	2.5	3	67	12	0
21	LINGARD,L	1	7	0	7	7	1	100	7	0
9	ZIPPERER,K	1	6	0	6	6	1	100	2	0
18	ZANDERS,D	1	4	0	4	4	3	33	2	0
7	ETIENNE,T	1	1	0	1	1	1	100	7	0
	8 RECEIVERS	15	185	1	51	12.3	24	63	107	0

Florida Rushing:

#	PLAYER	ATT	YDS	TD	LNG	AVG
15	RICHARDSON,A	9	109	1	81	12.1
2	JOHNSON JR.,M	13	57	2	39	4.4
7	ETIENNE,T	8	28	1	9	3.5
21	LINGARD,L	3	16	0	9	5.3
	4 RUSHERS	33	210	4	81	6.4

Florida Punting:

Punter	NO	YDS	AVG	LNG	I20	50+
CRAWSHAW,J	2	112	56	62	1	1

Florida Field Goals:

Kicker	Time	Dist	Result
TOTAL	0-0	LONG OF 0

Florida All Purpose Yards:

Player	Tot	Rush	Rec	KOR	PR	IR-FR	TDs
ETIENNE,T	129	28	1	100	0	0	1
RICHARDSON,A	109	109	0	0	0	0	1
SHORTER,J	71	0	71	0	0	0	1

Florida Defense:

#	Player (Starter)	TotTk	Solo	Sack	TFL	Int	BrUp	QBH	FF
51	V.Miller (LB)	10	5	0	1.5	0	0	0	0
2	A.Burney (DB)	8	4	0	0	0	0	0	0
9	G.Dexter Sr. (DL)	8	4	0	0.5	0	0	0	0
22	R.Torrence II (DB)	6	4	0	0	0	0	1	0
23	J.Hill (DB)	6	5	0	0	0	0	0	0
0	T.Dean III (DB)	4	2	0	0	0	0	0	0
12	J.Boone (DL)	4	3	0	0	0	0	0	0
1	B.Cox Jr. (LB)	3	2	1	1	0	0	2	0
5	K.Wilson	3	2	0	0	0	0	0	0
16	T.Johnson (DB)	3	2	0	0	0	0	0	0
7	C.McClellan	2	1	0	0	0	0	1	0
94	T.Sapp	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	J.Marshall Jr. (DB)	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
6	S.James	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
10	M.Mitchell	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
13	D.McMillon	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
21	D.Watson (DL)	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
24	A.Helm	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
99	L.Summerall III	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
42	R.Underwood	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	TOTALS	66	38	1	3	0	1	4	0

Florida Punt Returns:

Returner	NO	YDS	AVG	LNG	TD

Florida Kick Returns:

Returner	NO	YDS	AVG	LNG	TD
ETIENNE,T	3	100	33	47	0

Florida Team Stats By Quarter:

	1st	Rush	Pass	CAI	TotY	Avg	3rds	Pens
1st	5	11-76	1-51	1-1-0	127	10.6	2-2	0-0
2nd	2	8-16	8-28	4-8-0	44	2.8	1-4	0-0
3rd	4	6-18	6-54	4-6-0	72	6	1-2	3-15
4th	8	8-100	11-52	6-11-0	152	8	3-4	2-20
Total	19	33-210	26-185	15-26-0	395	6.7	7-12	5-35

Florida Scoring Summary:

Qtr	Clock	Score	Type	Play	Drive	Score
1	14:01	TD	PASS	J.Shorter 51 yd reception thrown by A.Richardson PAT kick by A.Mihalek (GOOD)	2/52/0:51	7-0
1	02:00	TD	RUSH	M.Johnson Jr. 39 yd rush PAT kick by A.Mihalek (GOOD)	10/75/5:46	14-7
2	08:13	TD	RUSH	M.Johnson Jr. 3 yd rush PAT kick by A.Mihalek (GOOD)	5/13/1:24	21-14
4	14:46	TD	RUSH	A.Richardson 81 yd rush PAT kick by A.Mihalek (GOOD)	2/75/1:21	28-42
4	07:39	TD	RUSH	T.Etienne 1 yd rush PAT kick by A.Mihalek (GOOD)	11/80/5:18	35-42