Florida will now cruise to the SEC title game
Gainesville High has as much of a chance as anyone to beat No. 1 Gators
 Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images Quarterback Tim Tebow, center, and the No. 1 Florida Gators celebrate their 13-3 victory over No. 4 LSU on Saturday night. |
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No. 1 Florida 13, No. 4 LSU 3 |
BATON ROUGE, La. - Florida defensive coordinator Charlie Strong started dancing. He hopped from the sideline almost to the Tiger Stadium hash marks as though riding an invisible pogo stick. Then, he jogged in place and pumped his right fist hard enough to jar the headset off his ears.
The play: a fourth-down, fourth-quarter sack of LSU's Jordan Jefferson.
The night: a 13-3 victory for the top-ranked Gators over the No. 4 Tigers.
The consequence: a cruise to the SEC championship game.
Don't pencil the Gators into Atlanta for the first weekend of December. Chisel them into what's become a national semifinal, a game where a victory means a spot on the sport's biggest stage. And put them there as a 12-0 squad, because any Florida loss between now and the first weekend of December would rank as the biggest upset in college football this season.
"It always pops into your head," safety Will Hill said of going unbeaten. "The coaches are going to do a good job keeping us focused on Arkansas. But it's always a thought."
For Hill, it's a thought. For anybody who knows a field goal from a first down, it's a certainty. Who's beating these guys before Dec. 5 and a potential 1-2, Alabama-Florida showdown in Atlanta, emerging as America's Most Wanted College Football Game?
Arkansas takes its humiliation in The Swamp next Saturday. Georgia will get it worse on Halloween in Jacksonville. Dates at South Carolina, and then a Senior Day soiree with Fading Swiftly University? Gainesville High has as much of a chance to beat the Gators this fall.
LSU was the lone team on the Gators' schedule with the running game, the defensive playmakers and the home-field advantage to beat them in the regular season. And when the big night rolled around, the Tigers couldn't even line up onsides. Enjoy the Capital One Beauxwl, boys.
For Florida, of course, Tim Tebow was Saturday's headliner. Coach Urban Meyer used terms such as "courageous" and "team first" to describe the quarterback's effort after bruising his brain two weeks back at Kentucky.
But Florida's big-picture fate seems far more intertwined with its defense. The group, with all 11 starters back from last season, has allowed two touchdowns in five games. LSU gained 162 yards on 47 plays Saturday night, a startling statistic, and enough to turn one touchdown and two field goals into plenty of padding.
"We ain't got the greatest offense," tight end Aaron Hernandez said. "But our defense stops people."
Earlier, Hernandez said he knew since the spring the Florida defense could produce something like Saturday's effort. Truth is, we knew it, too. All the recent concussion discussion shoved one of the nation's best defenses to sideshow status.
Against LSU, with a stadium-record crowd screaming for a 33rd consecutive Tigers' Saturday night home victory, Strong's studs re-emerged as the cornerstone of this team.
Maybe Alabama can match the Gators' defense sack-for-sack. Maybe, hopefully, those groups will clash in eight weeks.
After Saturday night, Florida can dance all the way there.
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