LSU, Ed Orgeron survive Florida, 49-42, in historic, high-scoring shootout

Short-handed and backed against a wall, LSU somehow rebounded against the odds and, once again, against Florida.

The Tigers (4-3, 2-2) returned home this week reeling from back-to-back losses, a mounting list of injuries and constant questions surrounding coach Ed Orgeron's job status.

But, when the dust settled Saturday afternoon, LSU had just enough answers — at least for the day — in a historic, record-setting 49-42 survival of the No. 20 Gators (4-3, 2-3).

"We knew it was gonna be a battle, but they came to fight today," Orgeron said. "That's our motto: We're gonna fight. We're gonna fight the rest of the season, one day at a time, one game at a time. And they did a tremendous job."

The teams battled through an unusually high-scoring edition of the long-standing rivalry, easily eclipsing the previous mark for most combined points in the series early in the fourth quarter.

In a season marked by LSU's frustrating inability to establish any semblance of a running game, junior back Tyrion Davis-Price exploded for a program-record 287 yards and three touchdowns on 36 carries.

The Tigers handed the ball off nine straight times midway through the fourth quarter — eight to Davis-Price and one 24-yard gain by Josh Williams — all the way down to the 1-yard line.

And, with 3:30 remaining, sophomore quarterback Max Johnson rolled away from a worn-out Gators defense on fourth-and-gola and found junior wide receiver Jaray Jenkins for their third scoring connection to break a 42-42 deadlock.

"I didn't throw a ball the whole fourth quarter because our O-line was dominating," the quarterback said. "Shoutout to those guys. Shoutout to Ty. Shoutout to our coaches for calling the run plays. I think it just goes to speak for how hard some of the guys, the O-line and the backs, have been working.

"And that play, we really haven't worked at all week... but we ended up scoring. And shout out to Jaray for having three touchdowns."

Five plays later, senior linebacker Damone Clark hauled in the Tigers' fourth interception of the contest to hand the ball back to Davis-Price, his high school teammate, and help seal away the team's first victory in October.

"I just told the defense, 'We've just gotta play together. It's now or never,'" Clark said. "We had a great week of practice, also with the offense. (Injured defensive end Andre Anthony) led the players-only meeting on Monday, and he told us how it was.

"And we needed that. We just told each other that we're gonna go out there and play for one another. And that's what we did."

LSU exploded into the lead in the second quarter, but watched one opportunity after another to bury the Gators into a deeper hole slip through its fingers.

Florida took an early 6-0 lead on a 7-yard rushing touchdown by senior running back Dameon Pierce.

But the Tigers eventually began overcoming that deficit and their own slow start in the final minutes of the opening quarter.

Johnson and the offense strung together a 13-play, 90-yard drive over more than five minutes on their fourth possession — longer in each respective than their first three opportunities combined.

"I think our confidence has always stayed the same," the quarterback said. "I think we've always had a high level of confidence. I think that our coaches instill that in us. And I think that we have confidence in them to make the right calls. And I think it just goes hand in hand."

Davis-Price capped the march with a game-tying, 18-yard run, followed by a go-ahead Cade York extra point.

"And then we held them to half the yards rushing," Orgeron said. "I think on defense, you look at Glen Logan coming back, that really helped us out and I thought (fellow senior defensive tackle) Neil Farrell probably played his best game. We were plus-four in the turnover margin. Those interceptions were key for us in the ball game."

A pair of interceptions by Micah Baskerville and Jay Ward midway through the quarter set up short fields.

And Johnson cashed each in for touchdown strikes to Jenkins to swiftly stretch the margin from 7-6 to 21-6 in a span of 1:40.

LSU repeatedly appeared headed for more before halftime, but had three big plays called back on penalties to keep the margin within two possessions.

And Florida made the most of 29 final seconds to abruptly trim that to 21-13 on a poorly defended hail-mary heave with time expired.

Quarterback Emory Jones lofted the pass into the back corner of the end zone to fellow redshirt junior Justin Shorter between three Tigers, all of whom failed to make a play on the ball.

"We still gave up the play right before half," Orgeron said. "We still gave up some plays that we shouldn't have. Obviously there are some things we're gonna have to get fixed next week for Ole Miss. But overall I'm happy for our team."

Dwight McGlothern, one of the defensive backs, returned the favor on the third play of the third quarter.

The sophomore, pressed into increased playing time by the injury of star Derek Stingley Jr., snatched LSU's third interception of the game and returned it 37 yard to a 28-13 lead with the extra point.

McGlothern's defensive score was only the beginning for a frenetic, back-and-forth second half.

The teams traded touchdowns on each of the next three possessions over the next six minutes.

"I think that's just kind of our motto now is just fight — fight, fight, fight — and I think that's what our guys have done this week," Johnson said. "We've kept silent, and we've kept our head down and worked throughout the week. And it showed this Saturday."

A 5-yard touchdown run and subsequent two-point conversion by Florida freshman quarterback Anthony Richardson, a 40-yard scoring gash by Davis-Price for LSU, then a 5-yard pass from Richardson to Porter moved the score to 35-28.

And when the Gators finally stopped their hosts, they capitalized six plays later with an 11-yard Richardson-to-Pierce to tie the game at 35-35 late in the third.

The rivals slowed to a more methodical pace from there.

But the hits kept coming.

LSU responded with another long answer, similar to its first scoring march of the day, with Davis-Price's third touchdown, a 25-yarder in the opening seconds of the fourth, capping a 10-play, 75-yard drive over four minutes.

Florida immediately matched with a 13-play, 75-yard, five-minute effort capped by a 33-yard strike from Richardson to redshirt junior Jacob Copeland with 9:14 on the clock.

But, as had been the theme, the Gators had little-to-no answer for Davis-Price.

And he and his coaches knew it.

"(Offensive coordinator Jake) Peetz, after Wednesday practice, he came and told me, 'I'm gonna lean on you this game,'" the running back said. "And I told him it was no problem. I told him to feed me. I told 'em, and they did. And the O-line blocked, and we came away with the W."

LSU had totaled just 349 yards on 136 attempts (2.6 yards per attempt) in its first five games, including just 225 yards on 100 attempts (2.3 yards per carry) in four games against FBS competition before Davis-Price rushed 22 times for 147 yards (6.7 yards per carry) and his first two touchdowns last week in a 42-21 loss at Kentucky.

He continued that momentum Saturday by toppling the previous marks of Derrius Guice, Leonard Fournette, Alley Broussard, Kevin Faulk and others.

"He runs the ball hard, and it makes our job a little easier to have a guy like that back there," senior center Liam Shanahan said. "It started last week with him hitting the holes, then we started playing a little bit better as an O-line. So it feels good for us to be able to put it together a little bit and let him get some more of the recognition that he deserves for how good of a player he is."

Johnson finished 14-for-24 (58%) for 133 yards, three touchdowns and no turnovers.

And Jenkins caught all four of his targets for 50 yards and three scores.

And freshman receivers Malik Nabers, Brian Thomas Jr. and Jack Bech added a combined seven receptions for 80 yards.

Clark finished with game highs of 11 tackles, 7 solo and a forced fumble to lead the defense.

And sophomore defensive end B.J. Ojulari and freshman defensive lineman Maason Smith each had a sack.

"I think just playing with fire," Johnson said. "I think our guys came in with a great attitude. The fans helped. They were loud. They were loud for the defense on third down, and they were quiet for us to get our calls in. And, yeah, it was just a great atmosphere for us this Saturday."

The Tigers travel to Oxford, Miss., next week to visit No. 13 Ole Miss (4-1, 1-1) before heading into their bye week and a November slate of No.5 Alabama (5-1, 2-1) on the road and No. 17 Arkansas (4-3, 1-3), ULM (2-3) and No. 21 Texas A&M (5-2, 2-2) at home.

What Saturday's victory does to quiet the "noise" surrounding Orgeron's job remains to be seen.

But, as always, the coach brushed aside those speculations and compartmentalized focus on the immediate tasks and goals at hand.

"I take it one day at a time," Orgeron said. "And, man, I just love our team, I love LSU, and we went to work this week and were gonna beat the Florida Gators. We started on Monday. That was our mantra. Nothing else mattered. And we did it. So I'm happy for our team.

"Gotta give them the credit, give our assistant coaches credit. I thought they did a great job of coaching the team this week."