Instant AnalysisFlorida vs. LSU, Oct. 15By Matthew Zemek

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The storm has truly subsided for the Louisiana State Tigers. At least until Auburn comes into Baton Rouge next Saturday.LSU turned back the Gators on a sun-drenched afternoon because JaMarcus Russell and the rest of Les Miles’ offense finally got out of their own way, enabling a swarming defense to seal a hard-earned victory in an SEC fight for survival.On a day in college football when a lot of things didn’t make sense, this game played right into the pregame perceptions of both teams. Florida and LSU were both very strong on defense, while the Gators’ offense was inept and the Tiger offense incredibly turnover-prone. Nothing from this game did thing one to even slightly change the conventional wisdom surrounding these teams.In the end, then, the Tigers’ victory was simply a matter of securing the ball and enabling LSU’s front four to overwhelm Florida’s continuously leaky offensive line.----collegefootball----

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Once Joseph Addai managed to avoid coughing up the pill, his quality running finally bore fruit, as his go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter enabled the Tigers to lean on their defense over the final 12:35. Once JaMarcus Russell no longer felt pressured to score points, he was able to simply manage the game and run clock, thereby enabling Tiger coach Les Miles to put the game in the hands of his defense against Florida’s nonexistent passing attack.The calculus added up just right for the Tigers and their coach, who might not have been able to win with six turnovers, but survived with only five.

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On a day when the home team kept squandering momentum—not to mention an early 14-0 lead—the heartache of the Tennessee nightmare a few weeks earlier was avoided because of a defense that, with its legs now fresher and stronger, did not cramp up the way it did against the Vols. With the return of normal football rhythms and the obviously improved physical fitness that accompanies such rhythms, LSU’s entire team—but especially its defense—had a lot more left in the tank come the fourth quarter. The Tigers’ defensive front was constantly able to drag down Chris Leak and prevent the Gators not only from scoring, but from even threatening to pose the slightest scare to the Tigers in the game’s final minutes.----collegefootball----

Had the Gators been able to carry a lead into the final minutes of play,----college----collegefootball----football---- the knowledge of the Tennessee loss might have weighed heavily on the Tigers’ minds. Had Leak and Florida not put themselves in a position where they had to pass, the Gators could have offered more offensive variety and thereby kept Bo Pelini’s defense off balance.----collegefootball----

But those two scenarios did not come to pass, because LSU manag----collegefootball----ed to eliminate crippling mistakes—and take the lead—just in time to reassert control.It wasn’t pretty, and it sure came the hard way, but at the end of the day, LSU got the job done. After early domination and then mid-game mistakes, the Tigers stopped being their own worst enemy and sustained their SEC West title hopes.

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