GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Just when it was looking better and deeper, LSU's offensive line took a few steps back and fell in the Tigers' 27-19 loss at Florida on Saturday.
Gators were running through and around LSU's linemen throughout the day as if LSU was playing Alabama. Not only were there five sacks of LSU quarterback Joe Burrow and eight hurries, the Tigers allowed 11 tackles for losses.
That has not happened that many times since that dark night of Jan. 9, 2012, in the Louisiana Superdome when Alabama beat LSU, 21-0, for the national championship.
"We knew they were going to be good on defense. We didn't capitalize on all our opportunities," Burrow said.
"We tried every single protection we had," LSU coach Ed Orgeron said. "It didn't work. We couldn't protect."
LSU was without its most experienced offensive lineman in senior left guard Garrett Brumfield, who missed his second straight game with a knee injury. He is not likely to return this week as the Tigers (5-1, 2-1 SEC) will host No. 2 Georgia (6-0, 4-0 SEC) at 2:30 p.m. on CBS.
But LSU's protection problems were not just at left guard, where junior Adrian Magee replaced Brumfield. Florida was penetrating across the board.
"We have some corrections to make. We have a lot of big games coming up. We haven't hit our stride yet as an offense," Burrow said.
"You know, we just felt comfortable," said Florida linebacker Vosean Joseph, who had a game-high 14 tackles with two sacks of Burrow and 3.5 tackles in all behind the line for minus-18 yards.
The Tigers still put up 371 yards of offense, which was only 20 less than Florida. And Burrow completed 19 of 34 passes for 191 yards, but he threw two fourth quarter interceptions with LSU behind. The first one by sophomore Brad Stewart Jr. of McDonogh High in New Orleans was returned 25 yards for a touchdown and the 27-19 lead. The second one came on LSU's last offensive play.
LSU dropped from No. 6 in the USA Today coaches' poll to No. 12 and from No. 5 to No. 13 in the Associated Press media poll on Sunday.
"It came down to our last two drives," LSU senior tight end Foster Moreau said. "We've got to win the one-on-ones. We lost a few one-on-ones tonight. I'm proud of the team, though. I'm proud of the way we fought. We fought through adversity, fought to negate some of those bad plays that we had. We just had too many negative plays. But as an offense, we felt like we had it the whole time. I still felt like we could score at the end."
LSU's offensive line did produce some large chunks of yardage of its own. Tailback Nick Brossette, who led the Tigers with 95 yards on 15 carries, broke a 31-yard run up the middle that was followed by a 47-yard run up the middle in the fourth quarter on LSU's 80-yard touchdown drive in four plays that put the Tigers up 19-14 with 11:14 to play.
"We have the lead, and we got punched right in the face," Florida coach Dan Mullen said of LSU's last touchdown drive. "But we don't flinch."
LSU's offense managed just 37 yards on its last 17 plays and allowed two sacks after its touchdown.
"I don't know what you want me to say, but I'm not about to throw my offensive line under the bus," Brossette said. "I think they played well the whole game. They're going to be all right. Come back to work on Monday, see what we did wrong, see what we can get better at. We're going to be all right."
NOTES: Florida's win over No. 5 LSU was its first over a top five team since beating No. 3 Ole Miss, 38-10, in 2015 in Gainesville. It was just Florida's third win against a top five over its last 10. ... Dan Mullen became the first coach to win his first meeting against LSU as a Florida coach since Steve Spurrier in 1990. Ron Zook, Urban Meyer, Will Muschamp and Jim McElwain all lost their first LSU games. ... LSU freshman linebacker Micah Baskerville of Evangel Christian Academy started his first career game against the Gators and led LSU with a career-high 11 tackles. ... Baskerville is one of only three true freshmen to start this season for LSU. The other two are wide receiver Terrace Marshall Jr., of Parkway High in Bossier and wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase.