Florida Won't Roll Over

LSU is a 13-point favorite over Florida, and I don't believe it for a second.

Sure, Florida is taking applications from the student body for who wants to be the starting quarterback.  Sure, their receiving corps looks fairly underwhelming.  And, yeah, Alabama just took them to the woodshed.

But this is Florida.  FLORIDA.  Do you know the last time LSU beat Florida by double digits?  2002, back when Ron Zook was the coach (God, I miss Ron Zook).  Before that?  1986, when Tommy Hodson was our QB and Steve Spurrier was still just that guy who won a Heisman a long time ago. 

LSU doesn't blow out Florida.  It's just one of those laws of nature. 

On top of that, Florida isn't some chump team.  The offense looks shaky, but that defense is still pretty stout, ranking top ten in yards allowed and top twenty in scoring.  Florida allows 14.8 points per game, 12th in the nation.  the best defense LSU has faced so far?  46th ranked West Virginia at 22.6, a full touchdown worse.

LSU has not yet faced a defense this good.  For LSU to win an SEC title, much less a national title, we're going to have to learn to beat good defenses.  Last I checked, there's a pretty good one in Tuscaloosa.  LSU is not going to keep playing teams they are bigger and faster than -- ok, maybe they will.  But occasionally, you run into a team that has Florida's defense.

Now, LSU should win this game.  Florida has a good defense, LSU has the makings of a great defense, even though we have a big whole in the middle.  We can complain about our offense's shortcomings, but it scores a bunch of points and is fairly efficient.  Florida's offense is a mess, and missing it's starting QB, a huge blow.

LSU holds the edge on both sides of the ball and in special teams.  However, the gap is not so great that LSU can simply show up and expect to win.

They aren't going to roll over for us.  I'd appreciate it if they did, but Florida is not some speed bump.  this is a team that traditionally gives LSU fits.  Are they as good as they usually are?  No.  Florida usually doesn't get rolled like they did last week.  But if you can play defense, you always have chance to win the game.

Florida can play defense.