By the time Mike Gillislee dropped to his knees in the end zone, he knew he had changed Florida’s entire afternoon.
Gillislee powered the Gators past No. 4 LSU for a 14-6 win at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, marking by far the team’s most impressive win in the past three seasons.
No. 10 Florida pulled the upset by shutting down the Tigers’ offense, getting efficient quarterback play and — more than anything else — riding Gillislee. He waited years as a backup to get this chance, and he elevated his spectacular senior seasonto a new height with 146 rushing yards and two touchdowns against LSU.
“I’ll never forget this moment, the feeling, the win,” he said. “It’s my opportunity and I’m going to do the best I can to keep this going.”
This is the type of win that will propel Florida (5-0, 4-0 in the SEC) into the conversation as a threat to win the conference. Gillislee’s performance could establish him as an early Heisman Trophy candidate.
He worked for a grueling 34 yards on 12 carries in the first half as LSU’s exceptional defensive line battered him.
The game got easier for him in the second half. With Florida down 6-0 near the middle of the third quarter, he started finding creases. He ran three consecutive times for 7, 7 and 3 yards, helping the Gators finally break into scoring range on an 85-yard drive.
From the LSU 12-yard line, Gillislee took the handoff as left tackle Xavier Nixon and guard James Wilson pulled to the right and cleared out a spacious running lane. He ran untouched into the end zone and fell to the ground as he listened to the roar of 90,824 people in The Swamp celebrating the brightest sign of hope they have had since Tim Tebow was here.
Despite everything that had happened, including some nearly disastrous fumbles by Driskel and receiver Frankie Hammond, Gillislee gave the Gators a 7-6 lead with 5:15 left in the third quarter.
He scored again early in the fourth quarter, running free for another 12-yard touchdown to put the statement victory in Florida’s grasp. The Gators avenged last season’s 41-11 loss in Baton Rouge and could be poised for a major jump in the polls.
“We saw it as a brick wall, this LSU defense that everybody’s talking about, and we just kept hammering at it,” center Jonotthan Harrison said. “It’s an interesting feeling, because last year we weren’t in that kind of condition.
“In the second half we came out swinging. We felt like we were slowly defeating LSU’s will. We kept attacking the defense in the run game and it ended up working.”
The Gators kept chipping away at LSU (5-1, 1-1) with Gillislee, running him 22 times in the second half and 34 times overall. Prior to this season, he never got the ball more than 11 times in a game.His 34 carries are the third-most in a game in school history.
“He had 34 carries?” Driskel asked. “That’s crazy against a team that’s going to come downhill like LSU. But he’s a strong guy and he’s going to put his head down and get you three or four yards, or hit a big one.”
Gillislee is so soft spoken that UF defensive tackle Sharrif Floyd called him “most humble running back I’ve ever seen in my life.” It was clear, though, that he was bursting with pride when he arrived at his post-game press conference wearing a t-shirt that read I’M DAMN GOOD.
He rarely speaks publicly, but his confidence is unmistakable when he does. He claimed before the season he intended to rush for 1,500 yards and 24 touchdowns. As ambitious as that sounds, he might reach at least one of those numbers. If he can run on LSU, which has arguably the best defensive line in the nation, there is little reason to question whether he can keep doing it.
Through five games, Gillislee has run for 548 yards and seven touchdowns. He is averaging 5.3 yards per carry in a conference with a reputation for dominant run defenses.
“He said he was going to do this, so I’m not surprised,” Floyd said.
He is a gritty runner, taking most of his handoffs straight through the line of scrimmage. He is a forceful departure from the running game Florida operated the past few seasons, when the goal was to get Chris Rainey or Jeff Demps loose on the outside.
Gillislee fits coach Will Muschamp’s criteria for a power back who can lead a team through the SEC.
“He moves the chains over and over again and you get kinda tired of tackling him,” Muschamp said. “In the fourth quarter, that’s when he starts wearing on people. He’s a great example for everyone on our football team. This guy puts Florida before himself. That’s really hard nowadays with a lot of young people. That’s not the way Mike is. That’s not the way he’s built.”
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