Gators quarterback Tyler Murphy spent most of his afternoon on the run.
He withstood a barrage of pressure in the backfield Saturday but could not pull off the heroic scoring drives No. 17 Florida needed late in its 17-6 loss to No. 10 LSU at Tiger Stadium. His performance — no turnovers, no touchdowns — was not enough.
“He did the best he could under some tough deals,” Gators coach Will Muschamp said. “We’ve gotta protect better. We had too many times that he had too many guys in his face.
“He handled it well. He bought some time, but again, we’ve gotta protect him better than we did today.”
Murphy completed 15 of 27 passes, his least accurate game of the season, for 115 yards. Only four of his completions went for more than 8 yards. He rushed for 27 yards, not counting the four times LSU sacked him. The Tigers also had five quarterback hurries.
In his first three games replacing injured starter Jeff Driskel, Murphy energized Florida with stunning scrambles and home runs in the passing attack. He completed 72.2 percent of his throws, averaged 176.7 passing yards and connected on five touchdown passes. He also ran for 165 yards and two touchdowns.
Few of his moves seemed to work against LSU’s ferocious front. He was elusive at times, but he often had no chance to get loose in the open field or beat the Tigers on deep passes.
“It’s definitely frustrating when you have a guy downfield but can’t get to him,” Murphy said. “I have to work on getting rid of the ball quicker.”
He stuck up for his offensive line, saying the unit “did a great job of holding guys up.”
The Gators (4-2, 3-1 SEC) stayed in range until the final minutes and were within 14-6 early in the fourth quarter. Their defense, which recovered from a shaky first half, buckled again and allowed LSU (6-1, 3-1) to drive for a 31-yard field goal by Colby Delahoussaye.
Murphy pushed Florida to a first down at the Tigers’ 20-yard line with about five minutes remaining, but the Gators collapsed. They stumbled backward to a desperate fourth-and-27, and Murphy was sacked while trying to heave the ball into the end zone with 3:51 remaining.
Florida failed to score a touchdown for the first time since last October’s loss to Georgia. Their only points came on Frankie Velez’s 44- and 27-yard field goals. Velez, a walk-on who had never appeared in a game, won the job in practice last week over struggling kickers Austin Hardin and Brad Phillips.
In addition to problems on the offensive line, Murphy received little support from Florida’s running backs until the third quarter. In the first half, starter Matt Jones and backup Mack Brown combined for 52 yards.
Jones went out with a knee injury in the first half and never returned, creating a shot for freshman Kelvin Taylor to get his most significant work yet. Taylor, from Glades Day School, sparked the ground game with runs of 6 and 11 yards on his first two carries in the second half and finished with a career-high 52 yards on 10 attempts.
“He was hitting the hole, being patient and just taking what the defense was giving him, getting north and south,” Murphy said. “A kid like that is very explosive. He was close to breaking a few tackles and taking one to the house.”
Muschamp did not immediately know the severity of Jones’ injury and said he expected Taylor to have a role going forward if he kept improving his pass protection.
Florida produced its worst rushing (111 yards) and passing (129) output of the season against an LSU defense that entered the game seventh in the SEC in points and yards allowed.
Solomon Patton was the leading receiver with three catches for 32 yards, and Trey Burton caught three for 28. No other Florida player caught more than two passes.
“They’re fast and physical, and they had our number tonight,” Burton said. “They played really well. You can’t say anything bad about them.”
The Gators squandered a chance to capitalize on Georgia’s loss to Missouri earlier in the day. Missouri, which hosts Florida on Saturday, now stands in first place in the Eastern Division at 2-0 in conference. Florida, Georgia and South Carolina are tied for second at 3-1 in the SEC.
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