October 10, 2009 Week 6 · Regular Season Belt defended

Florida defends the belt, 13–3, on the road at LSU.

Home · Challenger

LSUAP No. 4 3

Away · Defending Holder

FloridaAP No. 1 13

AP poll, week 6: Florida No. 1 at LSU No. 4 · No. 1 that week: Iowa. The belt vs. the polls →

Belt context

Where this game sits in the lineage

Florida came in 275 days into reign #270, which began with a win over Oklahoma, with 4 defenses already behind it; this was its 5th defense. Florida went on to defend it 7 more times before Alabama took it on December 5, 2009, 331 days after the reign began.

For LSU this was its 16th shot at the belt; it had held the belt 6 times before.

It was the 5th of 5 belt games between the two; going in, LSU led the belt series 3–1; all-time LSU leads 3–2. Every meeting →

AI-Written

Recap

Florida's defense stifled LSU's offense throughout the game, forcing the Tigers into a dismal 1-9 performance on third downs while managing just 162 total yards. The Gators controlled the tempo with 22+ minutes of possession, methodically moving the ball behind Tim Tebow's efficient passing and a strong ground game led by Jeffery Demps. Florida struck first with a Caleb Sturgis field goal in the first quarter, then added a touchdown when Tebow connected with Riley Cooper for 24 yards late in the second quarter to extend their lead to 10-3. LSU managed only a pair of field goals from Josh Jasper, and despite a couple of defensive plays including an interception by Jai Eugene late in the game, the Tigers never mounted a serious threat to Florida's dominance.

Caleb Sturgis 28-yard field goal in Q1 -- Florida drew first blood and set the tone for the game
Tim Tebow to Riley Cooper 24-yard touchdown in Q2 -- extended Florida's lead to 10-3 and effectively put the game out of reach
LSU's 1-9 third-down conversion rate -- the Tigers' offense was completely ineffective and unable to sustain drives
Joe Haden interception of Jordan Jefferson in Q2 -- prevented LSU from capitalizing on field position late in the first half

Written by Claude from the box score and play-by-play on this page — a plain-English recap of the numbers below, not a substitute for them.

Full Box Score

Team stats

CFBD box score

LSUFlorida

Total yards162327

Rushing yards66193

Passing yards127134

First downs1222

3rd down conv.1/95/12

Turnovers11

Penalties–yards9–646–45

Time of possession14:3422:25

Full team box score from CFBD’s /games/teams data. This section only appears for belt games from 2003 onward — CFBD doesn’t have team-level stats that far back.

Play By Play

Key plays

CFBD play-by-play

When	Team	Yards	Play
Q1 9:20	Florida	+25 yd	Jeffery Demps rush for 25 yards to the Fla 49 for a 1ST down.
Q1 3:50	Florida	+28 yd	Caleb Sturgis 28 yard field goal GOOD.
Q2 10:19	LSU	+26 yd	Jordan Jefferson pass complete to Brandon LaFell for 26 yards to the Fla 43 for a 1ST down.
Q2 5:16	LSU	+18 yd	Josh Jasper 18 yard field goal GOOD.
Q2 3:41	Florida	+20 yd	Tim Tebow pass complete to Brandon James for 20 yards to the LSU 48 for a 1ST down.
Q2 0:50	Florida	+24 yd	Tim Tebow pass complete to Riley Cooper for 24 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q2 0:50	Florida	+0 yd	Caleb Sturgis extra point GOOD.
Q2 0:22	LSU	+0 yd	Jordan Jefferson pass intercepted by Joe Haden at the Fla 34, returned for no gain to the Fla 34.
Q3 10:28	Florida	+26 yd	Tim Tebow pass complete to Aaron Hernandez for 26 yards to the LSU 17 for a 1ST down.
Q3 8:21	Florida	+25 yd	Caleb Sturgis 25 yard field goal MISSED.
Q4 6:43	Florida	+25 yd	Caleb Sturgis kickoff for 65 yards returned by Ron Brooks for 25 yards to the LSU 30.
Q4 7:27	Florida	+32 yd	Caleb Sturgis 32 yard field goal GOOD.
Q4 4:55	Florida	+0 yd	Tim Tebow pass intercepted by Jai Eugene at the LSU 5, returned for no gain to the LSU 5.

Scoring plays, turnovers, and gains of 20+ yards, pulled from CFBD’s play-by-play. This section only appears for belt games with play-by-play on file (2003 onward).

Box Score

Player stats

CFBD player stats

Passing

LSU

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT	QBR
Jordan Jefferson	11/17	96	5.6	0	1	16.3

Florida

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT	QBR
Tim Tebow	11/16	134	8.4	1	1	41.3

Rushing

LSU

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	LONG
Charles Scott	13	53	4.1	12
Trindon Holliday	2	13	6.5	10
Keiland Williams	3	1	0.3	2
Jordan Jefferson	12	-1	-0.1	8

Florida

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	LONG
Jeff Demps	16	86	5.4	25
Emmanuel Moody	6	42	7.0	12
Tim Tebow	17	38	2.2	9
Aaron Hernandez	1	16	16.0	16
Chris Rainey	4	11	2.8	4
Brandon James	3	1	0.3	2

Receiving

LSU

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	LONG
Brandon LaFell	4	44	11.0	26
Charles Scott	3	29	9.7	13
Terrence Toliver	2	14	7.0	7
Richard Dickson	1	8	8.0	8
Chris Mitchell	1	1	1.0	1

Florida

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Aaron Hernandez	6	70	11.7	0	26
Riley Cooper	2	33	16.5	1	24
Brandon James	1	20	20.0	0	20
Deonte Thompson	2	11	5.5	0	7

Show more stats (5 more categories)

Interceptions

LSU

Player	INT	YDS	TD
Jai Eugene	1	0	0

Florida

Player	INT	YDS	TD
Joe Haden	1	0	0

Kick Returns

LSU

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG
Trindon Holliday	1	25	25.0	25
Ron Brooks	1	25	25.0	25
Chase Clement	1	9	9.0	9

Florida

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Brandon James	1	16	16.0	16	0

Kicking

LSU

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Josh Jasper	1/1	100.0	18	0/0	3

Florida

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Caleb Sturgis	2/3	66.7	32	1/1	7

Punt Returns

LSU

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Trindon Holliday	1	0	0.0	0	0

Florida

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Brandon James	1	0	0.0	0	0

Punting

LSU

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
Derek Helton	3	110	36.7	0	0	51
Josh Jasper	1	39	39.0	0	0	39

Florida

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
Chas Henry	1	30	30.0	0	0	30

Full player stats from CFBD’s /games/players data, split out by team. This section only appears for belt games from 2003 onward — CFBD doesn’t have player-level stats that far back. Linked player names go to that player’s stat line in every other belt game they’ve appeared in.

Sources Box score at ESPN · Game record: College Football Data (id 292830099) · This game in the downloadable dataset

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