Week 6: No. 1 Florida Gators at No. 4 LSU Tigers

By Adam Silverstein
October 10, 2009

Location: Tiger Stadium – Baton Rouge, LA [Capacity: 92,400]
Time: 8:00 p.m. (EST)
Weather Forecast: 72-65°F – 40% chance of precipitation

TV: CBS-HD
Sirius XM: XM 215 (Gators), XM 214 (Tigers)

Florida Gators LSU Tigers
Head Coach: Urban Meyer Head Coach: Les Miles
Record: 4-0 (2-0) Record: 5-0 (3-0)
Division: SEC East Division: SEC West
Roster | Schedule Roster | Schedule

Odds: Florida -9, O/U 45.5
Head-to-Head Stats: Gainesville Sun

KEEP AN EYE ON…
Florida Gators quarterback Tim Tebow…who is currently second all-time to former Georgia Bulldogs running back Herschel Walker in Southeastern Conference rushing touchdowns with 48. He needs one more to tie Walker’s record.
– Wide receiver Deonte Thompson…who makes his return to the Gators after injuring his hamstring against the Troy Trojans in the second week of the season. With Thompson out and both WR Riley Cooper and tight end Aaron Hernandez ill a few weeks ago, Florida’s receiving core is finally healthy and looking to break out.
LSU Tigers running back Charles Scott…who had season highs of 19 carries and 95 yards last week against Georgia. The Tigers want to get him more involved.
– The winner of the Florida/LSU game…who has gone on to win the National Championship each of the last three seasons.

STREAKS:
– The Gators are in the middle of their longest winning streak in school history with 14 consecutive victories. They also hold the longest active winning streak in the NCAA.
– Florida holds a 29-23-3 series lead over LSU in 55 all-time meetings.
– The Tigers have won 32 consecutive Saturday night games in Tiger Stadium, a streak that has been going on since 2002.
– LSU is listed as an underdog for only the fourth time in the last nine seasons when playing at home. The Tigers are winless in their last three meetings as home underdogs.
– Since joining the Gators, head coach Urban Meyer has a 6-1 record against opponents ranked in the top five and a 10-2 streak against top 10 teams.
– When ranked No. 1 in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll, Florida is 18-4 all-time. LSU is 2-8-1 all-time against teams ranked No. 1 in the AP Poll.

Read OGGOA’s complete Florida at LSU GameDay preview after the jump…

No. 1 Florida Gators at No. 4 LSU Tigers GameDay Preview

No. 1 Florida Gators (4-0, 2-0) go on the road to take on No. 4 LSU Tigers (5-0, 3-0) in the Southeastern Conference showdown of the year live at 8 p.m. Saturday night in Baton Rouge, LA, at Tiger Stadium.

Leading up to Saturday night’s game, the story of the week has been the health of Florida quarterback Tim Tebow after he suffered a concussion on Sept. 26 in Lexington, KY, while playing the Kentucky Wildcats. Tebow did not begin practicing until Tuesday of this week and has been receiving glowing reviews from doctors and head coach Urban Meyer. With Tebow’s status in question for the last two weeks, Meyer spoke with ESPN’s Tom Rinaldi Saturday morning and explained his decision-making process on this issue. “If Tim is ready to play, cleared to play, we’re going to play him,” Meyer said. Tebow underwent a bevy of tests Saturday afternoon and was officially cleared by team doctors. Now the decision is up to Meyer to make closer to game time. Should Tebow not play, redshirt sophomore back-up QB John Brantley is ready to go after practicing with the first team for most of the last two weeks.

Tebow is not the only Gators player on the mend. Wide receiver Deonte Thompson has recovered from a strained hamstring and will make his first start since the Troy Trojans game, and middle linebacker Brandon Spikes is ready to go while still dealing with Achilles tendonitis. Defensive tackle Lawrence Marsh (high ankle sprain) is expected to play, while cornerback Moses Jenkins (concussion/whiplash), WR Carl Moore (back) and safety Dorian Munroe (torn meniscus) will be out; back-up left tackle Matt Patchan (torn ACL) was ruled out for the season on Monday.

For LSU, head coach Les Miles will look to run the football on offense with star running back Charles Scott who had season highs with 19 carries and 95 yards along with two touchdowns last week against the Georgia Bulldogs. On defense, Miles will use the Tigers’ athleticism coupled with the raucousness of the LSU crowd to attempt and disrupt a Florida offense that leads the NCAA in rushing with 307.5 yards per game.

LSU looks to end Florida’s school record and nation-leading 14-game winning streak, while the Gators attempt to stop the Tigers from winning their 33rd consecutive Saturday night game in Death Valley.

3 Comments

  1. Daniel M. says:

    Great teasers Adam. Sooo much on the line.

    You have mad Phtotshop skillz.

  2. Rich says:

    Great write up, I enjoy your posts on Twitter. Keep up the good work and Go Gators!

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