The Florida Gators dropped their third game in a row to the No. 24 ranked Auburn Tigers 17 – 6. In a game where defense was supposed to determine the outcome, (because both offenses were as good as a Pop Warner team) it turned out to be a football game decided by penalties and mental mistakes made on special teams by the Gators.

Florida’s first offensive series was a tough one to watch. I take that back, almost every offensive series for the Gators (and Auburn) was tough to watch. On the second play from scrimmage, Jacoby Brissett heaved a prayer into the air attempting to convert on the long ball. For one second I actually thought he had someone open and just maybe, maybe this would be reminiscent of the pass Andre Debose caught against Alabama. Unfortunately for the Gator Nation it was nothing of the sort. It was actually a horribly thrown ball that ended up being intercepted. This pretty much set the tone for the entire night.

Auburn’s first touchdown came from a fumbled punt by Chris Rainey. Although it was clear on the replays that Rainey was interfered with as he called for a fair catch, the referees missed the call and awarded the ball to Auburn. Three plays later, Auburn quarterback Barrett Trotter connected on a poorly thrown ball to DeAngelo Bennett for a 25 yard score.

From there nothing seemed to improve. The Gators shuffled in three quarterbacks all night. Jeff Driskel was in effective and scared. Jacoby Brissett couldn’t do anything. And Trey Burton in at quarterback gives the Gators a negative edge as everyone knows they are just going to run some sort of wildcat formation and not even attempt to throw the ball.

Overall, it was a horrible offensive performance and a pretty solid defensive performance. The Gators D held the Tigers to 123 yards passing and 155 yards rushing. Both scores for Auburn came off of two different errors that the Gators had on Special teams. One of them just happened to be that our punter forgot how to hold onto a ball when he punts it. Yes, the ball was snapped to him perfectly. He caught the ball perfectly. He had no one even around him trying to block the kick. And yes, he takes one step forward, getting ready to wind up and boot the ball, and he fumbles it in his hands. Picks it up, tries to hurry and kicks a wonderful 15-yard punt. It was simply fantastic. With things like this happening all night, it was just impossible to come away with a win even if the defense keeps you in the game the entire night.

I don’t think anyone ever thought we would be missing Brantley this much. But we do and we need him back now. It’s going to be a long season if we are stuck with rotating Driskel, Burton and Brissett.

In the 8th straight meeting where both the Florida Gators and LSU Tigers were ranked in the top 25, The Tigers dominated the game and proved to be the better team with a 41 – 11 victory over the Gators.  One could almost see this coming, especially after watching the Alabama game last week. However there was still some anticipation for Florida fans as they were going to get their first look at freshman quarterback Jacoby Brissett. John Brantley, the Gators captain and starter was injured in the first half of the Alabama game with a severe ankle sprain. Jeff Driskel, another freshman, who is second on the depth chart behind Brantley, was also injured against Alabama and didn’t even dress for LSU. That left the Gators with Brissett, the third string quarterback.

The Gators offense didn’t get off to a good start. They started with several 3 and out’s, while LSU scored a long TD pass from Jarrett Lee on their first possession of the game. That basically set the tone for the day, where the Gators were anemic on offense, with countless ineffective runs up the middle and erratic play by Brissett. The Florida offensive line couldn’t stop a three year old from penetrating. LSU’s defensive front was dominating the Gators front 5, not to mention forcing them to hold and commit false starts which subsequently caused the Gators to have poor field position . The Gator running game was non existent. Chris Rainey rushed 13 times for a total of 52 yards while Jeff Demps rushed 2 times for a total of 0 yards. Demps didn’t play much at all as he was still nursing his injured ankle from the Alabmama game. This put Brisseett in a hole almost every time he stepped onto the field. Not only was he a freshman quarterback, making his collegiate start against a top ranked defense, he also had to battle with his onw teammates who were continually making stupid plays and getting penalized for it. It really was a mess.

On more of a lighter note, Brissett did show some positives, mainly arm strength and size. He did complete some nice passes and had a 65-yard touchdown toss to Andre Debose. But unfortunately that was it.  As Gator fans we have to be patient with these freshman as the will continue to improve and learn how to play in the toughest and fastest collegiate division, the SEC. Driskel and Brissett had seen zero action until last week. Even Brantley has received limited snaps as a Senior, as he didn’t play for two years while waiting in the shadow of Tim Tebow. The Gators have a young team that is going to get better every week. Lets just hope it happens sooner than later. At 4-2, the Gators will have to be nearly perfect to get into a top-tier bowl game, but with the toughest schedule in college football, it will be difficult.