LSU unstoppable in win over Florida

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Posted 8:13AM on Sunday, October 13, 2002

GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA - Just when Florida thought it couldn't get any worse, another Saturday rolled around. This time, it was unheralded Matt Mauck and No. 18 LSU picking on Ron Zook's woeful, 16th-ranked Gators - scoring in almost every way imaginable for a 36-7 victory. LSU intercepted Rex Grossman four times and got its first win in The Swamp since 1986. The Tigers (5-1, 2-0 Southeastern Conference) scored touchdowns on an interception return, a fake field goal and two passes from Mauck to Devery Henderson. Of course, winning at The Swamp doesn't seem that big a deal for visitors anymore. Florida lost by 25 here five weeks ago to No. 1 Miami, a bad performance that doesn't seem like an aberration anymore. Now, the Gators (4-3, 2-2) are relegated to playing out the string aiming not for the kind of things they sought when Steve Spurrier was here - like SEC titles and winning with pizzazz Instead, Zook will be trying to hold onto his job. And the way his team is playing, the Gators will be lucky to finish with a winning record and a trip to a bowl game. The victory put the Tigers, defending conference champions, into a first-place tie in the SEC West with Mississippi, the team that defeated the Gators 17-14 last Saturday. Corey Webster intercepted Grossman twice, and returned the second pick 45 yards for a touchdown and a 10-0 lead late in the first quarter. From there, it got worse. And worse. The low point - or one of them, at least - came on the first play of the fourth quarter, when holder Blain Bech ran 35 yards untouched into the end zone for a score and a 33-7 lead - an insult made worse considering the Gators botched a fake field goal on their first drive of the game. Grossman finished 18-for-43 for 163 yards with one touchdown and four interceptions. He now has 11 touchdowns and 14 picks on the season. About the only fans left for the fourth quarter were the few thousand in the southeast corner clad in purple and gold. By the time the Gators fell behind 26-7, Florida fans - tired of booing and listening to LSU's band play the Tiger Rag - were heading for the parking lot. The few who stayed sarcastically chanted ``Ingle Martin,'' the name of Grossman's backup. With their awful performance, the Gators are in jeopardy of seeing their nation-best, 209-week streak in The Associated Press poll end. They lost consecutive SEC games for the first time since 1992, in Spurrier's third year as coach. Those Gators were largely considered the least talented of the Spurrier era, yet the ol' ballcoach somehow coaxed them into the SEC title game. But yet again, Zook showed he is no Steve Spurrier. For the second straight week, the offense he and coordinator Ed Zaunbrecher designed went nowhere. Florida gained 237 yards and made 16 first downs. The Gators tried no fewer than a dozen trick plays - misconnecting on a fake field goal, getting tackled behind the line on an attempted halfback pass and handing off to Martin, who lined up at wide receiver. They were calls that would have been deemed brilliant had Spurrier been on the sideline, but came off as cheesy and desperate in this game.