Florida Football: 3 takeaways from tough loss at LSU in Week 7

Florida football went to Death Valley and look to have the LSU Tigers right where they wanted them until the fourth quarter. What’d we learn?

It wasn’t the outcome Florida was hoping for, but it had to feel good about the way the offense played, for the most part. The Gators left some points on the field, but nearly had 500 yards against a tough LSU defense. It wasn’t enough as the defense allowed 42 points and over 500 yards.

The Gators’ defense may still be one of the best in the nation, but not even they could slow down Joe Burrow and the shockingly elite offense of LSU.

Dan Mullen has to get back to the drawing board after allowed 21 straight points in the second half after taking a 28-21 lead in the third quarter, but there is plenty to learn from in this loss.

3. Run game needs work

It was clear that Kyle Trask was the MVP of the offense all game long, but the Gators put too much pressure on the quarterback by relying on him almost exclusively in the second half.

Sure, there were designed runs by Lamical Perine and even backup quarterback Emory Jones, but the pressure was on Trask to reach the end zone with his arm. The staff even had him run the ball a little too much for a guy who narrowly avoided a serious knee injury a week ago versus Auburn.

Perine finished the game with just 65 yards on 17 carries and the offense had just over 140 rushing yards. A large chunk of the rushing production came from Trask and Jones, combining for 57 yards on 19 touches.

The Gators have plenty of talent in the running game and too much to finish with just a minimal output on the ground from the backs.