No. 5 LSU Beats No. 7 Florida 42-28 Behind Joe Burrow's 3 TD Passes

The No. 5 LSU Tigers were favored over the No. 7 Florida Gators ahead of their Saturday night showdown, and they showed why en route to a 42-28 victory at Tiger Stadium.

Gators junior quarterback Kyle Trask kept up with LSU senior quarterback Joe Burrow for much of the contest, but the interception he threw in the end zone on a 3rd-and-1 from the LSU 16-yard line sealed Florida's fate. 

Burrow continued to make his case as a Heisman Trophy candidate with three touchdown passes. The Tigers entered Saturday night ranked first in scoring offense with 273 points through five games and only continued that success. 

Florida's defense stood a chance on paper, having forced an FBS-most 17 turnovers through the first five games, but Burrow was as efficient as they come and rendered that perceived advantage for the Gators irrelevant. 

Instead, LSU's defense made two crucial stops in the fourth quarter—intercepting Trask and then stuffing him at the Tigers' 2-yard line on 4th-and-goal with less than a minute to go.

Offensively, since Trask took over as starting quarterback for an injured Feleipe Franks against Kentucky in Week 3, the Gators had outscored opponents 96-16. They defeated No. 7 Auburn 24-13 last week but met their match in LSU on a night when they could have separated themselves from No. 3 Georgia in the SEC East after the Bulldogs suffered an upset loss to South Carolina earlier in the day.

LSU, meanwhile, continues to keep pace with undefeated No. 1 Alabama in the SEC West.

Notable Performances

LSU QB Joe Burrow: 293 yards, 3 TD on 21-of-24 passing; 6 carries, 43 yards

LSU RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire: 13 carries, 134 yards, 2 TD

LSU WR Ja'Marr Chase: 7 catches, 127 yards, 2 TD

LSU WR Justin Jefferson: 10 catches, 123 yards, 1 TD

Florida QB Kyle Trask: 310 yards, 3 TD, 1 INT on 23-of-39 passing; 10 carries, 21 yards

Florida RB Lamical Perine: 17 carries, 65 yards

Florida TE Kyle Pitts: 5 catches, 108 yards

Florida WR Van Jefferson: 8 catches, 73 yards, 2 TD

Joe Burrow Strengthens His Heisman Candidacy 

On the field following the game, LSU head coach Ed Orgeron used a good word to sum up Burrow's performance: efficiency.

On Twitter, former LSU running back Jeremy Hill used another good word to sum up Burrow's performance through six contests: Heisman. 

Burrow entered halftime with as many touchdown passes as he had incompletions (two) and led LSU on three scoring drives that collectively took less time than each of Florida's first two touchdown drives:

His second-half performance only added to the deserved hype mounting around him as he and the Tigers scored 21 unanswered points, punctuated by a 54-yard touchdown pass to Ja'Marr Chase to capitalize on a Trask interception and put the game away:

Burrow hung three touchdown passes on a unit that had given up four total entering the night, which brought him closer to topping LSU's all-time list for most touchdown passes in a single season:

Additionally, LSU joined Texas A&M (2013) and Alabama (2018) as the only teams in SEC history to score at least 40 points in each of a season's first six games (h/t AL.com's Mark Inabinett).

But what Burrow offers goes beyond numbers:

With Burrow's form, plus the help from running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire on display against Florida, the Tigers have as good a shot as any to upend No. 1 Alabama when they play them Nov. 9.

Kyle Trask Shows Promise in First Road Start

Trask's night ended poorly—they don't call it Death Valley for nothing—but his fourth-quarter interception shouldn't overshadow how well he performed overall.

Saturday night was Trask's first career start on the road, and he was tasked with outdueling a Heisman Trophy candidate in a notoriously difficult environment. Through the first half, Trask answered Burrow every time:

The challenge also came just a month after he took over the starting job from an injured Franks and one week after he suffered a leg injury. Through three quarters, many took notice of Trask's poise:

Trask can learn from his late-game interception and use Florida's away contest next week at South Carolina to further polish his game ahead of a crucial matchup with No. 3 Georgia at the Swamp on Nov. 2.

What's Next?

LSU will look to keep rolling when it travels to face 3-3 Mississippi State next Saturday. The Tigers will have to avoid getting caught in a trap game, as No. 12 Auburn and No. 1 Alabama loom in the two conests beyond Mississippi State.

The Gators will look to rebound against South Carolina, which will be high off an upset win over No. 3 Georgia earlier in the day, next Saturday. It will be the first time this season that Florida has back-to-back away games.