Kyle Trask, No. 6 Florida Upset by Unranked LSU on Cade York's Game-Winning FG

LSU kicker Cade York nailed a 57-yard field goal with 23 seconds remaining as the Tigers stunned No. 6 Florida 37-34 on Saturday at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville.

The Gators drove 42 yards in three plays and 21 seconds in response, setting up Evan McPherson for a 51-yard field-goal try. However, McPherson's effort barely curved wide left, and LSU earned the road win.

LSU led 27-17 in the third quarter, but the Gators responded with touchdowns off a one-yard run from quarterback Kyle Trask and a nine-yard catch via wideout Kadarius Toney to enter the fourth ahead 31-27.

The Tigers fired back with a nine-play, 84-yard drive capped by a four-yard pass from quarterback Max Johnson to running back Tre Bradford for a 34-31 edge.

Florida eventually tied the game at 34 off a McPherson 31-yard field goal with 2:51 remaining before York booted the game-winner.

The Tigers, who started the year 3-5 after winning the national championship the year before, took down an 8-1 Gators team whose only loss was to No. 5 Texas A&M. Florida had won six straight games by an average of 20.83 points until Saturday.

Notable Performances

LSU QB Max Johnson: 21-of-36, 239 passing yards, 3 touchdowns; 52 rushing yards

LSU WR Kayshon Boutte: 5 catches, 108 receiving yards, 1 touchdown

LSU WR Jaray Jenkins: 4 catches, 65 receiving yards, 1 touchdown

Florida QB Kyle Trask: 29-of-47, 474 passing yards, 2 touchdowns, 2 interceptions

Florida WR Kadarius Toney: 9 catches, 182 receiving yards, 1 touchdown

Florida WR Jacob Copeland: 5 catches, 123 receiving yards, 1 touchdown

LSU Fights to Finish and Gets Hard-Earned, Well-Deserved Win

LSU showcased a remarkable ability to take a punch Saturday evening and dish one right back to the Gators and their powerful offense.

The Tigers seemingly had a response for everything Florida threw at them. An opening touchdown drive from the Trask-led offense gave Florida a 7-0 lead, but LSU quickly responded when Jaray Jenkins snagged a five-yarder from Max Johnson:

LSU then benefitted from an Eli Ricks pick-six to give itself a 14-7 lead, but Florida then went on a 10-0 run that featured Jacob Copeland's 19-yard touchdown catch.

Undeterred, LSU rolled off a nine-play, 75-yard drive in 1:52. This time, it was Kayshon Boutte who got the job done, taking a 34-yard Johnson pass to the house after a defensive breakdown left him wide open:

Florida proved hard to keep down: The Gators were down 27-17 but quickly scored two touchdowns to end the third quarter and take its final lead of the game. However, LSU then responded yet again, marching 84 yards in nine plays to take a 34-31 advantage.

From that point, the defense took over, forcing two three-and-outs and holding Florida to a field goal on the next three drives. The LSU defense bent at the tail end of the game as Florida got chunks of yardage to set up a long field-goal try, but it didn't break as the kick sailed wide left.

It's been a trying season for LSU, who witnessed many players from its national championship team head for the NFL. The much-maligned defense has had a tough year, and the Tigers lost four of their five games by 10 or more points.

However, they showed tremendous heart in their road win over Florida, and now LSU can hang its hat on arguably the biggest upset in college football this year.

Turnovers, Inability to Get Big Stop Doom Gators

Florida out-gained LSU 609-418. Trask threw for 474 yards, and Toney and Jacob Copeland combined for 305 receiving yards by themselves. The Gators rushed for 5.2 yards per carry and held LSU to 3.6 YPC. Florida also led on three separate occasions on a night where it didn't have star tight end Kyle Pitts, who was out with an injury.

Somehow, Florida still lost a game against a team that entered Saturday with a 3-5 mark. There are two primarily culprits.

First, Florida lost the turnover battle 3-0. Not only that, but each one proved costly.

The first directly led to a touchdown off the Ricks pick-six to put LSU up 13-7:

The second killed off a strong Florida drive that saw the Gators face 1st-and-10 from the LSU 15-yard line. A phenomenal effort from Jay Ward ended that threat, though:

The third occurred when a Ray Thornton sack forced a Trask fumble, leading to a BJ Ojulari recovery at the Florida 19-yard line with six seconds left in the first half. York gave LSU a 24-17 halftime edge off a 39-yard field goal.

The credit goes to Ricks, Ward and Ojulari making great plays against a fantastic Florida offense led by Trask, who very well could be a first-round NFL draft pick en route to playing on Sundays.

Still, Florida only found itself down seven at the half despite the three turnovers, and the Gators didn't commit another for the remainder of the game.

However, the second-half problem came in the form of two long scoring drives: a 17-play, 63-yarder that ended with a York field goal and a nine-play, 84-yarder capped by Bradford's touchdown catch. The first one only ended with three points, but it drained 6:31 left on the clock and kept Trask on the sideline. The second one was clutch, as it gave LSU back the lead after losing it the drive before off Toney's score.

After all that, Florida was still able to keep level with LSU at 34 going into the final minutes following a McPherson field goal. However, LSU took advantage of a Marco Wilson unsportmanslike conduct penalty after he threw Tigers tight end Kole Taylor's cleat down the field:

Shortly thereafter, York pierced the Gainesville fog with a 57-yard field goal, and Florida's College Football Playoff hopes soon vanished along with it.

What's Next?

Florida will play the undefeated and top-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide on Dec. 19 at 8 p.m. ET in the SEC Championship Game. The matchup will occur in Atlanta's Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

LSU will host Ole Miss on Dec. 19 at 3:30 p.m. to close its regular season.