GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Louisiana-Lafayette Coach Mark Hudspeth wanted his players to watch No. 6 Florida’s wild, postgame celebration.
Not so they would remember the gut-wrenching feeling of the meltdown, but so they would realize how close they came to pulling off one the biggest upsets in the history of both programs.
“Anytime you see the [Associated Press] seventhranked team in the country storm the field like they won the Super Bowl to beat you, you know you’re doing some good things,” Hudspeth said.
The Gators (9-1) scored twice in the final two minutes, including once on a blocked punt as the final seconds ticked off the clock, to beat Louisiana-Lafayette 27-20 on Saturday.
The Ragin’ Cajuns (5-4) were 27-point underdogs, were paid $950,000 to be Florida’s homecoming opponent and hadn’t beaten a ranked team in 16 years.
None of that mattered at Florida Field, where Lousiana-Lafayette played smart and waited for the Gators to self-destruct.
It worked, until that frantic finish.
Florida did little on offense most of the day and looked to be in serious trouble when quarterback Jeff Driskel left the game with a sprained right ankle.
Louisiana-Lafayette led 17-13 in the third quarter after Alonzo Harris’ 2-yard run and a blocked punt for a touchdown on the ensuing drive. Brett Baer’s 22-yard field goal — considered a huge stand for Florida’s defense — made it 20-13 early in the fourth.
But backup quarterback Jacoby Brissett rallied the Gators. After a shaky start that included two sacks and a near-interception in his first four throws, Brissett passed to tight end Jordan Reed down the middle for a 39-yard gain and then hit Quinton Dunbar for 3-yard scoring pass with 1:42 remaining.
Louisiana-Lafayette was content to run out the clock and play for overtime.
Loucheiz Purifoy had other thoughts. One of Florida’s fastest players, Purifoy sprinted off the edge and got his right hand on Baer’s punt with about seven seconds left. Jenkins picked up the deflection and went untouched the other way.
Florida players and coaches jumped for joy on the sideline, knowing the significance of the situation.
“It’s sad, disappointing,” Harris said. “It hurts knowing we could have won a game that slipped through our fingers.”
Players questioned Hudspeth’s late-game decision to play for overtime on the road.
With the game tied 20-20 and 1:40 remaining, the Ragin’ Cajuns ran three times before the fateful punt.
“There is a lot of pain in the locker room because we knew that we had that game in our hands and we let it slip away,” receiver Bradley Brown said.
“The thing that we didn’t understand was why we didn’t go for it with a minute and 40 seconds left on the clock because we are a two-minute team.”
The Gators were coming off eight consecutive games against SEC foes and were supposed to get a break against a middle-of-the-pack team from the Sun Belt Conference.
No such luck.
Harris ran 20 times for 68 yards. Terrance Broadway completed 16 of 23 passes for 171 yards and was sacked just once against Florida’s vaunted front.
Florida, meanwhile, was its own worst enemy.
The Gators were flagged 10 times for 79 yards, including two costly ones on Louisiana-Lafayette’s lone touchdown drive.
NO. 5 GEORGIA 38, AUBURN 0
AUBURN, Ala. — Aaron Murray passed for 208 yards and three touchdowns, freshman tailbacks Todd Gurley and Keith Marshall each ran for more than 100 yards and No. 5 Georgia overwhelmed Auburn, sending the Bulldogs back to the SEC Championship Game.
Georgia (9-1, 7-1 SEC) was methodical in its dominating victory. It scored the first shutout for either team in the series since the Bulldogs’ 28-0 victory in 1976.
Auburn (2-8, 0-7 SEC) was held to 238 yards, including 57 yards rushing, as its disappointing season with embattled Coach Gene Chizik suffered another low.
Georgia, the Eastern Division champion, earned its second consecutive trip to the Dec. 1 SEC Championship Game in Atlanta.
Gurley had 11 carries for 116 yards and a touchdown. Marshall had eight carries for 105 yards, including a 62-yard touchdown run in the third quarter.
Murray completed 18 of 24 passes with no interceptions and touchdown passes to Chris Conley, Malcolm Mitchell and Tavarres King. Murray, who completed his first 10 passes, was rested in the fourth quarter as backups Parker Welch and Christian LeMay finished the game.
Freshman Jonathan Wallace, making his second start for Auburn, completed 15 of 22 passes for 181 yards and threw 1 interception. Emory Blake had six catches for 104 yards.
Sports, Pages 31 on 11/11/2012