Florida-LSU football rivalry
| First meeting | September 25, 1937 LSU 19, Florida 0 |
|---|---|
| Latest meeting | October 7, 2017 LSU 17, Florida 16 |
| Next meeting | October 6, 2018 in Gainesville, FL |
| Statistics | |
| Meetings total | 64 |
| All-time series | Florida leads, 32–29–3 |
| Largest victory | Florida, 58–3 (1993) |
| Longest win streak | Florida, 9 (1988–96) |
| Current win streak | LSU, 1 (2017–present) |
The Florida–LSU football rivalry is an American college football rivalry between the Florida Gators football team of the University of Florida and LSU Tigers football team of Louisiana State University. Although both universities were founding members of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) in December 1932, the Gators and Tigers did not meet on the gridiron until 1937, and have been annual opponents only since 1971. When the SEC instituted divisional play in 1992, Florida was placed in the SEC Eastern Division and LSU in the Western Division, and Florida and LSU were selected as permanent cross-division rivals. The Gators and Tigers have combined to win five national championships and eleven SEC titles over the past two decades.
Florida leads the series 32–29–3. The longest winning streak in the series is held by Florida, with nine victories from 1988–96. LSU's longest winning streak is four, from 1977–80.
The road team in the series has been unusually successful in recent years. After upsetting #1 Florida 28–21 in Baton Rouge in 1997, LSU is 5–5 at the Swamp; Florida is also 5–5 at Tiger Stadium. Both teams have won two national titles each during that time period, and boasted impressive home records against other opponents.
Sources: 2011 Florida Gators Football Media Guide,2011 LSU Football Media Guide, and College Football Data Warehouse.
The first game in the series was a 19–0 victory for LSU at Tiger Stadium on September 25, 1937. It was the opening game of the season and played in front of a crowd of 15,000. LSU was the defending SEC champion, while Florida was coming off a 4–6 season in 1936. Both teams were coached by men who were later inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame: Bernie Moore for LSU and Josh Cody for Florida. Tigers sophomore quarterback Young Bussey provided most of the team's offense, scoring two touchdowns and kicking the only successful extra point. One of LSU's three pass completions in the game was a 40-yard strike from Bussey to future Hall of Fame end Ken Kavanaugh that put them at the Florida 2-yard line. Two other pass attempts were intercepted by Florida's Walter "Tiger" Mayberry, a star on both offense and defense for the Gators. LSU out-gained Florida in rushing yards 273–51, passing yards 73–0 (Florida attempted only one pass in the game, which fell incomplete), and converted 18 first downs to Florida's 3.
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