College Football Blitz, Week 12: Louisville losses, Colorado can play
By John Buhler
Play of the Week: Austin Appleby to Tyrie Cleveland for 98-yard touchdown vs. LSU
The Florida Gators had an incredibly difficult task on their hands in Week 12. Florida needed to beat the No. 16 LSU Tigers in Death Valley on Saturday afternoon to win the SEC East. This game was originally going to be played in Gainesville back on October 8th, but Hurricane Matthew got in the way.
Florida could have still won the SEC East, but needed to see the Tennessee Volunteers lose against either the Missouri Tigers or the Vanderbilt Commodores. That didn’t seem promising for the Gators, as Missouri and Vanderbilt aren’t strong football team. Florida needed to find a way to win against the elite LSU defense of interim head coach Ed Orgeron.
The Gators struggled to move the ball for most of Saturday. However, the defense kept them in the game. After forcing LSU to turn the ball over on downs after a botched field goal attempt, the Gators would get the ball at their own two-yard line.
Graduate transfer quarterback Austin Appleby would make the greatest pass of his collegiate career. He would find true freshman wide receiver Tyrie Cleveland, who would find pay dirt on a 98-yard touchdown pass to go up 10-7 on the Tigers.
That was the only touchdown for the Gators, who would go on to win the game 16-10 on a goal line stand on the final play from scrimmage. Appleby to Cleveland was the second longest play in Florida history. The longest involved Sunday Night Football’s Cris Collinsworth back in 1977.
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Florida did the unthinkable of winning a home road game in Death Valley to win the SEC East in back-to-back seasons. Appleby to Cleveland will go down as one of the greatest plays in Florida football history.