BATON ROUGE, La. — For weeks, Florida had heard the hype surrounding LSU running back Leonard Fournette.
And on Saturday, the Gators realized it wasn’t all for naught: The sophomore is a legitimate Heisman Trophy frontrunner and arguably the greatest backfield force to dazzle the collegiate landscape since Adrian Peterson wowed en mass at Oklahoma.
The question ‘how do you overcome Fournette’ was unavoidable in the days preceding Florida’s top-10 matchup with the Tigers, with no affirmative answer given.
As it turned out, the Gators couldn’t.
"Stop the run, stop Fournette," cornerback Brian Poole said following UF’s 35-28 loss. "It was tough…he’s a great player."
Fournette gashed Florida to the tune of 180 yards with two touchdowns on 31 carries — staggering numbers that seem average considering the peaks the New Orleans native had reached in the first half of the season.
To say he’s dominated and carried the Tigers to their status as a national championship contender might be an understatement.
Through six games, Fournette has averaged an otherworldly 200.3 yards per contest, topping the thousand-yard plateau before the midway point of the season.
Considering the Tigers consistently face opponents, like the Gators, who structure their defensive game plan around stopping him, it’s easy to see why players and pundits alike have heaped praise on a man who’s grandmother adoringly labeled him ‘Button’ for his button nose.
Florida had emphasized gang tackling him, throwing as many guys at him as possible.
But even that didn’t work.
"We knew the type of back that he was," safety Marcus Maye said. "We just tried to hit him every play and drive him back a few times."
With Florida entering a week of practice focused on correcting details — a bye on Saturday gives UF 12 days to salivate at the thought of playing a depleted Georgia team in Jacksonville — the Gators can observe film and make corrections to better defend against the run.
But for now, the team can take solace in the likelihood that no other running back on the upcoming schedule should manhandle the Gators like Fournette did.
The Bulldogs will be without sophomore Nick Chubb, who suffered damage to multiple ligaments in his left knee in the team’s first play from scrimmage against Tennessee on Oct. 10 and will be out for the rest of the season.
And while Sony Michel filled in effectively with 87 yards on Saturday against Missouri — a barnburner 9-6 win for Georgia that played like a public service announcement for the importance of having a reliable kicker — his game experience and talent dwarfs in comparison to Chubb and Fournette.
"LSU got a monster in the backfield," UF running back Kelvin Taylor. "I feel like the defense played a great game, but it was just an all-around team loss.
"We didn’t convert when we needed to convert on offense. The defense needed them to get off the field, we couldn’t get them off the field."
Florida proved its heralded defense can be gashed by a talented running back, and if the Gators have truly returned to the Southeastern Conference’s elite, coach Jim McElwain must prepare the team as if every running back remaining on the schedule has the ability to torch UF like Fournette did in Death Valley.
However, McElwain was understandably disappointed the Gators couldn’t do something that no team has done this season: shut down Fournette.
"We’re disappointed. We expected to come in and win," McElwain said. "Every game we play, we expect to win."
Follow Graham Hall on Twitter @Graham311
LSU running back Leonard Fournette carries the ball as he's chased by UF linebacker Jarrad Davis (40) during the Tigers' 35-28 win against the Gators on Oct. 17, 2015, at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
