Video: LSU somehow botches Hail Mary defense against Florida

The LSU Tigers had been impressively competitive against the Florida Gators in the first half of Saturday’s game. Some of that work was undone, however, just before the half.

The Tigers led 21-6 with five seconds to go in the first half. Florida had the ball at the LSU 42-yard line, and it was obvious to everyone that a Hail Mary was coming. LSU even looked prepared for it, starting the play with three defenders at the goal line to prevent any big play.

Somehow, they failed to do that. Florida receiver Justin Shorter had three LSU defenders around him, but wound up making a largely uncontested touchdown catch anyway.

HAIL MARY TO END THE HALF 😱 pic.twitter.com/lIWPHUTAAp

— ESPN (@espn) October 16, 2021

You can bet there will be questions asked about how this possibly could have happened. It wasn’t as if LSU was caught off-guard. Somehow, a whole trio of players just managed to lose Shorter. None of them seemed to try to make a play on the ball, either.

It’s plays like this that have landed Ed Orgeron on the hot seat. This one won’t help his job security much.