Blocked punt helps Florida escape Louisiana-Lafayette

• Florida beat Louisiana-Lafayette on a last-second blocked field goal, returned for a touchdown
• The Gators trailed by seven with less than three minutes remaining in the fourth quarter
• Gators improve to 9-1, avoid total disaster

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Black punt block.

Loucheiz Purifoy was getting ready to take his place on the left outside of the Florida defensive line for what was the final ticks in a game Saturday that Florida probably had no rights winning. Louisiana-Lafayette were just a couple of breaks away from ruining the Gators' hopes of a ninth win for the first time in three seasons.

But then Purifoy heard the call, looked across the line, and saw opportunity knocking - breaking free and swatting the ball off the foot of Ragin Cajuns punter Brett Baer and into the air. That's when Florida linebacker Jelani Jenkins camped under the ball, pulled it in and raced 36 yards for the game-winner, a 27-20 victory that came with just two seconds left to play.

"I was just thinking, 'Run, Jelani, please run. Get in the end zone so it will be over.''' Purifoy said afterwards.

Fans roared, on a windy day with hundreds of empty seats, more out of relief than anything on a tense afternoon that left a lot of Gator fans rubbing their eyes in disbelief.

"In all my years of playing football,'' said Florida defensive tackle Sharrif Floyd, "I've never seen a touchdown like that.''

"Black'' is the play that Chris Rainey used to set the Florida school record for career blocked punts, with six, before leaving after last season for the NFL's Pittsburgh Steelers. Purifoy took Rainey's spot on the play and has two blocks in consecutive weeks.

"I'm no Chris Rainey,'' half-joked Purifoy.

Actually, he's getting there fast. This one saved Florida from possibly the biggest upset of the college football season. The only other loss by the Gatorswas 17-9 to Georgia in Jacksonville.

"We certainly make it interesting,'' joked Florida coach Will Muschamp of UF's seventh comeback win of the season, the second in the fourth quarter. "It's a football team that is finding ways to win games. We certainly shot ourselves in the foot enough to get in that situation.''

Actually, it was a day filled with not real smart plays by the Gators that was saved by a couple of brilliant ones at the end to give it the program's seventh come from behind win of the season, the second in the fourth quarter. Slowed on offense by the sprained ankle of starting quarterback Jeff Driskel, 10 penalties for a loss of 79 yards and five quarterback sacks for another 24 yards in losses, the offense struggled all day.

Trailing 20-13 with 2:56 left and Driskel (98 yards passing and 76 rushing on the day) in the locker room, Florida went 49 yards to tie the game.

Backup quarterback Jacoby Brissett hit tight end Jordan Reed for a 39-yard gain to the 3-yard line and found Quinton Dunbar in the right corner of the end zone for the touchdown. Caleb Sturgis' point-after tied it at 20 with 1:42 left.

"Man down, man up,'' Muschamp said. "We've said that all season. Give (Brissett) credit for making the throws.''

Brissett completed six of eight throws for 64 yards in his relief stint. Muschamp said Driskel only has a sprain but won't know the severity until later, so Brissett could get another start next week against Jacksonville State.

"The saying, 'One snap away,' is real,'' Brissett said.

Louisiana-Lafayette (5-4) then played conservatively to try to run the clock out for overtime. But there were just enough seconds to save Florida.

"Give them credit for doing it right and making something happen," Ragin Cajuns coach Mark Hudspeth said. "That's what great football teams do.''

It was a tense second half.

Louisiana-Lafayette's Bradley Brown blocked a Kyle Christy punt and Blake Comminie returned it 22 yards for a touchdown that put Louisiana ahead 17-13 with 4:03 left in the third quarter. It was the Cajuns' first blocked punt of the season and the first one the Gators had allowed.

But it was a tense second half.

"We fought and we believed,'' said Lafayette quarterback Terrance Broadway, who finished 16 of 23 for 171 yards. "I told the team after the game, 'I'm really proud of you all.' I am just happy to be a part of this team. We fought our butts off.''

The Gators, after allowing just 20 points in the second half all season, gave up 14 in the first 11 minutes of the third quarter Saturday.

"We made some big plays when we had to, but didn't make a big play, the biggest play when we needed to and let that one sort of get away,'' Hudspeth said. "I felt like we had a legitimate chance to win a game when we were up and then they got the score (to tie). To be honest with you I thought we were in good enough of a position to put the game into overtime, then who knows what happens when you get into overtime.

Louisiana-Lafayette drove 77 yards in 12 plays to add a Baer field goal from 22 yards out to make it 20-13 with 13:11 left in the game.

Florida took the game's first lead. Floyd forced a fumble and linebacker Jon Bostic fell on the ball at the Cajuns 28. But the Gators couldn't do much with it and had to settle for a 38-yard field goal from Sturgis. A Lou Groza Award finalist last year, Sturgis suffered an ankle injury in practice before last week's 14-7 win against Missouri and missed most of that contest.

After Sturgis' kick, Louisiana-Lafayette came back to get a 49-yard field goal of its own from Baer to tie it at 3-3 with 4:02 left in the first quarter.

Florida managed to scratch out a nine-play, 85-yard drive at the end of the second quarter. Driskel hit Trey Burton on a 2-yard score in the right corner of the end zone, and Florida led 10-3 at halftime. The big play in the drive was a 30-yard pass to Reed to get the ball to the Louisiana 4.

Aside from the Reed catch, Florida managed just 128 yards in the first half. The Cajuns had just 125.

Florida started the second half by driving 73 yards in six plays but had to settle for a 21-yard field goal to make it 13-3. Reed, a former backup quarterback, took a reverse from Driskel and tried to throw a pass to backup tight end Clay Burton in the end zone on third down, but Burton dropped it.

Louisiana came back with a 77-yard drive that took nine plays. A pass inference call on Purifoy on third-and-goal kept the drive alive. Alonzo Harris scored the touchdown from 2 yards out and it was 13-10 at 8:35 in the third.