COLLEGE FOOTBALL : Florida Gets It Done With Stingy Defense : SEC: Gators’ Wuerffel, offense struggle but LSU can’t take advantage in 28-10 loss.

Even with its fun-and-gun offense misfiring, third-ranked Florida is still winning.

Fred Taylor ran for touchdowns on his only two carries Saturday and Florida, 5-0 overall and 4-0 in the Southeastern Conference, won, 28-10, at No. 21 Louisiana State despite being held below its season averages of 544 yards and 44 points a game for the second week in a row.

“A lot of people have been talking about offense for so long,” said Florida quarterback Danny Wuerffel, who threw three interceptions and was only 18 for 35 for 240 yards and a touchdown. “This is just a good example of how the defense and special teams stepped up. They really won the game for us.”

Florida, held to 321 yards, did most of its damage with three rushing touchdowns in a span of 5:05 to build a 21-0 lead early in the second quarter.

The Gator defense held LSU (3-2-1, 2-1-1) to 283 yards and forced three turnovers. And dangerous Eddie Kennison was limited to 36 yards on three kick returns, but did have a 54-yard punt return for a touchdown called back because of an illegal block in the third quarter.

LSU couldn’t take advantage of Florida’s struggling offense. The Tigers also missed a short field goal, had another blocked and saw a fourth-quarter touchdown catch by Shaddrick Wilson nullified by penalty.

“The most frustrating thing was the penalty situation. Way too many penalties [11 for 66 yards], especially getting a penalty on Shaddrick’s touchdown,” LSU Coach Gerry DiNardo said.

Said Florida Coach Steve Spurrier, whose team meets No. 11 Auburn next week: “Our special teams and defense really contributed more than the offense. That’s what teams are about.”

Florida, which had 440 yards against Ole Miss last week, is the only undefeated SEC team. The Gators have won eight in a row against LSU, which hadn’t lost since the season opener at Texas A&M.;

LSU got all of its points in the last 70 seconds of the first half. Jamie Howard threw a three-yard scoring pass to Anthony McFarland and Andre Lafleur kicked a 28-yard field goal after a Wuerffel interception.