The Florida Gators have entered a mourning period because of the untimely passing of their Southeastern Conference championship hopes. The team's seniors voted this week to spray paint their cleats black as a solemn reminder of that NCAA-induced loss that became official Tuesday. But don't think the 10th-ranked Gators have buried all of their aspirations this season. Florida used its black cleats to stomp SEC foe Louisiana State 34-8 Saturday in a nationally televised night game at Florida Field. The black cleats will remain until the end of the season, just like the decision by the NCAA's Committee on Infractions to ban UF from a bowl game. Florida asked the NCAA to impose a different penalty but infractions committee chairman Alan Williams, a history professor at Virginia, announced Tuesday that the ban would be upheld. "That was the players' idea. They all wanted to do it. I don't think there was a "no' vote," Gator coach Steve Spurrier said of the cleats. "I think it's just a little reminder we're ineligible. Some history professors in the NCAA have told us we're not going to play for the conference championship or go to a bowl game. Maybe this will help inspire us." The win gives the Gators a 5-0 record overall and a 3-0 mark against SEC teams. UF would be leading the SEC if the league had not eliminated the team from contention because of the bowl ban. Each week Florida remains undefeated, its implausible shot at a national title becomes slightly more realistic. Three more undefeated teams (Notre Dame, Florida State and Fresno State) were derailed Saturday and the Gators may move up from No. 10 in the Associated Press poll. Pollsters may not have been impressed with Spurrier's offense Saturday night, but the Gator defense turned in its usual outstanding performance and the special teams contributed with two turnovers on punts. The UF defense has given up three touchdowns in five games. "They showed me they are one of the better teams in our league," said LSU coach Mike Archer. "They have great athletes and they play well." Florida scored 20 first-half points Saturday but it may well have been the poorest 30 minutes of football the offense has played this season. Quarterback Shane Matthews and Co. were just the lucky benefactors of a slippery-fingered LSU team. The Gators didn't have traditional touchdown drives. Their scoring possessions in the first half were more like touchdown strolls. "Fortunately our offensive guys didn't mess up those drives down inside the 20," Spurrier said. "But they sure messed up a lot in the middle of the field." Florida's first TD stroll (after an LSU fumble) lasted 5 yards and four seconds. Dexter McNabb went up the middle for the touchdown on the only play of the drive. Touchdown stroll No. 2? That was a toughie. It took a whopping 18 yards (following Jerry Odom's block of an LSU punt) and three plays. Matthews hit tight end Kirk Kirkpatrick on a 10-yard pass to finish off that one. Florida's third mini-march (after a fumbled punt attempt) covered 17 yards. Matthews went to Ernie Mills for a 13-yard touchdown to put the Gators up 20-2. The grand total on the three scoring possessions was 40 yards in 3:44. Florida went 0-for-5 on first-half possessions that started on its own side of the field. The Tigers came into the game with the best pass-defense statistics in the Southeastern Conference and Matthews had a difficult time doing anything to harm LSU's lofty standing. He finished with a season-low 157 yards passing. "Their defense showed us a lot more man (coverage) than we had seen this year," said Matthews. "I didn't do a good job of getting the ball to the open receiver. I'll take all the blame for the ineffectiveness of our passing game tonight." The only consistently effective weapon on UF's offense was Kirkpatrick who, in addition to his third TD reception of the season, repeatedly came up with third-down catches to keep drives alive. "They put a linebacker on me tonight and Shane read the coverage real well," Kirkpatrick said. "He seemed to put the ball there when I was open." The Gators were pretty much outplayed during the first three quarters but were able to build a comfortable lead with some unusual happenings with the special teams. Let's see, we had: A punt blocked; a punt attempt fumbled; an extra point conversion blocked and returned for a defensive score; two kickoffs booted out of bounds. And that was just the first half. The kicking game featured one of the more rare scoring plays in the college football rule book. After Florida's first touchdown, placekicker Arden Czyzewski set up for the extra-point attempt. LSU nose tackle Scott Wharton came through the middle of the line to block the kick and then knock down holder Johnny Nichols. Cornerback Wayne Williams picked up the football and, with a healthy head start on UF's Brent Ellis, ran about 85 yards for a two-point defensive conversion. While the Gator offense was struggling early in the game, LSU wasn't faring much better. Louisiana State coach Archer, apparently believing a shake-up might help his offense come alive, sent senior quarterback Sol Graves onto the field as a first-half replacement. First play with Graves at the helm: a 7-yard loss and fumble by tailback Harvey Williams. Back to the drawing board. Archer eventually went back to Chad Loup and the freshman quarterback delivered some second-half spark for the Tigers. Loup took the Tigers on a 90-yard field-goal drive late in the third quarter to cut the score to 20-8. Florida came back, however, with a couple of late scores to put the game away.