BATON ROUGE, La. – It was classic Mad Hatter - turning a string-bean, 6-foot-2, 170-pound kicker who couldn't beat Leonard Fournette's mother in the 40-yard dash into LSU's prime-time star.

Kicker Trent Domingue burnished LSU coach Les Miles' reputation as an incorrigible gambler by catching a lateral pass on a fake field goal and scooting 16 yards for the game-winning touchdown to lift the No. 6 Tigers to a 35-28 victory over No. 8 Florida on Saturday night at Tiger Stadium.

After Florida (6-1, 4-1 SEC) rallied from a 28-14 halftime deficit to tie the game at 28, Domingue lined up for a 33-yard field goal from the right hash mark early in the fourth quarter.

Holder Brad Kragthorpe, a backup quarterback, took the snap and, while still on his knee, fired a lateral pass to Domingue, who had snuck out of the backfield to the left sideline.

Domingue bobbled the ball twice - even letting it ricochet off his helmet - before finally securing it and running untouched into the end zone behind an excellent double-team block by fullback Darrel Williams and tight end Colin Jeter on linebacker Jarrad Davis.

"How many bobbles was it?" Miles asked, smiling. "My heart was fluttering with each bobble."

"I blacked out a little bit," Domingue admitted. "They call him Mad Hatter for a reason."

Domingue said he was so excited he almost forgot to kick the extra point.

Florida coach Jim McElwain, who lost for the first time as the Gators' coach after opening the season 6-0, credited Miles for taking one of his trademark risks. The second-half momentum clearly had swung to Florida, which had overcome a 28-point LSU explosion in the second quarter to outgain the Tigers 218-119 in the second half.

"That was a pretty awesome call by them," McElwain said. "They were in their overload, just like we thought. We should have been high (protecting for the fake) instead of flat. Give them credit. It was a heckuva call, a gutsy call. But you know what? It's kind of a badge of honor. They've got to fake one to beat us. That's all right."

The trickery - which was officially credited to Domingue as a 16-yard run - put LSU up 35-28 with 10:40 left. The Tigers defense stopped the Gators twice in the final 3:47 to secure LSU's sixth consecutive victory and help the team improve to 4-0 in the SEC.

Over the final two series, which started at the Florida 38 and 10 yard-lines, the LSU defense held Gators quarterback Treon Harris to just two completions in 10 attempts and sacked him once. Still, the game wasn't decided until Harris' Hail Mary heave from midfield fell out of bounds near the end zone as time expired.

LSU was led by Fournette, the Heisman Trophy front-runner, who rushed for 180 yards and two touchdowns on a career-high 31 carries. Fournette was held mostly in check in the second half, gaining 80 tough yards on 16 carries.

LSU quarterback Brandon Harris completed 13 of 19 passes for 202 yards and two scores, but he was limited to just 13 yards passing in the second half. Still, Miles said the balance that Harris is bringing to LSU's offense will be critical in late-season games.

"Brandon Harris is one of the key, fundamental players to our success," Miles said. "Our quarterback can really throw it."

Florida capitalized on a muffed punt by LSU return man Tre'Davious White at the LSU 13-yard line early in the first quarter. Treon Harris gave the Gators a 7-0 lead with a 4-yard toss to tight end Jake McGee.

Fournette had touchdowns of 2 and 6 yards in the second quarter. His first touchdown came out of the Wildcat. Fournette set up under center before backing off and taking a shotgun snap around right end, scoring untouched.

LSU took advantage of Florida stacking its run defense to slow down Fournette. With LSU leading 14-7, Fournette took a handoff off right guard, twirled and lateraled the ball back to Harris, who hit wide receiver Malachi Dupre on a deep post for 52 yards to the Gators' 6. Fournette made it 21-7 on the next play by running through a huge hole on the left side.

Florida stayed within striking distance when wide receiver Antonio Callaway made a juggling 48-yard reception to the LSU 19. The Gators scored on the next play when Harris hit a wide-open McGee on the left sideline.

In the first half, Brandon Harris threw two touchdown passes - a perfect 9-yard fade to Dupre to go up 14-7 and a 50-yard completion to Dupre 15 seconds before halftime to give LSU a 28-14 lead.

Florida cut the deficit to 28-21 midway through the third quarter on junior running back Kelvin Taylor's 2-yard run. Another LSU special teams mistake allowed the Gators to tie it 28-28 on a 72-yard punt return by Callaway.

"I like the fight that we played with," said Florida tight end Jake McGee.

NOTES: RB Leonard Fournette seemed frustrated by some of Florida's gang tackling, but he could have been called for a personal foul on one run when he swatted CB Marcus Maye out of the way. It looked more like a punch than a stiff-arm. "I don't know if he swung at the guy," Miles said. "He just took his hand and moved a guy out of his area." ... Actor Tom Cruise took in the game. "Tell him to put me in a movie - 'Mission Impossible 7'," Fournette said. ... LSU DE Lewis Neal had three sacks, most by an LSU player in any game since 2005. ... Florida still controls it destiny in the SEC East with a critical game coming in two weeks against Georgia in Jacksonville, Florida. ... LSU is the last undefeated SEC team.