As the smoke clears from the fireworks of the University of Florida Gators’ offense on Saturday, one big question remains. The Gators established what looks to be a high-powered offense in their 66-point outburst against Florida Atlantic, but the defense left much to be desired.
Before alarm bells go off in Gainesville about this defense, it is important to remember a couple of things. First, Florida Atlantic led the country in passing offense last season and returned its starting quarterback while also adding Texas Tech transfer wide receiver Kelby Vasin.
The second part of this equation is that while there is quite a bit of continuity on the defense, the scheme and coaching staff have completely changed. Head coach Jon Sumrall’s philosophy of aggression on defense doesn’t necessarily match the bend-don’t-break style that Florida played last season.
With time, it is reasonable to expect that as the unit grows more comfortable with the communication, terminology, and responsibilities of the new scheme in a game setting, that the whole operation will begin to look cleaner.
While the Gators’ defense was inconsistent last season, the unit still features plenty of highly rated talent across the defense.
Sumrall was vocal in his displeasure with the play of the group after Saturday’s game, and after reviewing the film, he said, “I thought we played hard watching it. It wasn’t like guys didn’t give good effort. Just as a whole awareness of play sequencing, tempo, how to handle tempo, how to communicate when we are facing tempo.”
The Florida defense allowed 396 yards against the Owls, including 276 yards through the air. It wasn’t all bad for the Gators’ defense, as they forced three turnovers, two of which had FAU in scoring range.
For Sumrall and the Gators, while defensive performance left a little to be desired, it is clear what needs to improve and when it needs to happen. The Gators have one more tune-up game against Campbell University before beginning SEC play at Auburn.
An area to keep an eye on in the Campbell game is how Florida communicates pre-snap, especially when facing tempo. Sumrall specifically pointed to tempo as an area that needed improvement and said the awareness and communication of the group were issues after reviewing the film.
Saturday is a great opportunity for the defense to show progress against tempo as the Alex Golesh-led Auburn Tigers will look to really push the pace in Florida’s SEC opener.
The team will look to build on its monster offensive showcase and clean up its defensive woes as it tries to compete in a deep SEC.
The Florida Gators will kick off against the Campbell Fighting Camels Saturday, Sept. 12, at 5:30 p.m. at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. The game can be streamed on SEC Network+.
