Young Defense Provides Gators a Strong Foundation
Friday, January 6, 2012 | Football, Scott Carter
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Before he became Florida's head coach, Will Muschamp built his reputation as a fiery and hard-nosed defensive coordinator at LSU, Auburn and Texas.
His defenses were known for their toughness and blue-collar approach. They also produced results. Muschamp's defenses at LSU finished in the top 10 nationally from 2002-04. Auburn finished sixth in total defense in 2007 and in Muschamp's final two seasons at Texas, the Longhorns' defense finished in the nation's top 10 in 2009 and 2010.
That reputation played out on the field in Muschamp's first season at Florida as the Gators finished the regular season ranked ninth in total defense and capped a 7-6 season with a 24-17 win over Ohio State on Monday in the Gator Bowl.
The D led the way by sacking Buckeyes quarterback Braxton Miller six times and limiting Ohio State to 2-for-10 on third-down conversions. As the Gators move forward under Muschamp's direction, the defense is expected to continue leading the way considering the makeup of the roster.
Florida's defense returns 10 starters and 19 of 22 players who finished the season on the two-deep roster, losing only senior defensive tackle Jaye Howard, cornerback Moses Jenkins and defensive end William Green.
A common phrase of Muschamp's is “we're not building a team, we're building a program.”
If that's the case, the defense is clearly the foundation.
The Gators have a formidable group of young players up front in hybrid defensive end/linebacker Ronald Powell, defensive tackle Dominique Easley and defensive tackle/end Sharrif Floyd. They also have veteran defensive tackle Omar Hunter returning.
All three starting linebackers are set to return: leading tackler Jon Bostic, Jelani Jenkins and Lerentee McCray. And the secondary is also stocked with young players in sophomore safety Matt Elam, junior Josh Evans and true freshmen Marcus Roberson, Pop Saunders, Loucheiz Purifoy and Jabari Gorman.
Experienced cornerbacks Cody Riggs and Jaylen Watkins also return, and former starter Jeremy Brown, who missed this season due to a knee injury, still has two years of eligibility remaining if he can overcome his injury problems.
Following Monday's win, Muschamp made sure Florida fans knew that he wasn't too excited about a 7-6 record. However, he is excited about the prospects in 2012 and beyond, in large part because of the defense.
“Patience is not a good word around here, but sometimes you've got to exercise that, especially putting the state of the last two years back-to-back,'' Muschamp said. “It's not where we are going to be very long. I can assure you of that. I think we have made tremendous strides in some areas.”
While the offense struggled to find consistency and has several questions heading into next season – most notably whether Jacoby Brissett or Jeff Driskel will start at quarterback – the stability on defense provides at least some comfort.
Statistically, the Gators were very comparable to the 2010 unit. In Muschamp's first season, the Gators allowed 299.5 yards per game compared to 306.5 in Urban Meyer's final season.
The most notable improvements came against the pass. The Gators had more sacks (28 to 21) and allowed fewer passing yards (166.8 to 175.9 in 2010). However, the turnover margin was a disaster with Florida finishing minus-12, gaining only 14 turnovers (six fumbles, eight interceptions) compared to 29 (seven fumbles, 22 interceptions) the previous season.
That is an area defensive coordinator Dan Quinn continues to emphasize.
“We have to get better there,'' Quinn said. “We all know that. They made some improvements as the season progressed. It's just a matter of making plays on the ball and doing the little things that help lead to turnovers.”
Despite the up-and-down season – a 4-0 September followed by a 0-4 October – Muschamp concluded his first season at UF on a positive note.
The Gators not only extended the program's streak of consecutive winning seasons to 24 and non-losing seasons to 32, but Muschamp saw the kind of blue-collar attitude that he wanted to see. Even during the low moments.
Despite the losses to Alabama, LSU, Auburn and Georgia in October and a 21-7 loss to Florida State in the regular-season finale while holding the Seminoles to 95 total yards, Muschamp was lifted by what he saw after the games were over.
“There were some guys hurting in that locker room,'' Muschamp said. “That's when you know it's important to them.”
“We've got a lot of good kids in that locker room. I'm very pleased with the attitude and the effort and the drive of our young men. I don't think you can turn the tape on and watch a team that wasn't giving effort.”
In a hallway outside the Gators' locker room Monday at EverBank Field, Florida athletic director Jeremy Foley congratulated Muschamp for his first career bowl victory.
Foley understood it was Muschamp's kind of win.
“The way we played defense, that's going to be our bellwether going forward,'' he said.
