The Gators missed senior defensive end Jonathan Greenard in Saturday's loss at LSU. (Photo: Tim Casey/UAA Communications)
Grantham: 'We've Got to Play Better, Coach Better and Get Ready to Play'
Monday, October 14, 2019 | Football, Scott Carter
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By: Scott Carter, Senior Writer
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Gators defensive lineman Adam Shuler stood in the corner of a conference room at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium following Monday night's practice with a sharp gaze.
As he took questions from reporters, sweat dripped off the bottom of Shuler's practice jersey. Specks of grass clung to his arms. Dirt stains spotted his pants.
Shuler looked ready to pounce.
In the wake of a concentrated practice, Shuler knew what was coming less than 48 hours after he walked off the field at Tiger Stadium on Saturday night. The Gators allowed 511 yards, 42 points and 10.6 yards per play, which set an LSU record against an SEC opponent and ranks third in school history.
In other words, it was not the type of defensive performance you expect from the Southeastern Conference's second-ranked defense and 11th-ranked unit in the country prior to the much-anticipated matchup.
"It's kind of disgusting,'' Shuler said of reviewing the game film. "We know we're better than that. We know there was a lot of mistakes. We really didn't get out-physicaled, we just did stupid things. It's out the window now."
It has to be.
The ninth-ranked Gators (6-1, 3-1) have no choice if they want to stay in the hunt for the SEC East title, starting Saturday at South Carolina (3-3, 2-2), which is riding high coming off an upset of No. 3 Georgia on the road.
In their 42-28 loss at LSU, the Gators got pushed around on the ground (218 yards rushing) and through the air (Tigers quarterback Joe Burrow completed 21 of 24 passes for 293 yards and three touchdowns). Nothing seemed to work.
The defense took the field Monday determined to prove what transpired at sold-out Tiger Stadium was an aberration.
"We need to pick it up,'' linebacker Amari Burney said. "We had the gameplan, we just didn't execute."
Florida also didn't have two of its best players – defensive ends Jon Greenard and Jabari Zuniga – at full speed. Greenard started but re-injured an ankle on LSU's first drive and missed most of the game. Zuniga played for the first time since suffering an ankle injury at Kentucky but went down in the second half and was noticeably hobbled.
Florida defensive ends Jabari Zuniga, above, and Jonathan Greenard are game-time decisions for Saturday's game at South Carolina. (Photo: Tim Casey/UAA Communications)
Defensive coordinator Todd Grantham refused to blame the absence of the two seniors for what unfolded in Baton Rouge.
"You always like to be full tilt, but you never can use injuries as an excuse, it's part of the game,'' he said. "We have good players behind them. If somebody goes down, next man up, we've got to stop them. That's the approach that we take, that I take, and that's the approach we'll take moving forward."
Able to stand in the pocket and scan the field without any significant pass rush, Burrow was able to dissect UF's defense. The Gators helped by making costly mistakes such as cornerback CJ Henderson, defending Ja'Marr Chase in the slot, bumping into linebacker Ventrell Miller, who was on the outside in coverage, as Chase ran a wheel route. Henderson was out of position when Burrow connected with Chase for a 54-yard touchdown to give LSU a 14-point lead with 5 minutes, 43 seconds remaining.
While LSU's offense lived up to its billing as one of the country's most explosive, Grantham kept the focus on his defense Monday. The Gators failed to impact the game defensively as they have so many times in Grantham's 20 games as defensive coordinator.
"When we go into games, we always say we have to be hard to run against and we've got to affect the quarterback, and we didn't do that, so we didn't win the game," Grantham said. "If you go back and look when we did that this year, we've won games.
"When you're facing a team that's talented as they are both in run and pass, you try to have combinations of being able to stop both. You've got to make sure that you have your keys down and at the end of the day, we just didn't execute like we wanted to and just didn't play to our standard. Obviously, we've looked at the tape. We have a good understanding of what we have to do moving forward. We're going to work on that."
The Gators had 26 sacks, 19 takeaways and 12 interceptions through the first six games. Zero, zero and zero on Saturday.
As a result, LSU put together scoring drives of 66, 82, 75, 75, 52 and 80 yards. The Tigers faced third down just four times, the fewest in a game for LSU in records dating to 1978.
According to Grantham, there were some issues with gap control in the run game, which allowed LSU tailback Clyde Edwards-Helaire to rush for 134 yards and two touchdowns on just 13 carries. Otherwise, he didn't get too specific other than to say LSU's big plays served as the poison.
The goal Saturday against the Gamecocks is as basic as taking out the trash.
"I think as a group, all of us, we've got to play better, coach better and get ready to play this week because we've got a big game,'' Grantham said.
In his quest to put the LSU loss in the rearview mirror, Shuler turned his gaze to the future.
What happened on the Bayou is history.
"We can still be where we want to be,'' he said. "It would have been a great win … but we can still finish the season the way we want to finish it by winning the East."
