Sophomore safety Jordan Castell said the Gators must improve in several areas on defense in Week 2 against Samford. (Photo: Bryce Mitchell/UAA Communications)
Gators Dealing with Defensive Concerns
Thursday, September 5, 2024 | Football
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — It's not often that a UF player has to walk off Florida Field to a scattering of "boos," but many contributors on the Florida defense experienced that for the first time Saturday.
At times, the University of Miami exposed the Gators' defense in a rattling 41-17 road victory to open the season. Florida struggled to contain Miami quarterback Cam Ward, allowing 385 passing yards on 26 completions.
The UF defense is looking to rebound against Samford in its Week 2 matchup.
"We've got to go prove it on the field," Coach Billy Napier said. "Saturday, we've got our chance to do that."
Napier's comments come after a performance that saw the Gators suffer their first defeat in a home opener in 35 years.
Florida is mired in a six-game losing streak that has seen opponents score over 30 points in five games. Miami scored 41, the third team to eclipse the 40-point mark.
"I think there were parts of practice that could've been better, just to be totally transparent," Napier said. He contrasted that by saying the team has approached practice "the right way" this week.
Sophomore safety Jordan Castell echoed the message, pointing toward the attitude of the Florida defense at practice.
"Everyone wants to win," Castell said. "The focus this week [is on] everybody doing their job."
Coming off a performance in which the Gators surrendered 529 yards and 25 first downs, there is an emphasis on communication amongst the Florida defensive players. Some cited issues communicating on Saturday, while the early raucous crowds of Ben Hill Griffin Stadium made themselves known.
"It was very loud," Jordan Castell said. "We weren't on the same page."
Sophomore Linebacker Pup Howard shared a similar concern.
"We're definitely trying to make a change," he said.
Playing in his first game for Florida after transferring from South Carolina, Howard recorded three tackles in the loss but wasn't content with the defense's performance.
"It was embarrassing," Howard said on Wednesday. He explained that the Florida defense "can't let games like that happen again."
"[We need to] flip the script and kind of move on," Napier added.
The Florida defense has focused on making changes, but Napier believes there's also value in moving past the loss. To make adjustments, though, the team has turned toward better preparation and film evaluation.
"[The defense] has hit the film room hard," Howard said.
On top of film evaluation, Howard said that tackling needs to be emphasized. Miami quarterback Cam Ward had over five seconds on many of his dropbacks, often scrambling away from the Florida defense. When he completed his passes, it frequently took two or three Florida defenders to contain the Miami receivers.
"As a linebacker, you've gotta tackle," Howard said. "It's part of the game … and the linebackers, we always do extra work here and there."
Howard added that the linebackers need to stay in their rush lanes better.
Howard was complimentary of the linebacker unit's coverage performance. He outlined their improvement in dropping back into coverage and credited the position coaches for their detail in pre-snap evaluations.
Due to secondary busts, many of Florida's coverage issues fell deeper down the field on Saturday.
The Florida secondary was affected by injuries to safety Asa Turner and cornerback Devin Moore, who both went down on Saturday. Their absences forced multiple unexpected players into the lineup.
This week, Napier has more confidence in the secondary stepping up.
"We've got some depth there; [you're going] to see some of those players that play 12 plays play maybe 25 this week," Napier said. "We've got confidence in those players."
Turner and Moore are not listed in the Florida depth chart for the Samford game, released Wednesday night.
While adjustments need to be made, there still seems to be confidence within the Florida defense, even after a disheartening loss.
"We have good athletes … and we just need to go out there and prove that," Castell said.
At times, the University of Miami exposed the Gators' defense in a rattling 41-17 road victory to open the season. Florida struggled to contain Miami quarterback Cam Ward, allowing 385 passing yards on 26 completions.
The UF defense is looking to rebound against Samford in its Week 2 matchup.
"We've got to go prove it on the field," Coach Billy Napier said. "Saturday, we've got our chance to do that."
Napier's comments come after a performance that saw the Gators suffer their first defeat in a home opener in 35 years.
Florida is mired in a six-game losing streak that has seen opponents score over 30 points in five games. Miami scored 41, the third team to eclipse the 40-point mark.
"I think there were parts of practice that could've been better, just to be totally transparent," Napier said. He contrasted that by saying the team has approached practice "the right way" this week.
Sophomore safety Jordan Castell echoed the message, pointing toward the attitude of the Florida defense at practice.
"Everyone wants to win," Castell said. "The focus this week [is on] everybody doing their job."
Coming off a performance in which the Gators surrendered 529 yards and 25 first downs, there is an emphasis on communication amongst the Florida defensive players. Some cited issues communicating on Saturday, while the early raucous crowds of Ben Hill Griffin Stadium made themselves known.
"It was very loud," Jordan Castell said. "We weren't on the same page."
Sophomore Linebacker Pup Howard shared a similar concern.
"We're definitely trying to make a change," he said.
Playing in his first game for Florida after transferring from South Carolina, Howard recorded three tackles in the loss but wasn't content with the defense's performance.
"It was embarrassing," Howard said on Wednesday. He explained that the Florida defense "can't let games like that happen again."
"[We need to] flip the script and kind of move on," Napier added.
The Florida defense has focused on making changes, but Napier believes there's also value in moving past the loss. To make adjustments, though, the team has turned toward better preparation and film evaluation.
"[The defense] has hit the film room hard," Howard said.
On top of film evaluation, Howard said that tackling needs to be emphasized. Miami quarterback Cam Ward had over five seconds on many of his dropbacks, often scrambling away from the Florida defense. When he completed his passes, it frequently took two or three Florida defenders to contain the Miami receivers.
"As a linebacker, you've gotta tackle," Howard said. "It's part of the game … and the linebackers, we always do extra work here and there."
Howard added that the linebackers need to stay in their rush lanes better.
Howard was complimentary of the linebacker unit's coverage performance. He outlined their improvement in dropping back into coverage and credited the position coaches for their detail in pre-snap evaluations.
Due to secondary busts, many of Florida's coverage issues fell deeper down the field on Saturday.
The Florida secondary was affected by injuries to safety Asa Turner and cornerback Devin Moore, who both went down on Saturday. Their absences forced multiple unexpected players into the lineup.
This week, Napier has more confidence in the secondary stepping up.
"We've got some depth there; [you're going] to see some of those players that play 12 plays play maybe 25 this week," Napier said. "We've got confidence in those players."
Turner and Moore are not listed in the Florida depth chart for the Samford game, released Wednesday night.
While adjustments need to be made, there still seems to be confidence within the Florida defense, even after a disheartening loss.
"We have good athletes … and we just need to go out there and prove that," Castell said.
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