With LSU coming to Gainesville, it did not take long for Florida's defensive line to get over last week's loss to Alabama. The unit worked on sudden change, red-zone and goal-line defenses in practice this week, and the players say they are well aware of the Tigers' ability to run the ball.
“Now’s the time where we can’t dwell on the past, we’ve got to get ready for LSU,” Terron Sanders said Tuesday. “They’re coming in with a tough squad, the number one leading rusher in the SEC with 111 yards a game. We understand what we have to do, and the defense is going to rely on the d-line every game so we just know that we have to come ready to play.”
As challenging as LSU running back Stevan Ridley will be to defend, defensive line coach Dan McCarney said the key for UF will be dominating the line of scrimmage and playing aggressive.
“It starts with the defensive line,” McCarney said. “My guys have got to step up and do a great job this week. We’ve got to control the line of scrimmage. If we’re soft, if we’re not real good technique-wise, if we’re not real good fundamentally, if we don’t get after it at the line of scrimmage which is the heart and soul of any defense and the defensive line — then we’re going to struggle.
“If we play real good up front, then I think we’ve got a chance to have great success here Saturday night. I don’t put any undue pressure on my guys, just go dominate the line of scrimmage and we’ve got a great chance to win.”
As frustrating as the Alabama loss was to the Gator Nation, there were several bright spots on the stat sheet for Florida.
How bright? Compare the 2009 SEC Championship Game to Saturday night.
Last December, Alabama had the ball for one-third of the game (39:37). In Tuscaloosa, UF won the time of possession battle by more than five minutes.
Last year, Mark Ingram and company gashed a UF defense full of NFL players for 251 yards on the ground. On Saturday, Florida’s relatively young squad held the reigning 2009 Heisman Trophy winner to just 47 yards. Tide super soph Trent Richardson was held to 63 yards.
More importantly, the UF defense only missed six tackles as opposed to the 22 it failed to make in Atlanta. It was only the third time in 49 games under head coach Urban Meyer that Florida lost when 10 or fewer tackles were missed.
According to Meyer, the defense had an “admirable” performance against the nation’s top team. And McCarney agreed.
“They were some positives to pull out of that game,” McCarney said Thursday night. “But it’s not like we’re going around patting people on the back saying ‘great job’ and we enjoy losing at Florida. We didn’t like that, none of us do. We’re not used to it, we don’t accept it, we never will and we never have.”
