Florida offensive coordinator Steve Addazio and his coaches prepared for the Tennessee defense at a little bit of a disadvantage this week.
Tennessee defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin earned a solid reputation as a great defensive coordinator for the Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers. But the father of Tennessee coach Lane Kiffin hasn’t totally shown his hand in Knoxville.
“There are some similarities,” Addazio said between the Tennessee and Tampa Bay defense from last season. “There’s only so many four-down combinations you can play. The difference is (they are) more of a zone blitz team. We see all these zone pressures from our team, too, so it’s not like they’re new zone pressures. You’ve got to fit them all, and we’re spending a lot of time making sure we’re sound on them. It’s a lot of practice time.”
The zone pressure is what has Addazio and Florida head coach Urban Meyer a little uneasy about the Volunteers, who come to Gainesville Saturday for the nationally televised game (CBS Sports, 3:30 p.m.). All of the pressures they have seen on film have been almost identical to the ones Kiffin used in Tampa Bay.
But even that has the Florida coaches uneasy. It has them expecting plenty of pressures that they haven’t seen on film yet.
“There are a lot of zone pressures,” Addazio said. “You want to make sure you’re sound in everything you do against those pressures.”
The obvious standout player for the Tennessee defense is All-American safety Eric Berry. Addazio and the offensive coaches have seen him making plays on film and realize he has the ability to change the game based on one play.
Even with all the talent Berry has, Addazio will stick to his guns. Florida runs a specific offense, and if a play is called toward the side Berry is on, they won’t change it to avoid him. They will run the offense that has gotten them to this point.
“We have an offense and we’re going to run that offense,” Addazio said. “Of course you’re always aware of where great players are. At the same time, I’m not sure where he’s at exactly. I’ve got a play called and I’m not sure. He could be a lot of places. He could be off the field or in a boundary. It depends on what they’ve called. We play a lot of great players in this conference.”
The struggle of adjusting to the size and speed of conference play is something the Gators won’t struggle with this Saturday. The quality of play they faced from the front seven of Troy last Saturday was a perfect measuring stick to see where the Gators were.
The Trojans boasted a defensive front similar to the caliber of ones that the Florida coaches have seen in the conference. Defensive end Brandon Lang had 10.5 sacks and 17.5 tackles for loss last season and is projected as an early round pick in the NFL Draft.
But he isn’t the only one. The Troy defensive line averaged over 270 pounds, which got the Florida offensive line ready for the increase in size and speed they will see this weekend when Tennessee comes to town.
“The defensive front and front seven we played last week, we’ve seen similar defensive lines to that in the SEC,” Addazio said. “We did not play a slouchy defensive front last week. That’s a good thing. We’re not going from one extreme to the other right now. We face a really good defensive line in practice, so I think we’re used to that tempo.”
The Florida offense may have shown more against Troy than they did the first weekend against Charleston Southern, but that doesn’t mean they’ve shown everything. The offense added in the inside option to Aaron Hernandez, the option game and ran Tim Tebow more, but there is still a lot left.
In reality, the Florida coaches know that is also the case with Tennessee. The Volunteers’ offense may have struggled last week against UCLA, but they still have plays and formations they haven’t used yet.
“You always have stuff,” Addazio said. “Everybody has stuff. You’re in the early stage of the season, and every time you’re in the early stage of the season, you’re just opening up conference play. People have things and that’s just the nature of what you do. Usually by the time you hit game four, five and six, it is what it is. When you get to bowl season it can be a mixed bag. That’s the kind of things, going into these games, that you worry about. You really worry about it. You always want to be prepared, always want to put your players in position, always want to rep everything you’re going to see, but it’s not always the case. It just isn’t.”
One of the wrinkles Florida exposed early in the season was the Banzai, hurry-up offense. They toyed with it during the first game of the season and used it a majority of the game last week against Troy. The reviews from the coaching staff continue to be glowing in regards to their new offensive toy. Against a team like Tennessee, which doesn’t have a ton of depth on defense, the Banzai offense could be perfect for Florida to use.
“We were in it most of the game,” Addazio said. “There are a lot of phases to it. It’s quick snap and get on the line. Unfortunately that early exchange problem happened, but when the ball was snapped there wasn’t anyone within six yards of the line of scrimmage. That’s unfortunate but it’s all part of it. We’re committed to it. Our guys like it.”
If the Gators come out with a victory on Saturday because of the Banzai offense, they’ll like it even more.