Film study: Florida defense on third down against Kentucky

One frustrating element of Florida’s win over Kentucky was the Wildcats’ success on third down. The UF offense ran fewer than 60 plays again like they did against Miami (FL), and both times the Gator defense’s inability to get off the field quickly played a part in that. So for this week’s film study, I went through Kentucky’s third down plays to see what there is to learn from them.

I won’t go over all of them. Sawyer Smith’s fumbled snap and Ahmad Wagner’s circus touchdown catch were on third down, for instance, but there’s not a lot interesting to say about them in relation to third down defense in general.

3rd & 21, UK 10

This one stings, because you always want to force a punt deep in opponent territory. Todd Grantham only sent three, and Kentucky had six in to block. The Wildcats execute perfect double teams on each rusher, ensuring that Smith has all the time he wants.

Shawn Davis ends up pushing Wagner out of bounds, but he couldn’t get there to break up the pass because he was covering Lynn Bowden in the middle of the field. If he tried to read Smith’s eyes and go to Wagner early, then Bowden has no one on him. Marco Wilson isn’t deep enough to be able to put a hand on the pass, which goes right over his head to the big target on the sideline.

3rd & 8, UK 35

Here Grantham got too cute with a blitz. Josh Ali will do a simple curl just past the first down goal. Ventrell Miller looks like the guy to cover him, but he’ll rush the passer instead. David Reese is on the other side of the field and will have to hustle back to cover Ali.

UK was ready for Miller, as both the center leaves a double team and the running back steps up to block him. Without anyone getting to Smith, he has enough time to hit Ali in rhythm before Reese can get there on the coverage. I think this might work if you trade the linebackers’ roles and have the faster Miller dropping back.

3rd & 5, UF 16

Jonathan Greenard commits a sin Jachai Polite did plenty last year, which is rushing the quarterback without any consideration for contain. The right tackle guides Greenard ten yards up the field, creating a huge lane for Smith to scramble if he so chooses.

He does so choose, and the only Gators on that side are covering eligible receivers. The refs give Smith a rather generous spot considering where he’s carrying the ball and where he goes out, but it’s a busted defense either way.

3rd & 7, UK 35

The Wildcats are a long distance from even field goal range with 1:22 left in the first half, so I didn’t include video of this one. Bowden does a curl just past the line — it was clearly one of UK’s go-to third down moves for receivers — and Trey Dean is in good, tight coverage.

It only works because Bowden runs a perfect route to settle down just in front of Dean and Smith makes a perfect throw. There’s no shame in this one, as Bowden is one of the best receivers in the SEC. Sometimes the offense will make a good play.

3rd & 10, UK 44

This one was a few plays later, and now there are 26 seconds left in the half. The coverage that is out of frame on the telecast must be good because Smith sits in the pocket forever, and four seconds after the snap Jeremiah Moon spin-moves his way out of a double team to pressure the quarterback. Smith moves the pocket but ultimately throws it away to avoid a coverage sack. Finally, a stop that didn’t require Smith fumbling the snap.

3rd & 1, UK 36

Kentucky puts Smith under center for a traditional short-yardage QB sneak. The center gets lower than Kyree Campbell does, getting leverage right up front. That’s all that was necessary to get the needed yardage.

3rd & 4, UF 34

This is A.J. Rose’s only carry of over five yards in the game. He’s going to go straight ahead and cut left. The only secondary guy near the line on the left is Dean, but he’s covering an outside receiver.

Marlon Dunlap loses his footing and falls down. That allows the center to disengage the combo block with the left guard quickly and pick up James Houston on the next level. Zach Carter had an angle to get Rose as he went through the hole, but the right guard gets away with a bit of a hold by grabbing Carter’s right jersey sleeve. Put it all together and Rose gets to the next level.

3rd & 8, UK 40

The receiver on the near sideline runs a clear-out route to pull Wilson away from the area. Brad Stewart has Bowden, the other guy out that direction. Stewart plays good coverage if Bowden is going to go past the marker, but instead he cuts off the route just in front of it and does an out.

There is enough space between Bowden and Stewart to allow the receiver to sneak through and pick up the conversion. Stewart mostly whiffs on the tackle, as Wilson does the most here to bring Bowden down.

3rd & 1, UF 38

This play leads up to the turnover on downs. It’s the third consecutive rush for Rose, and the Kentucky line blocks it well. Grantham sends six rushers, and all six Wildcat blockers get their one-on-one blocks down perfectly. There is a big hole in the middle for Rose to run through… at least until Reese plugs it and stops him for no gain.

4th & 1, UF 38

Kentucky goes Wildcat with Rose, who runs directly ahead. There are seven Gators in the box against six blockers and Rose for Kentucky. It’s seven-on-seven, and Reese is again the one who gets Rose. The numbers favor the Gators as long as they execute the defense properly, and they did.

3rd & 8, UK 27

Smith wants to do the same thing he did on the prior 3rd & 8 and hit Bowden a little short of the goal to go. This time there are still two Gator defenders in the area with Dean and Kaiir Elam, but Bowden is by himself on that side.

Smith doesn’t get the best throw off, as he has to put it low and outside to avoid firing it into Dunlap’s arm. Unlike Stewart, Elam shows no hesitation and wraps up Bowden right away to force the punt.

3rd & 2, UF 18

Here we’re leading up to Kentucky’s field goal miss. With only one receiver and defender out wide, it’s a ten-on-ten scrum in the middle of the line. Except, it’s not because Smith hands the ball off and gets out of the way like quarterbacks traditionally did without even a hint of a fake bootleg or draw.

UK’s line gets a good push up the middle and are drifting to the left, but Florida ends up sending two around the end from the right in Wilson and Lacedrick Brunson. Wilson and Jeremiah Moon, who’s doing a stunt from the outside to inside on the offense’s left instead of rushing straight ahead, converge on Kavosiey Smoke. Brunson comes in a moment later, and they stop him for a gain of just one. The fateful field goal miss comes on the next play.

Conclusion

The only third and fourth down plays from there were when Florida was playing prevent defense at the end, so they’re not worth analyzing for my purposes here.

There is no one cause that immediately jumps out for Kentucky’s third down conversions. Wilson was too far in front of the first down marker. Wagner makes an improbable touchdown catch. A blitz went awry. Greenard got carried away in pass rush. Bowden beats his man and Smith makes a pinpoint throw. UK executes an old fashioned QB sneak. Dunlap loses his footing. Stewart’s coverage is a little too soft. It’s not like the Wildcats found a mismatch and serially exploited it.

If there’s one common theme to these conversions, it’s that the Wildcats’ offensive line won the plays. They either got enough push for a rushing play or kept Smith clean for a passing play. Even one of the stops featured Smith having all day to throw.

The Gators missed Jabari Zuniga, who went out hurt after the first drive. They tried to replace him at times with Carter, Luke Ancrum, and Adam Shuler (who played DE at West Virginia). None was able to be as effective as Zuniga is.

Some of the Kentucky conversions came from mental lapses that can be fixed. Filling Zuniga’s shoes with anyone else may not be fixable. If there’s any lesson to be taken from the Wildcats’ third down success, it’s that the Gators need Zuniga back badly.

David Wunderlich
David Wunderlich is a born-and-raised Gator and a proud Florida alum. He has been writing about Florida and SEC football since 2006. He currently lives in Naples Italy, at least until the Navy stations his wife elsewhere. You can follow him on Twitter @Year2