The Gators had no troubles recording their first win of the 2023 season over McNeese State in Florida’s home opener Saturday night. Both the offense and defense took a step forward in terms of cleaning up the issues that were put on display against Utah.
On the defensive side of the ball, the Gators had their best performance in 86 games, according to Billy Napier (2016, North Texas). The Gators rank 3rd in the FBS in total defense while giving up 382 yards through two games.
Florida allowed its fewest passing yards (66) since September 1, 2018, vs Charleston Southern. The front seven also had a notable performance in week two, allowing the fewest rushing yards (46) since the South Carolina game last season (44).
“Me and Princely were actually talking about that today on the sideline, and it’s just like, seeing improvement is like the best when it comes to football,” Jaydon Hill said on the in-game improvements. “We practice together every day, and just seeing the improvement, that’s what it’s all about. I feel like we’ve just got to keep improving, keep getting better.”
The biggest challenge for this team was to clean up the errors and discipline issues that led to a week one loss. Consistency is the biggest focus for the staff and these players.
“That’s just been our challenge this whole week,” Hill said on cleaning up mistakes. “With last week with the loss, just this week, just attacking it and being consistent. As a defense, we feel like we have a chance to be pretty good for the defensive side. As a team, as well, but defensively speaking, I feel like just executing and just practicing hard every day and just putting it on tape really.”
Bryce Thornton and TJ Searcy both had their first career TFL, with Jack Pyburn setting a career high of three tackles. This is the fifth time since the start of the 2022 season that the Gators have held an opponent to 300 yards or less. That’s impressive for a defense that mainly played freshmen across the board towards the end of the third quarter.
“Yeah, on the sideline when the younger guys were going in, I’m just motivating them, making sure they’re on top of their game and handling business,” Hill said. “But for the shut-out, as a defense we were like — that’s what we was harping on the whole week, just shutting these guys out. Obviously, we didn’t get it done, but we played pretty well defensively I feel like.”
Jaydon Hill was extremely impressed with the approach from the freshmen defensive backs and their preparation. The talent shows on the field with the work they put in during the week.
“Yeah, I applaud those boys, more for the work they put in throughout the week,” Hill said on the freshmen. “Those boys prepare like veterans, and I feel like it pays off — it’s going to pay off in the long run. They’re going to be great players for us.”
The defensive front did a decent job applying pressure on Saturday, which allowed the secondary to really settle in and play their brand of football. Taking advantage of that was an important stepping stone for the defense after a disappointing 2022 season.
“Yeah, the pass rush is like top when it comes to defensive backs,” Hill said. “You disrupt the pass of the quarterback; it helps us out on the back end. I feel like this game, we took advantage of it, and we’ve just got to keep getting better and just disrupting timing. That’s what it’s all about. I feel like on defense, disrupting timing and all that. We’ve just got to keep getting better at it.”
Regardless of the opponent, the defensive performance we saw from the Gators on Saturday night was exactly what you want to see if you’re a Florida fan. Tackling is much improved from top to bottom with the Gators only giving up an average of 4.11 yards a play.
One thing the Gators will need to make a priority this week is finishing plays when applying pressure. It was a major issue for the Gators against Tennessee last season, and that can’t happen next Saturday if Florida wants to run away with a win.
Since the start of 2021, Florida has out-sacked its opponents by a plus-25 margin. We’ll see if the Gators can add to that when the Volunteers travel to Gainesville on Saturday.