The Auburn Tigers bring one of the best defensive lines in the country to Gainesville this week. It’s not the first time that Dan Mullen’s Gators will face a defensive line filled with NFL talent.
Last year Mullen was very familiar with Mississippi State’s defensive line, he recruited them after all. That front came into the Florida game with 13 sacks through its first four games but managed just one against the Gators. That was thanks in part to Mullen’s offensive gameplan that week. Florida was quick to get the ball out of Feleipe Franks’ hands. The gameplan on the road that week was perfect and Florida walked away with a signature win.
This week brings a similar challenge in terms of the talent Auburn has on the defensive line.
“They have talent and depth,” Mullen said of the Auburn front. “They have guys that could have been high draft picks last year that decided to come back for their senior year. They’re not lacking in the talent and the depth.”
The talent was there but that’s where Mullen says the similarities stop.
“It’s a totally different scheme. Schematically, there’s not a lot of similarities. There’s similarities talent-wise,” Mullen said. “Derrick Brown’s going to be the top pick in the draft, one of the top guys picked in the draft, and the other guys. When you compare, ‘You’re a first-rounder, but this guy’s a top first-rounder. They’re that type of depth, like Mississippi State was.”
The Gators were able to win a low-scoring battle last year against Mississippi State and they’ll likely have to do that again this week. Florida’s defense has been up to the task of late. They haven’t given up a touchdown since Feleipe Franks went down for the season and they’ve been the best redzone defense in the country. The Gators have the ability to go blow-for-blow with Auburn and, even though it hasn’t been on display this year, they have the special teams to find the hidden yards in the game as well, something that helped secure the win in Starkville.
“We just tried to continue to move the ball and tried to get as many first downs we can and tried to pin them back deep so we get the better field position on the next drive,” receiver Josh Hammond said. “We just tried to play the hidden field-position battle. That’s what happened in the last Mississippi State game and we were able to come out with a win.”
That means Tommy Townsend, who has punted just seven times this season could bean X-factor for the Gators.
Florida has a tall task this week and they’ll have to play well in all three phases to win. They know that and they believe they’re up to the task, even if the undefeated Gators continue dropping in the polls after wins.
“A lot of people think that we haven’t played anybody, every week our ranking goes up and down, they don’t think we’re capable to be a top 10 team,” Trey Dean said. “We’re just going to have to show them.”