After coming off an impressive performance against Tennessee last weekend, the Gators struggled to find consistency on offense behind a young and inexperienced offensive line. The biggest issue through four games has been the inconsistency up front.
Defensively, the Gators continued to improve in certain areas as five different players recorded at least half a sack in Saturday’s win. Both Kelby Collins and Bryce Thornton recorded their first career sacks, with Caleb Banks tying a career-high of one.
Since the start of the 2022 season, this is the sixth time the Gators have held their opponent to 300 yards or less. It’s also the seventh time the Gators have held their opponent to 200 passing yards or less in the Billy Napier era.
“I’ll say effort and just teamwork, and I’ll say just the physicality up front and in our back seven,” Shemar James said on the continued success defensively.
The defensive line has been one of the biggest reasons this defense has been so successful in 2023. The constant pressure makes it easier for the linebackers to cause issues up front and make plays.
“Cam Jackson, Caleb Banks, Chris McClellan, like some big guys you don’t see every day walking around,” James said on the front four. “They made me and Scooby’s jobs a lot easier, playing behind them and allowing us to run free to the ball.”
Linebacker Scooby Williams continues to be a problem for opposing offensive lines in the backfield. The redshirt sophomore recorded seven tackles with one tackle for loss while adding his first career forced fumble.
According to PFF, Williams was the third highest-graded defensive player behind Teradja Mitchell and Kelby Collins in week four.
“I would say him just being more comfortable in the defense,” James said on Williams’ improvement. “When you know it, you play faster. So, I would say him not second-guessing himself, sort of like what he did last year. He always knows what I’m doing, he always knows what he’s doing, so that allows us to play fast.”
Getting off the field on third down has taken the biggest leap defensively compared to last season. Charlotte was just 3-of-13 on third down with the Gators holding them to just seven total points all night.
“Like Coach Armstrong said, it’s a privilege to play on 3rd down,” James said on third down success. “When we come with our 3rd down package, guys want to get the quarterback and get the stop on 3rd down.”
Former Florida Gator and current Charlotte quarterback Jalon Jones utilized his legs on every drive Saturday. However, this defense was successful containing Jones for the most part. The senior quarterback had just 65 yards on a season-high 20 rushing attempts.
“He likes to use his legs a lot, so kind of just limiting him to do that, make him throw in the pocket, and we kind of came out successful while doing that,” James said on Jones. “You know Coach Armstrong, he’s a big pressure guy. He wants to get to the quarterback and hit him, so that’s what we did tonight.”
The Gators will travel to Lexington this upcoming weekend for their first SEC road game. This defense has played great through four weeks and will need one of their best performances against Kentucky. These players understand that it’s hard to win that game with an average performance.
“Like you said, just building off of it, getting back to the film room tomorrow, correcting our mistakes and just getting better for Kentucky next week. It’s an SEC game,” James said on Kentucky. “We’ve got to bring it 110 percent every single game, especially an SEC game. We’ll look at Kentucky tomorrow and Monday.”
Defensively, this team got the job done against Charlotte and have continued to improve in specific area’s every week. Multiple young players had a lasting impact making big plays all night long, specifically on the front four.
The Gators will face a talented running back in Re’Mahn Davis next week who has accounted for over 300 yards this season. This defense will need to limit mistakes and continue to be the more physical team up front if they want to end their two-game losing streak against Kentucky.