Carlos Dunlap knows his thought process is rare. The Florida defensive end actually enjoys going on the road to play football. The home-field advantage his team has when they play in Gainesville is undeniable but going on the road fires him up.
“Getting booed is kind of like motivation to me,” the 6-6, 290-pound junior said. “It’ll be kind of like a more emotional game because you’re getting booed the whole game. The crowd is against you rather than with you. With the Gators (in Gainesville), it’s easy because everybody is cheering you on. When somebody is booing you and trying to put you down, that’s when you’ve got to succeed.”
The booing the Florida defense will face this Saturday night at Kentucky’s Commonwealth Stadium in Lexington should only fire up the No. 1 Gators more. They’ve been stirring all week from watching film of last Saturday’s 23-13 victory over Tennessee, and it’s been hard for any of the Florida defensive players to talk about their performance without showing noticeable frustration.
They allowed just 13 points, with three of those points coming on a drive that put Tennessee in field-goal range to start the drive. They allowed only 210 yards of offense to the Volunteers, but the defense didn’t give the dominating performance they would have liked. They were talking about the hard-hitting, three-and-out-focused defense before the season, and the only game that defense has shown up was the second game of the year against Troy.
“As a defense, I don’t think we played as well as we’re supposed to play,” Dunlap said of the performance against Tennessee. “That was one of our bad games. Fortunately, we came out and won and held them to one touchdown. For that to be a bad game, that’s pretty good. We’ve definitely got to step it up and play like a Florida defense.”
The adjustments started soon after the Tennessee game ended. The Florida defense has spent more time this week in meeting rooms and watching film, looking for the necessary adjustments.
The Kentucky offense they will see this weekend is much improved from the one that scored five points on the Gators last season, with two of those coming on a late-game safety where the ball was snapped over the backup punter’s head.
The Wildcats have found a stable quarterback in junior Mike Hartline. The quarterback who had the most success for Kentucky last year in Gainesville was now sophomore Randall Cobb. With Hartline entrenched as the starter, Cobb has been used as a wide receiver and a Wildcat quarterback. Junior running back Derrick Locke has all-world speed, giving them a home-run threat out of the backfield.
It’s a Wildcat offense that is better set this year than what Florida experienced last season, and the Gators are doing their best to prepare.
“We’ve had more defensive meetings,” Dunlap said. “We had to get it together because we can’t come out and play like that again. Playing against any other team in the SEC, it might have been closer and they might have put up more points.”
Hartline’s 6-6 frame also makes him difficult to tackle. For a pass-rushing specialist like Dunlap, that presents more of a challenge when it comes to getting sacks.
“The bigger you are, the harder you fall,” Dunlap said with a smile. “But you’ve got to make sure he falls. He’s not going to fall down easily. You’ve got to make sure you put a good hit on him and wrap him up.”
And that’s exactly what Carlos Dunlap and the defense intend to do. They’re ready to make a statement.