As I was trying to get a better feel for our D Coordinator, I went and looked up UL vs UF defensive stats and watched a YouTube video of UL vs Texas 2021. UL vs Texas observations: - Lots of man coverage on the outside - Same corky Dline alignment off the ball and staggered at times - Dline stands straight up on the snap at times and others they fire across the ball - 3rd down was an issue against Texas as well - Lots of open space in the secondary - Lots of blitzing - Some Dline stunts Defensive Coordinator P. Toney was the D Coordinator from 2020-2021 (only 2 years at UL). UL vs. UF Defensive stats: 3rd down conversion: Rank and Year FL #131 2022 - yes dead last UL #26 2021 #93 2020 #45 2019 #116 2018 Total opponents offensive yards: Rank and year FL #102 2022 UL #12 2021 #30 2020 #49 2019 #98 2018 Total points per game opponent: Rank and year UF #77 2022 UL #9 2021 #28 2020 #20 2019 #106 2018 Completion percentage opponent: Rank, Year and % UF #107 2022 65.5% UL #1 2021 51.46% - pretty astounding #4 2020 51.85% #38 2019 58.27% #94 2018 62.70% You can look up a whole bunch of other stats at www.Teamrankings.com. I think it’s too early to say whether Toney himself and his defensive scheme will work at Florida. Right now players are out of position, playing slow, blowing assignments and it’s a very dysfunctional unit. 1st year of a new defensive system so it’s not surprising. The main issue by game 7 is there has been no noticeable improvement. At this point, it’s too soon make irrational decisions but there has to be progress over the last 5 games and hope to get bowl eligible for more practice time. Go Gators!!!
I love his film breakdown. I have no idea if that is just poor situational awareness with Helm, Dean, and we already know Miller is terrible in pass coverage or it might just be very bad play-calling/scheming. Miller will play in the NFL but not as an every down LB.
And Cox is listed as an OLB. At 250, I give him credit, he has a heck of a rush. If you look at the weights of some of the other LB where we wonder were they are… LB/Safety type size vs backers in a 3/4
Looks like it made sense to bring the DC over given how the 2021 stats went...however, the learning curve for big league SEC coaching has been demonstrable tough and I don't know if he has the current skill set to make it...dunno if the fans will have the patience to wait around and see. The defense has gotten worse as the season has worn on and that is shocking to watch. ANY improvement on any LEVEL would be great at this point. This D is not going to push UGA and TAMU around...it simply wont and no bye week miracle is coming. Lets just hope for some basic improvements to get us to 6-6.
Everything I saw was correctable with proper coaching. We did not lose because they have far superior talent. Even though they might have a slight edge, the mistakes that I saw were all fixable... with these same players.
Remember when Spurrier never blamed his players (like his QBs) when they made mistakes? He said it not the players fault, it was his fault for playing him.
To be fair there are some pretty savvy breakdowns on some other sites that have specifically cited issues with play calls in defense. Literally every route on 3rd and 3 was an easy first down we conceded based on lining up off the recievers as well as being outnumbered 3 on 2 on one side. The only defenders close to the 1st down yardage was the 4 rushing the line if scrimmage. I find it hard to believe that despite our deficiencies with personnel that we can be dead last on 3rd downs without some contributions from scheme/coaching. Maybe if we were only performing like this against the meat of our schedule but we have made some lesser talented and struggling programs have incredible days against us. I don't think it's possible to force something like 5 punts in 4 games without it being some systemic scheme cause. As stated before by someone else, even sacrificial lambs force punts against the big boys when they play them.
I noticed the same thing too. One of the few time the Gator D got close to the QB was on a sack. Unfortunately it was overturned to roughing the passer penalty.
Looked up 3rd down conversions for the same years since that seems to be our biggest issue - GETTING OF THE EFFING FIELD. Rankings for those years went 91st, 33rd, 106th, and 36th. Ours is 124th this year.
Dean may have done a 360 but there were three players with no gator defender within 5 yards of them, across the first down line, on 3rd and 3. The LSU qb could have hit ANY of them for a first down. Nobody is arguing that we have NFL talent on D but you simply cannot defend a play call where our DBs are 5 yards off the ball on three players on short 3rd and 3 passes. I agree that Dean looks like a piñata out there but every other receiver was open too. These players played 12 yards deep on 3rd and 3, it is on the coaches because either they are doing what they are told or they are out of position and somebody else needs to be found who will play in position. There is simply no rational justification for that defense on that play. To be clear, I am not saying "fire" anybody. However, that scheme is indefensible (as were many other d calls vs. LSU and as was the end of half offensive possession). We DO have talent limitations (ie, asking ventral to run out and cover that guy on 3rd/3 is a losing proposition) but so much has to be fixed before that even comes to the fore.
