Grantham Talks Gators Defense Ahead Tennessee Match Up

The Florida Gators’ defense was put to the test against the Alabama Crimson Tide this past Saturday. Even though the Gators fell to the Crimson Tide, their defense proved their strength by holding Alabama to a close match-up.

With the upcoming in-conference game against Tennessee, Florida Gators defensive coordinator Todd Grantham met with the media to discuss the defensive outcome of the Alabama game, player performance and their main focuses entering the upcoming Tennessee game.

Ignoring the Noise

The Gators showed out in full force for the highly-anticipated match-up against Alabama. With the record-highest attendance (90,887 fans) during head coach Dan Mullen’s tenure, the Swamp was an uproar. Grantham highlighted one of the main focuses of the defense was to ignore the noise.

Grantham acknowledged that the defense did not start off the way they had intended to, ignoring the noise. But later in the game, the defense was able to make the necessary adjustments to get back on track and play to their best ability.

Take a bow, Florida crowd.

That's the loudest football game I've ever attended. And I've been to LSU and Auburn when those places were rocking. Nothing comes close to the noise I heard today.

— Aaron Suttles (@AaronSuttles) September 18, 2021

Facing Tennessee

With Saturday’s upcoming home game against Tennessee, Grantham stressed that the Gators defense must enter this game with the same high level of play as they did against Alabama. Even though Tennessee is not ranked in the AP Poll, Grantham believes his defense should treat every game with the same focus, attention to detail, and intensity.

The Gators have won their past four games against Tennessee. In addition, the Gators are the 20-point favorites in the game spread.

Tune in to the live coverage of the Tennessee-Florida match-up at 3 p.m. on ESPN 98.1 FM and 850 AM.