Florida’s Five Keys to Beating USF
With Saturday’s in-state showdown between No. 13 Florida and USF drawing near, the Gators will hope to tune up any remaining issues they may have before the SEC gauntlet starts.
Florida enters its Week 2 contest as 17.5-point favorites, but does not mean they’re overlooking the Bulls.
“I think the film itself of Game 1 gets the attention of the players,” UF coach Billy Napier said. “It doesn’t hurt that Boise, obviously, was a playoff team and ranked in the top 25 … So there’s just enough on this tape to make us restless. I think our players have some maturity. I think we’ve got good leadership. So this is a huge game for us, and we totally understand the dynamic when it comes to this team.”
Here are the Gators’ five keys to beating USF on Saturday (4:15 p.m. SEC Network, 98.1-FM/AM-850 WRUF).
Stop Byrum Brown
USF’s best shot at winning starts with its 6-foot-3, 230-pound senior quarterback Byrum Brown. His ability to take over games with his dual-threat skills makes him one of the toughest quarterbacks in the American to stop
“Big, physical player. Will drop his pads. Tackling him, there’s some physical things that come with that,” Napier said Monday. “I think he does break tackles. He has the ability to outrun angles. And he has arm talent. It’s a good scheme fit.”
In USF’s win against Boise State last week, Brown went 16-of-24 for 210 yards, as well as rushing for 43 yards and two touchdowns. Most of his runs were, as some people call them, the off-script plays — to say the least.
There are hints of former Gators star Anthony Richardson in Brown’s play. Both players’ abilities to create plays on their own, shrug off-tackles and launch the ball down the field for explosive plays can make it hard to stop.
Florida safety Bryce Thornton said it can be hard to bring down a quarterback of that size, stressing the importance of tackling and working together as a unit.
“Just tackling drills, the same thing we did this week,” Thornton said. “ Just focus on tackling, gang tackling, everyone running to the ball and just being a good team.”
Keeping Brown contained will be the biggest key, but eliminating the run-or-pass game from his arsenal will help out, too.
Hit the explosive plays
As good of defense as USF played last week, one area of concern was the explosive plays it allowed downfield. Boise St. connected on eight explosive plays, which should be a waving red flag going into this week. Florida’s offense excels at hitting long plays, especially through the air.
Florida quarterback DJ Lagway is one of the best deep ball passers in college football. As a freshman, he led all SEC quarterbacks with 12 completed passes of 40 yards or more. In last week’s 55-0 win over Long Island, Lagway connected on a 41-yard pass to freshman Vernell Brown III.
“DJ is certainly a generational talent. Both arm talent, physically, ability to create with his feet, frame is really big,” USF coach Alex Golesh said. “The most impressive thing about him is the composure, the off-schedule throws on that tape. I mean, he makes things happen when pockets collapse, makes things happen on the run.”
Florida finding chunk plays on the ground will be more than sufficient. Four of the nine carries running back Jadan Baugh had last week went 15 yards or more, including runs of 26 and 27 yards.
Win the Turnover Battle
Both USF’s and Florida’s defenses had no issue creating turnovers in their Week 1 victories. Florida forced two fumbles against LIU, one of which was returned for a touchdown by Thornton.
An area where Florida could try and capitalize is forcing Brown into making mistakes. It starts up front with the edge and interior linemen getting pressure to speed up Brown’s internal clock while in the pocket. Typically if you do that, quarterbacks tend to make more mistakes.
Dating back to last season before Brown went down with the injury, he was sacked 15 times in five games; last week, Boise State got home four times. While he has not thrown a pick in his last six games, it does not mean he is susceptible to throwing them. In 2023, Brown threw 11 interceptions in 13 games and was sacked a whopping 38 times.
On the other side, USF may not be the baddest boys on the block, but these Bulls can still bring the juice. USF forced the Broncos into three fumbles and stopped them twice on fourth down. With Lagway’s rust still being a factor and knowing the interception history, there will be plays to be made for USF.
Do Not Let USF Hang Around
As important as it was to start fast last week, it will be even more critical this week. Florida has said all week it is not overlooking this team. While that is probably true, it’ is still hard to ignore that the next four games following USF will make or break the Gators’ season.
Each of the last two years, Alabama faced USF in its September non-conference schedule. Florida may want to take notes on what not to do by studying the plast two seasons’ worth of game film.
In 2023, Alabama was a 34.5-point road favorite against USF, but survived with an ugly 17-3 win. At home last year, the Crimson Tide were 30.5-point favorites before being dragged through the mud. While the final score indicates a decisive 42-16 victory, this was a 14-13 game going into the fourth quarter.
Jumping back to Napier’s first year in 2022, USF led with under 10 minutes left in the game before Florida scored a late touchdown to seal a 31-28 win.
Crowd Needs to Play a Factor
Saturday will be Florida’s 14th-straight sellout crowd, which means The Swamp must come alive. Playing in front of 89,000 screaming fans can be a challenge for a visiting opponent.
Where the crowd can be the biggest factor is forcing pre-snap penalties. USF had multiple false-start penalties last week, which shouldn’t be a thing when you’re playing in front of only 34,000. Now the Bulls have to prepare themselves for one of the toughest venues in college football.
“It’s a huge part of the preparation. You can’t make it solely about that, but the crowd noise is real, like you said. I’ve been there; there’s a chunk of our team that’s been there, the majority of our staff has been there, so it’s a factor,” Golesh said. “It will certainly affect how you operate, specifically offensively, and our job as coaches is to prepare our guys to not allow it to be a factor. “
Category: AAF, College Football, Feature Sports News, Gators Football, SEC, USF
