Florida Looks to Slow Tennessee Attack Amid Run-Defense Struggles
Every week in the SEC presents a number of challenges depending on the opponent. This week’s challenge for Florida will be slowing down another run-and-gun, explosive Tennessee Volunteers team that looks to snap a 22-year-old streak of losing in The Swamp.
To do so, Florida must find a way to control a very balanced Volunteers’ offense that can hurt it in a multitude of ways. Ideally, Tennessee wants to control the ground game to help set up downfield play-action throws for big chunk plays.
The leading impression of Vols coach Josh Heupel and his offense are a pass-heavy, up-tempo offense looking to take deep shots all game long. Again, while some of that does hold true, none of it matters if they cannot run the ball effectively enough to keep opposing defenses guessing.
For the majority of the year, the Gators have been good at stopping the run, but not in recent weeks. Florida is allowing an average of 235 yards on the ground in the last two games and is coming off a loss at Ole Miss a week ago, when Rebels running back Kewan Lacy ran for 224 yards and scored three touchdowns. The setback now ranks Florida 71st in FBS at stopping the run entering Saturday’s matchup against the 48th-ranked rushing offense.
Gators interim coach Billy Gonzales spoke on the importance of slowing down the run earlier in the week, harping that while he is proud of the effort his defense is showing, there is a difference between playing hard and playing well.
“We were talking about it this morning, we had some players in position to make tackles and we didn’t make tackles, whether they grabbed cloth, whether they ducked their head at a time, whether we got moved out of the gap,” Gonzales said. “Again, we played hard, but as a coaching staff, we got to make sure that we’re playing well. We’ve got to be better at stopping the run.”
Unlike previous Tennessee teams, which usually present a workhorse back to scheme against, the Volunteers have been a running back-by-committee this season, which in some cases can be more challenging to face. Leading the way is DeSean Bishop, who leads the team in carries (119), yards (770) and touchdowns (10). Behind him is Star Thomas, who has run for 458 yards and scored six times, and Peyton Lewis, who comes in with 290 yards and seven scores this season.
Saturday’s match will be another good test for a Florida front that has seen guys go in and out of the lineup all year long, with more shuffling ahead of this one. On Wednesday, Florida announced that EDGE George Gumbs Jr underwent knee surgery earlier that day, which will effectively end his season. The Gators will also be without one of their anchors up front in defensive tackle Michai Boireau.
But in return, Florida could be getting senior defensive tackle Caleb Banks back, who found himself off the availability report. Banks has battled injuries all year.
He missed the first two games after suffering a foot injury in fall camp. He returned for the LSU game but left early when he aggravated the injury, which led to surgery and sidelined him for every game since.
Last week, the staff listed him as doubtful, and he even warmed up for the Ole Miss game but ultimately did not play. However, there is legit optimism he could find his way back on the field for this week.
“He looks pretty darn good,” Gonzales said. “He’s a big body, obviously, big body to get back in the middle of the defensive line, and he’s excited. That’s the one thing when you start talking about just how this program is. …you got a young man that fought hard, he went through rehab, continues to push it, to make sure he could try to come back.
“I’m excited to have him back in the middle of the defense for us.”
With Gumbs Jr. down for the remainder of the year, it leaves more opportunities for freshman EDGE Jayden Woods, who continues to impress during his rookie campaign. Woods is coming off a week when he secured his first career interception and looks to keep that rolling into the week. He has tallied 16 total tackles this season with 1.5 sacks, a fumble recovery and one interception.
If Florida can slow down Tennessee’s run game and make it one-dimensional, it could be a good sign for the secondary to force Vols quarterback Joey Aguilar into some mistakes throwing the football. Aguilar, a two-year starter at Appalachian State from 2023-24, transferred to UCLA this offseason with hopes of a fresh start out West. But after former Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava’s saga ended with his transfer to UCLA, Aguilar left the Bruins for Knoxville and has provided a breath of fresh air for Tennessee.
After back-to-back years of inconsistent quarterback play, Aguilar has got Tennessee back on track, throwing for 2,941 yards (8th in FBS), while averaging 9.2 yards a completion (8th in FBS), completing 66.3% of his passes and has 22 touchdown passes on the year (9th in FBS).
“He’s a complete player,” Gonzales said. “He’s done a really good job; he spreads the ball around at an elite level.”
However, as previously mentioned, Aguilar is prone to making mistakes. While he excels at throwing the ball down the field with the numbers to back it up, he is also fifth in the nation with 10 interceptions thrown.
Gonzales has made that a point of emphasis this week in practice, encouraging his defensive backs to have their hands up and ready, because turnovers could be the difference-maker. Even in Florida’s refueling station at the Heavener Football Center, Gonzales has reminders of the upcoming rivalry games and scouting reports for his defense to go over.
“So the players, if they’re walking there to go get a lift or refuel, if you’re walking in the locker room, walking out to practice, they can get they can take a look and see some of the the scouting report tips that we have based on coverages, fronts, blitzes,” Gonzales said. “On the other screen is the defense. So they’re aware, they’ve got the same stats talked about what you just said, whether it’s interception yards, that’s on one board … and they’ll have it, they do have an idea of what the statistics are about the player that they’re going to go against.”
Category: College Football, Feature Sports News, Gators Football, SEC
