Florida switched up its personnel on defense for the Missouri game, but these changes were not by choice.
UF was without 14 scholarship players against the Tigers, including a trio of secondary starters first reported by Gators Territory. Nine defensive backs were unavailable in total, leaving the Gators with nine scholarship DB’s and just two upperclassmen in strong safety Trey Dean III and STAR Brad Stewart.
True freshman Rashad Torrence II found out Monday morning he would be making his first career start at free safety with Shawn Davis out.
“My reaction was really kind of, I was shocked. But at the same time, I was ready,” said Torrence, who took over for Davis after his ejection at Ole Miss. “We just really wanted to show everybody that there wasn't really a dropoff and that we all as a whole secondary unit can get the job done at a very high level. We wanted to play like dogs.”
That didn’t happen in their last outing, with Texas A&M’s Kellen Mond becoming the third quarterback in four games to throw for 300-plus yards against Florida. Defensive coordinator Todd Grantham was heavily criticized for those results, but Stewart pinned the early-season struggles on the players.
“We definitely had a bad taste in our mouths from Texas A&M. That definitely brought leaders out that didn't show that leadership before,” Stewart said. “That game, what we put on film, that wasn't us. We didn't play together. We wasn't … I don't know. I can't even explain it.
“It was important for us as players to go out there and play for our coach, coach Grantham. To play better. We all had to really bond together this week and really play as one. And I’m going to keep saying it because that’s what happened. We knew we had young guys playing.”
The pressure was on Florida to score touchdowns early and often with a depleted defense, but that didn’t happen against Missouri. The Gators got off to a slow start offensively, failing to convert their first seven third-down attempts and settling for field goals twice in the red zone.
Instead of Kyle Trask & Co. carrying the defense, it was Grantham’s unit that carried them. The Tigers converted just three of 15 third-down attempts, including 1-for-8 in the first half. With less than two minutes left, UF’s offense finally found the end zone to take a 13-7 lead.
“Offensively in the first half, we have two good drives and end up with field goals. Then we throw a pick-six and we’re losing 7-6, and the defense is dominating,” Mullen said. “That just shows our guys sticking together as a whole team. I think defensively the guys looked and said, ‘If we make stops and give the offense the ball enough, we’re gonna make plays.’”
Florida’s defense made plenty of them as well, including a fumble recovery by Brenton Cox Jr. that led to another touchdown before the break. The unit made three second-half sacks on Mizzou quarterback Connor Bazelak, who had just 89 yards passing through three quarters before the Gators pulled their starters.
It was a much-needed performance for a group that had been facing criticism for weeks.
“We try not to listen to it. Like, we hear it, but we know we have to play better as a defense and as a unit. So what we hear, y’all are right. And we know we gotta step up,” Stewart said. “So that’s what we are going to work on week in and week out, and hopefully we can have y'all saying different things and have people saying different things about our defense because we know what we can do.
“We tried to come out and play together and really try to make a statement. We all had to communicate. We had to talk, and that’s what we did. We practiced like that all week, and y’all seen the outcome. It was a big win.”
Grantham’s biggest concern against the Tigers was running back Larry Rountree III, and UF held him to 36 yards rushing on 14 carries. Mullen credited his defensive staff for adjusting with a trio of starters out and pitching a shutout for three quarters.
“I think that on the outside they’ve gotten a lot of criticism. They haven’t gotten a lot of criticism from the inside, from us,” Mullen said. “I can’t wait until we get to play a game with a full defense. It kind of seems like we’re playing with a partial defense every game of the season right now. I think our guys, Todd and the staff, we talk about making sure we have the guys in the right position to make plays. We’ve played some very good offenses throughout the course of the year so far.
“I thought they did a good job of making the adjustments, putting guys in position to make plays. Our guys taking a lot of pride to pick it up after people have been getting after them. But we haven’t lost confidence in our ability to make plays and our playmakers on the field. I’m really proud of how those guys played. You knew they were going to take pride in how they were going to play the game this week. And they certainly did that for four quarters.”
