The Florida Gators' defense was historically bad Wednesday night in the Cotton Bowl.
Oklahoma accumulated more yards (684) than any other team had in 85 playings of the Cotton Bowl. That came 11 days after Florida surrendered 600 yards to Alabama in the SEC Championship game and was the third time the Gators’ defense had given up 600 yards in a game this season.
How bad is that? Florida had given up 600 yards twice in its entire football history prior to the 2020 season.
Todd Grantham has been under fire since the season kicked off and Ole Miss torched Florida’s defense. The fan base watched as an all-time great Florida offense had to continually go back on the field after the defense relented another score and try to dig the team out of holes. His boss, head coach Dan Mullen, berated Grantham on the sideline during the Kentucky game like a father would yell at a teenage son who came home drunk after curfew.
Still, Mullen has stood up for Grantham, and even after the embarrassing loss, Grantham’s players picked up their embattled coach.
“At the end of the day, players got to make plays on the field. It's their responsibility to teach us it, but we have to make the plays. If I don't make a play out there, I can't blame Coach Grantham because I was on the field,” Mohamoud Diabate said after the game. “I know Coach Grantham cares because I left something at the facility on game week. I came back at 2:00 a.m., and Coach Grantham's car is still there. Nobody's car is there. I'm not going to listen to somebody say he doesn't care. No. Coach Grantham has had a long, successful career. He's respected in this league. He's respected in the NFL. We respect him.”
“Coach Grantham is a great defensive coordinator. But like Mohamoud said, I've seen him late nights, sleeping in his office,” safety Trey Dean added. “I know the time that Coach Grantham put in. He's going to give us his all; we've got to give him our all. He called the same defense the whole time. We've got to go execute.”
It’s true, Grantham isn’t on the field and he’s not the one tasked with tackling or covering. That doesn’t change what fans see on the field on Saturday. Routinely it appears that Florida’s defense isn’t lined up quickly or correctly, there are blown coverages, and points, lots of points.
“Coach called the play; we all got to know the play. One person out of position, that mess up the whole defense. Everybody's got to hold each other accountable,” linebacker Amari Burney said. “When we mess up, everyone wants to blame Coach Grantham. It's not his fault. When we watch film, when we look at the plays that Coach Grantham called and everybody executes, then we're going to stop them.”
Credit the players for standing up for their coach. Credit the players for taking responsibility for the disappointing game and season the defense produced. At the end of the day, the decision will not be theirs. Dan Mullen has to look at his team, what they’ve done, where they’re deficient, and how to fix that. If that means a pink slip for Grantham the players, based on their responses Wednesday, won’t be happy.
