GAINESVILLE, Fla.-- Florida is preparing for its Top 10 showdown with Auburn, which will provide a big test for the Gators offensive line on Saturday.
Auburn's defensive line is led by projected top-10 NFL Draft pick, Derrick Brown, Marlon Davidson and Tyrone Truesdell. The group has been heralded as one of the best defensive line in the country, with its unit producing three straight SEC defensive linemen of the week.
“This is probably one of the best ones in 15 years I’ve been in this league,” co-offensive coordinator and offensive line coach John Hevesy said of Auburn’s defensive line. “That’s one of the best ones I’ve seen just as a group of four or some of the backups, the 2s that go in there there’s not much of a letdown.”
The Auburn defense has done well against the run, allowing just 95.2 yards on the ground, which is good enough for third in the SEC. On the other hand, Florida has yet to run the ball very effectively. The Gators are averaging just 141.4 yards per game, which is good for only 11th in the SEC.
“They’re going to be physical. We have to be just as physical coming back at them,” Hevesy explained. “We got to come off the ball. They’re going to try to knock us back, we got to try to knock them back. We have to be great fundamentally. We got to be great playing with our legs and with a base and just be physical back with them.”
Florida head coach Dan Mullen called out the offensive line last weekend, after the Gators only managed 160 yards on the ground against a Towson team that came into the game allowing over 200 yards rushing per game.
“I push plenty of buttons.Hevesy pushes lots of buttons,” Mullen said in his post game presser. "They’ve got to know a sense of urgency. They’re not bad guys. They may work hard. They’re good guys. They try to put in the time. What they’ve got to understand is what putting in the time means. ‘Hey, we’ve got practice.’ But what are you doing when you leave here? What extra things are you doing to make sure you’re improving? And making sure they understand what they need to do. What they’re currently doing is not enough.”
The Gators offensive line could very well look different on Saturday. UF has used Richard Gouraige more and more at left guard with Brett Heggie sliding right.
“There’s a little less thinking than if you put him out on the edge. You put him in between Stone [Forsythe] and Nick [Buchanan] so if there’s any kind of communication right now, getting his feet very wet and playing, there’s at least two people on the side of him to help him with any confusion there,” Hevesy said. “So instead of sticking him out there by himself; it’s going to be a little more physical, but it’s less thinking.”
This matchup can be compared to Florida's match up against Mississippi State last season.
"Oh yeah. The talent level, absolutely," Mullen said. "Very similar. They’re very different schematically, defensively, but talent level, yes."
Last season, the Gators were facing a talented Bulldogs defensive front with the likes of Montez Sweat and Jeffrey Simmons; Florida's offensive line was also a work in progress at that stage. However, UF managed to obtain the win by throwing balls to the perimeter and a few screen passes.
Although the similarities are there, Mullen shied away from them on Monday.
"It’s a totally different scheme. Schematically, there’s not a lot of similarities," Mullen said, asked about that game against the Bulldogs and whether there was anything he could take from it. "There’s similarities talent-wise. Derrick Brown’s going to be the top pick in the draft, one of the top guys picked in the draft, and the other guys. When you compare, ‘You’re a first-rounder, but this guy’s a top first-rounder. They’re that type of depth, like Mississippi State was."
According to wide receiver Josh Hammond, the win in Starkville was a team effort.
"It was definitely tough. We were able to win the field-position battle at Mississippi State," Hammond said. "It was a very low-scoring game. But our starting field position average was definitely higher than than theirs. They were kind of starting pinned within their own 20, while we were starting past the 25."
If Florida wants to come out on top against Auburn this weekend, they do need to keep the game a low-scoring affair.
They need to strive for a balance.
"We just tried to continue to move the ball and tried to get as many first downs we can and tried to pin them back deep so we get the better field position on the next drive," Hammond said. "We just tried to play the hidden field-position battle. That’s what happened in the last Mississippi State game and we were able to come out with a win."
And of course the offensive line needs to step up to the challenge brought forth by Mullen last weekend.
“We just got to play with tempo and just our fundamentals," said Stone Forsythe. "Got to get our feet in the ground, hands on them, just stop their penetration up front.
"We just got to bring our hard hats and come to work.”
