GAINESVILLE, Fla.-- The fight for 'DBU.'
Florida and LSU both claim to be THE 'DBU,' but who really can own the nickname. In Gainesville, the answer seems quite obvious.
“It's pretty easy when you look at all the players who have come here, all the players who have had success here and gone on to the NFL," Gators head coach Dan Mullen said on Monday. "It's not just over the last 5-10 years. It goes back and back and back of great defensive backs who have played here.
"We have some young guys we expect to continue the tradition in the future," added Mullen. "There are a lot of players in America who want to come be part of that here and continue the tradition in the secondary.”
So far this season, Florida is second in the SEC in pass efficiency defense and average yards allowed, while first in interceptions with 12 and third in touchdowns allowed. Meanwhile, LSU is sixth in all categories, only recording five picks so far this year.
Although those numbers are not very impressive for the Tigers secondary, the group had one of its best games last Saturday against Utah State's talented quarterback, Jordan Love.
Love was intercepted three times and was limited to just 130 yards through the air.
"Their secondary, they have great players in the back end," said wide receiver Tyrie Cleveland. "It's an SEC team. Nothing come easy at this time of the season. We're going into the second game, so you've just got to come in with your 'A' game, prepare the right way, watch film. Just the little details."
One can argue that Grant Delpit is among the most versatile defensive backs, while freshman corner Derek Stingley is having quite the debut season for LSU. The first year Tiger leads the SEC and ranks third in country in passes defended with ten.
Stingley's 42 percent opponent completion rate leads the SEC.
“He’s a great corner," said receiver Van Jefferson about Stingley. "He’s only a freshman but he looks like he’s been playing for a long time. We just have to be sound on our assignments, play our game."
"They are going to come out and play man-to-man, that’s what they do," added Josh Hammond. "Receivers in general, not just the slot, we’re just going to have to win our one-on-one battles and make the plays when we have the chance to. I think that’s the biggest thing for us. I think we’ll be prepared based on the corners that we have here at practice. I feel like we’ve seen the same type of caliber guys on a day-to-day basis. I think the biggest thing for us is just being able to make those plays when our number is called.”
"They have a talented secondary in Grant Delpit and Kristian Fulton and their freshmen. So, I think we just got to make plays," said Jefferson. "It’s the SEC, so you got to make plays and you got to help your quarterback out. So, I think this practice and this whole week, we’ve just been focusing on making plays and just staying sound and focus on the details. I think we’ll be good when we go to Saturday.”
Up front, the Tigers also have a talented defensive line.
"Really a lot of similarities to last week in terms of they’re big, they’re physical, they’re athletic. So to me it’s a lot of the same challenges as last week," offensive line coach and co-offensive coordinator John Hevesy said. "I mean, they got really four or five guys that when all healthy that can run. I think the difference, not that you can say he’s that much bigger than Derrick was, but No. 72 [Tyler Shevin] and No. 92 [Neil Farrell Jr.] in the middle, they say they’re like 320, I don’t know, Derrick was 320, probably around the 360-range. We have to understand how to finagle things and hit him and put him in the right position.”
LSU is second in the SEC in rushing defense, while its 13 sacks is good enough for sixth in the SEC.
The defense was seeing a lot of criticism through the first few games, however, it appears the group had turned a corner against Utah State. In addition to the three picks, the Tigers held Utah State to 159 yards, which is over 400 yards less than its average (533) coming into the game.
LSU also held the Aggies to just 19 yards rushing on 22 carries, averaging less than a yard per carry - Utah State averaged 206.75 yards the first four games.
According to Hevesy, although Auburn's defensive line does a terrific job of just getting a push, LSU's group is a bit more athletic in terms of pass rushing.
"These guys you’ll see, they’ll get the same push but they’re going to use a little counter move as they get around three, four yards up the field," said the Gators coach. "So to me it’s a matter of, we’ve got to stop the push and still be ready to sit down and get ready for that counter.”
"They’re an SEC West team, SEC team, they’re a top-10 team in the nation," added Center Nick Buchanan. "That's what you expect when you play those teams. So you know, we have to put our big boy pants on and get ready to come win it.”
