For much of the last two seasons, Florida fans have watched an agonizing script play out, where Florida’s dynamic offense was held back by UF’s porous defense.
Defensive coordinator Grantham stressed throughout the offseason that Florida’s defense needed to take several steps forward to compensate for the loss of Trask, Pitts, and Toney, but through the first nine quarters of the season, these seemed to be empty words.
The Gator defense struggled to contain the limited offenses of FAU and USF, and Alabama jumped out a lightning-quick 21-3 lead over the Gators after one quarter of play.
Staring an embarrassing, season-defining blowout in the face, Florida’s defense conjured up a remarkable backbone, surrendering just nine more points during the rest of the game against one of the nation’s most potent offenses. This fine form has continued over the last two weeks, as the Gators have allowed just 32 points in the last 11 quarters of play.
And in a surprising but equally agonizing role reversal, it was Florida’s defense that kept the Gators competitive Saturday in spite of its sputtering, error-prone offense. UF surrendered just 13 points — Kentucky scored an additional touchdown off of a blocked field goal return — and forced UK quarterback Will Levis into a laughable 7-17 stat line.
“I think that we've progressively gotten better each week in all areas,” Grantham said. “It's always about getting better every game, it's about getting yourself better, making our team better, and continuing to do that, and I fully expect us to come out and work to get better this week."
Grantham notes that the strength of the Gator defense lies up from, and heaped glowing praise on UF’s front seven after its performance against Kentucky.
“The addition of the transfers in a place of need and the maturity and development of the younger players on our team (helped us) to become better players,” Grantham said. I think Gervon Dexter’s a guy that you’re seeing kind of grow up a little bit and take charge and then Zach’s obviously a guy that can play inside or outside.”
Still, Grantham maintained that the most important metric, wins, is a team statistic and that Florida’s defense needed to do more to push the Gators over the top.
“I was really proud of the way our guys played and I told them that,” Grantham said. “But at the same time, 'here's some things we could have done to make a play, to finish a game,' because you win as a team, you lose as a team.”
Wins shouldn’t be terribly hard to come by against Vanderbilt for the Gators this weekend. Vanderbilt was been one of the worst teams in the county, averaging just 16 points a game and picking up their only two wins of the year against bottomfeeders UConn and Colorado State.
Saturday’s game could also allow the Gators to pick up its first shutout since 2019.
Kickoff for Saturday’s homecoming matchup is scheduled for Oct. 9 at 12 p.m. from Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. Kick-off is currently scheduled for the SEC Network.
