After no interceptions in the first four games of the season, Florida finally looked like DBU last Saturday.
The secondary came up with three interceptions against rival Georgia, putting an end to a three-year losing streak. Once UF cornerback Kaiir Elam snagged the first pick, it was a domino effect.
“They’re very contagious,” Amari Burney said. “Kaiir got the first one, Shawn [Davis] got the second one and then Kaiir dropped one so that I could get my third one. I was very happy at him for dropping it.”
Coming into 2020, Florida was expected to field another talented secondary despite losing first-round pick C.J. Henderson. But the defensive backs struggled to start the season, giving up more than 300 yards passing against Ole Miss and Texas A&M.
They’ve turned it around the past two games against Missouri and Georgia, forcing the Bulldogs to bench starter Stetson Bennett.
“They’re getting their hands on balls when they’re in one-on-one matchups,” UF defensive coordinator Todd Grantham said of his secondary. “Whether you play man or zone, at the end of the day you still have to match the guy in your area and you’ve gotta make plays on balls. Guys understand that.
“I think the credit really needs to go to the players because they’ve done a really good job executing what we ask them to do.”
Three of those players — Elam, Davis and Burney — executed well enough to get the ball back into the hands of Kyle Trask and Florida’s offense. Each of them intercepted off a pass in the second half, with Elam’s turnover resulting in Bennett’s benching.
“It felt amazing,” said Elam. “I should have caught the second one. It was something going into the game that we said we were going to do, and we did it. Our goal was to get three and we accomplished it. It was real big.”
Bennett completed just 5 of 16 pass attempts for 78 yards, and backup quarterback D’Wan Mathis didn’t fare any better. After leading UGA on a touchdown drive with his first series, Mathis threw a pair of fourth-quarter picks and finished 4 of 13 for 34 yards.
“After Kaiir got his, I feel like they just started chucking the ball up and Shawn was in the right place to make his interception,” said Burney. “Then it was the final play of the game, so I felt like instead of hitting it down I tried to catch it and then just fall down. Just let the offense come out and take a knee to win the game.”
In addition to the turnovers last Saturday, the Gators also got some valuable experience for freshmen defensive backs Tre’Vez Johnson and Rashad Torrence II. Both have made appearances in all five games and impressed Grantham with their play.
“We knew that we were going to have to count on them at some point during the season,” Grantham said. “Those guys have done a really good job of being professional as far as learning the playbook, studying on their own, asking questions, really focusing on the things we were asking them to do.”
“Ron [English] has done a good job with those guys as far as consistent teaching. Through repetition, we’re all creatures of habit and your habitual traits take over. Those guys – because of their conscious attitude and effort and their ability to learn – have improved every week during the season.”
