Florida Football: Patrick Toney’s Gator defense done in by Daniel Tiger

Patrick Toney is paid a lot of money compared to you or I to be the defensive coordinator of Florida football. After years of watching Todd Grantham give up points left and right, it felt literally anyone could step in and do a better job.

Grantham lost his job because he wasn’t good enough. Finding someone who is good enough is proving to be a more difficult task than originally thought.

Florida Football: Ugga Mugga

If you have a child such as myself, then you may be familiar with the children’s show Daniel Tiger. He’s a friendly tiger that is friends with everyone. He’s not threatening or dangerous to anyone.

Heading into Saturday’s matchup, LSU’s offense looked like that of Daniel Tiger. They had only topped 30 points against a Power Five opponent once, and that was after Mississippi State imploded in the 4th quarter.

LSU’s offense had revolved around short passes and letting Jayden Daniels run around after making his first read. They had yet to go vertical all year and the only way to let them move the ball is to play soft, underneath coverage.

So take a wild guess what Patrick Toney employed with his defense.

The single biggest problem for the Gators’ defense in the first half was its insistence on playing soft, predictable zone. Daniels didn’t even need to run with the ball because LSU would employ a simple motion, identify zone, and pick Florida football apart all night long.

Then LSU started hitting vertical passes. Then just for fun Daniels started running.

The negated interception due to roughing the passer was unfortunate, but it doesn’t excuse the Gators from letting LSU into the endzone six times. Florida football should have won with 35 points and instead lost by 10.

Florida Football: We’re number one

The was part is, Florida had plenty of chances to get off the field. But LSU converted the following:

• 3rd and 8
• 3rd and 6
• 3rd and 15 turned into 4th and 1
• 3rd and 2
• 3rd and 8
• 3rd and 10
• 3rd and 8
• 3rd and 6
• 3rd and 3
• 3rd and 8 turned into 4th and 1

Most of the conversations were the byproduct of taking advantage of soft, underneath coverage. LSU went vertical a couple times, but Florida had guys to at least make those a difficult catch.

So as a result of last night, Florida football has sunk to last in the country on third-down conversations. That’s not an exaggeration. Florida is the worst.

Florida Football: Moving Forward

We talk about before that Florida has guys that on paper have talent. Florida is ranked 12th in the 247 Sports talent composite. So to be worst in the country and stopping third downs goes beyond a talent issue.

Personally, I would like to see more press-man coverage. Florida plays a lot of cover-three and it’s too static and too predictable. Let Florida’s corners do what they are built to do.

They has a massive job ahead of him to salvage this season and high-quality recruits are on their way next year. But if this defense continues to trend in the wrong direction, Toney might not be around to see the recruits on campus.